Southwest Arkansas Research Articles

Multiregional Pb isotopic linear patterns and diagenesis: Isotopes from ancient animal enamel show Native American “foreign war trophies” are local ancestors

Skull burials are found all over the world and often are interpreted to be foreigners, sacrifices, or victims of warfare. The cause of ancient Native American skull deposits often leads to disagreement among scholars torn between warfare and ancestor veneration. Most previous research suggested a Caddo skull-and-mandible deposit (consisting of clusters of skulls and clusters of isolated mandibles) in southwest Arkansas, USA contained foreign victims of interregional warfare, representing at least 352 people (1253–1399 CE). While Sr isotopes are commonly used in archaeology to investigate such issues, they did not provide a conclusive answer to the geographic origin of the remains. This study advances the biologically available Pb method by constructing a large-scale multiregional Pb isotopic background with ancient animal tooth enamel and uses their associated linear patterns to evaluate human geographic origins. Evaluation of Pb contamination through diagenesis in human tooth enamel is evaluated and advanced using correlation analysis of trace elemental data from teeth and burial soil. A total of 180 animal teeth were processed from 28 ancient sites in the southcentral USA. Combining Pb isotopic linear patterning analysis with the Sr isoscape allows us to establish that the skulls and mandibles are local to southwest Arkansas and indicate or strongly suggest they are non-local to all other tested regions. This illustrates the importance of Pb isotopes in studies of human geographic origins. It also provides one cautionary tale that interpretations about violence related to detached skulls should be evaluated with appropriate methods and evidence and with a critical eye for other explanations. This study was conducted in collaboration with the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma and provided both the descendant community and researchers with answers to the questions surrounding the remains, serving as one example of how stakeholders can come together and produce positive outcomes.

A new vertebrate fauna from the Lower Cretaceous Holly Creek Formation of the Trinity Group, southwest Arkansas, USA.

We present a previously discovered but undescribed late Early Cretaceous vertebrate fauna from the Holly Creek Formation of the Trinity Group in Arkansas. The site from the ancient Gulf Coast is dominated by semi-aquatic forms and preserves a diverse aquatic, semi-aquatic, and terrestrial fauna. Fishes include fresh- to brackish-water chondrichthyans and a variety of actinopterygians, including semionotids, an amiid, and a new pycnodontiform, Anomoeodus caddoi sp. nov. Semi-aquatic taxa include lissamphibians, the solemydid turtle Naomichelys, a trionychid turtle, and coelognathosuchian crocodyliforms. Among terrestrial forms are several members of Dinosauria and one or more squamates, one of which, Sciroseps pawhuskai gen. et sp. nov., is described herein. Among Dinosauria, both large and small theropods (Acrocanthosaurus, Deinonychus, and Richardoestesia) and titanosauriform sauropods are represented; herein we also report the first occurrence of a nodosaurid ankylosaur from the Trinity Group. The fauna of the Holly Creek Formation is similar to other, widely scattered late Early Cretaceous assemblages across North America and suggests the presence of a low-diversity, broadly distributed continental ecosystem of the Early Cretaceous following the Late Jurassic faunal turnover. This low-diversity ecosystem contrasts sharply with the highly diverse ecosystem which emerged by the Cenomanian. The contrast underpins the importance of vicariance as an evolutionary driver brought on by Sevier tectonics and climatic changes, such as rising sea level and formation of the Western Interior Seaway, impacting the early Late Cretaceous ecosystem.

Biologically available Pb: A method for ancient human sourcing using Pb isotopes from prehistoric animal tooth enamel

This study analyzes Pb isotopes combining biological (ancient human and prehistoric animal teeth) and geological (soil leachate, whole rock, and rock leachate) samples to determine the origins of prehistoric skeletal elements. It exemplifies how the biologically available Pb method assesses the early lifetime locations of ancient human populations using prehistoric animal teeth and the multivariate/linear nature of Pb isotope data. Lead isotopes provide a valuable technique, in part due to the correlation between their six stable isotope ratios. Other studies have used Pb isotopes for similar purposes, but no clear method for determining a local range has yet been formally defined and tested. The biologically available Pb method uses many prehistoric animal tooth enamel samples to establish a baseline for local ratios in the region, then compares their ratios’ linear patterning to human remains to test if they are non-local. The case study compares Pb isotopes from prehistoric animal teeth, human teeth, and whole rocks from southwest Arkansas. These results are compared to animal samples from Louisiana and Mississippi and human data from Illinois and New Mexico. Soil leachates, Pb concentrations of tooth enamel, and trace element analysis are used to assess contamination. Comparisons to southwest Arkansas whole rock Pb isotope ratios suggest they are too variable to be used for direct comparison to ancient human remains, illustrating that prehistoric animal teeth are more appropriate for direct comparison to prehistoric human teeth. The biologically available Pb method provides a key analysis tool needed for studies of ancient human sourcing.

Redescription and Recognition of Etheostoma cyanorum from Blue River, Oklahoma

Etheostoma cyanorum, endemic to the Blue River drainage of southern Oklahoma, is redescribed and recognized as a distinct species within the Etheostoma whipplei–Etheostoma radiosum complex, separating it from E. radiosum. Originally described as Poecilichthys radiosus cyanorum, it was one of three putative subspecies of E. radiosum (with E. r. radiosum and E. r. paludosum) considered valid until now, defined in part by drainage-specific allopatry. Two separate mtDNA gene trees show that E. cyanorum forms a distinct and strongly supported lineage. Ten meristic and 16 morphometric traits are reexamined and new information included, confirming traits separating E. cyanorum from E. radiosum, and clarifying ambiguities about “bluntness of the snout” as diagnostic for P. r. cyanorum. Etheostoma cyanorum differs from E. radiosum by lower counts of unpored lateral line scales, higher counts of pored lateral line scales, and greater interorbital width. Large adult E. cyanorum have a deep body and blunt snout per earlier studies, but those traits are not diagnostic due to allometry. Head depth and head width can separate E. cyanorum from most populations of E. radiosum, but they overlap with some populations of E. radiosum in southwest Arkansas. All evidence supports recognition of E. cyanorum as a valid species. A broad geographic, molecular assessment to supplement existing morphological information is needed to assess validity of the two remaining subspecies of E. radiosum.

An Engraved Bulbous-Necked Caddo Bottle from 41OR33 at the mouth of the Sabine River, Orange County, Texas

41OR33 is a large prehistoric shell midden deposit in Orange County, Texas, about 8.5 miles southwest of the city of Orange, at the mouth of the Sabine River and just north of Sabine Lake in Southeast Texas. Before the site was destroyed for road fill in October 1956, limited archaeological investigations had been done there by avocational archaeologists and then by E. Mott Davis of The University of Texas at Austin. During that work, a number of Native American burials were exposed and excavated, including one burial with an engraved bulbous-necked ancestral Caddo ceramic bottle. The bottle was donated by Edgar W. Brown, Jr. to UT in October 1956. I recently documented this vessel, which is a far-flung companion to bulbous-necked and spool-necked Caddo bottles from post-A.D. 1600 sites in the Red River and Ouachita River basins in East Texas and Southwest Arkansas as well as several post-A.D. 1600 sites in East Texas such as the Taylor site (41HS3) in the Big Cypress Creek basin.

A Preliminary Comparison of Two Caddo Mound Sites in Southwest Arkansas

Previous Arkansas Archeological Survey excavations at the Hedges site in the Ouachita River valley and the Hughes site in the Saline River valley uncovered evidence of burned structures adjacent to the mounds. An overview of the artifact analyses indicates that the sites were roughly contemporaneous, with intensive use by ancestral Caddo Indians during the Late Caddo period, between the AD 1400s and 1600s. This presentation summarizes the research findings to emphasize comparisons in timing, activities, and community plans.

The Consideration of the Caddo Area in “Food Production in Native North America: An Archaeological Perspective”

Kristen J. Gremillion has written “a highly selective survey of Native North American food production systems from an archaeological perspective,” with a particular focus on plant food production in the Eastern Woodlands and the Southwest. The time frame of the book spans the period from ca. 3000 B.C. to post-European contact, extending up to ca. A.D. 1800. The archaeological evidence for plant food production in the Caddo Archaeological Area of Southwest Arkansas, Northwest Louisiana, eastern Oklahoma, and East Texas is mentioned by Gremillion, but only rather briefly in her chapter entitled “the Rise of the Three Sisters: Maize in the Eastern Woodlands.”

Results from Magnetic Gradient Surveys at the Walnut Branch (41CE47), Ross I (41CE485), and Ross II (41CE486) Sites in Cherokee County, Texas

The use of magnetic gradient surveys at Caddo sites located throughout the Caddo people’s ancestral lands within the current areas of East Texas, Southwest Arkansas, Northwest Louisiana, and eastern Oklahoma has been very successful in the elucidation and mapping of the distributional characteristics of buried cultural features. In March 2018, three Caddo sites in East Texas (41CE47, 41CE485, 41CE486) were surveyed and the results add to the growing corpus of remote sensing spatial data. The recent survey work was conducted in order to assess the nature of sub-surface preservation of archaeological deposits in different environmental and historical contexts and to map the distribution of geophysical anomalies attributed to the Caddo occupations. The following presents results and preliminary interpretations.

Report on Magnetic Gradient Survey at Three Caddo Sites in East Texas

The use of magnetic gradient at Caddo sites located throughout the Caddo people’s ancestral lands within the current areas of east Texas, southwest Arkansas, northeast Louisiana, and eastern Oklahoma has been very successful in the elucidation and mapping of the distributional characteristics of buried cultural features. January 2016 surveys conducted at three Caddo sites in East Texas (41CE475, 41CE476, and 41CE477) add to this growing corpus of remote sensing spatial data. The survey work was conducted in order to assess the nature of sub-surface preservation in different environmental and historical contexts and map the distribution of geophysical anomalies attributed to Caddo occupations. The following article presents results and preliminary interpretations.

Effigy Pottery in the Joint Educational Consortium’s Hodges Collection

As part of on-going documentation of the Joint Educational Consortium’s Hodges Collection, 31 ceramic effigy vessels or vessel fragments are described. Most were dug by Thomas and Charlotte Hodges or Vere Huddleston in the 1930s-1940s from sites in the Middle Ouachita archeological region of southwest Arkansas. By documenting these vessels and what is known of their archeological contexts, we can better employ them in future analyses of regional variation, iconography, and interactions between the Caddo Area and the Mississippian Southeast.

Plowing Prairies and Raising Stock: Historical Ecology and Community Life on the Cotton Frontier of Southwest Arkansas

The first half of the 19th century was a time of great change across the American landscape. In Arkansas, social, economic, and environmental transformations occurred as free and enslaved settlers established new ways of life along the southwestern edge of the United States during the decades following the Louisiana Purchase. By introducing an approach that draws from historical ecology and practice theory, this article applies interdisciplinary methods to explore the antebellum community of Ozan Township, which grew around the town of Washington, Arkansas. Diverse sources shed light on dynamic relationships between people and their environment that have existed within this compelling portion of the South’s cotton frontier.

052 Effects of stocking rate, forage management, and grazing management on performance and economics of cow-calf production in Southwest Arkansas

The objectives of this research were to determine the impacts of grazing management practices, including rotational grazing, stockpiling bermudagrass, and cool-season annual grasses on productivity and economics of spring calving cows (n = 72/yr, BW = 547 ± 33.2 kg) grazing bermudagrass pastures (n = 9, 4.7 ha). Treatments included: CG - low intensity management with continuous grazing at a moderate stocking rate (SR, 0.8 ha/cow); MR - intensive management at moderate SR (0.8 ha/cow); HR – intensive management with high stocking rates (0.4 ha/cow). Stockpiling in MR and HR was managed by fertilization of 0.2 ha/cow of bermudagrass in early August with 168 kg ammonium nitrate and deferring grazing until November. Wheat (112 kg/ha) and annual ryegrass (28 kg/ha) were established (0.2 ha/cow) in HR and MR by interseeding with a no-till drill in the fall. Cow and calf performance and economics data were analyzed by ANOVA using the mixed procedure of SAS (SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC) and pregnancy percentage was analyzed using GLIMMIX, pasture was the experimental unit and year the random block. Hay feeding days decreased (P < 0.01) from 106 ± 10.9 d for CG to 37 ± 10.9 d for HR which was further reduced (P = 0.01) to 15 ± 10.9 d for MR. Pregnancy percentage tended (P = 0.08) to be greater for HR (88 ± 3.5%) than MR (80 ± 4.6%) and CG (78 ± 4.7%) which did not differ (P = 0.74). Weaning weights in CG (238 ± 7.4 kg) tended (P = 0.09) to be greater than MR (228 ± 7.4 kg) and were greater (P < 0.01) than HR (220 ± 6.8 kg). However, total weaning weight per hectare was 89% greater (P < 0.01) for HR compared with CG and MR, which did not differ (P = 0.31). With rotational stocking there was the opportunity to harvest excess forage as hay in both MR and HR with a net value of $52.90/ha and $15.50/ha ± 6.99, respectively. Net returns per hectare did not differ (P = 0.39) between CG ($536 ± 65.82/ha) and MR (641.70 ± 65.82/ha), but were increased (P< 0.01) by 107% by HR ($1,221.29 ± 65.82/ha). Using rotational grazing, stockpiled bermudagrass, and complementary cool-season annual grasses can drastically reduce winter feed requirements and simultaneously increase carrying capacity and net return.

The Jonas Short Site (41SA101), San Augustine County, Texas

The Jonas Short site (41SA101) is one of a few known and investigated Woodland period mounds in the Trans–Mississippi south (i.e., East Texas, Northwest Louisiana, Southwest Arkansas, and Southeast Oklahoma). In fact, the site is one of only four identified mound sites of possible Woodland period age—and Mossy Grove cultural tradition—in the Neches–Angelina and Sabine river basins in East Texas and Northwest Louisiana: Coral Snake (16SA48), Anthony (16SA7), Jonas Short, and Westerman (41HO15). The Jonas Short site was located on an alluvial terrace of the Angelina River. It was investigated in 1956 by archaeologists from the University of Texas and the River Basin Survey prior to its inundation by the waters of Lake Sam Rayburn.

Eagle Burials on Red River Caddo Sites

A wide variety of birds are found in faunal assemblages from Caddo sites in southwest Arkansas, northwest Louisiana, eastern Oklahoma, and East Texas, particularly turkey as well as ducks and geese. One of the rarest avifauna recovered on Caddo sites of any age is that of the eagle, including bald eagles and golden eagles.

Copper Artifacts from Caddo Sites in the Southern Caddo Area

Copper artifacts have been found at only 18 Caddo sites in the southern Caddo area of Southwest Arkansas, Northwest Louisiana, southeastern Oklahoma, and East Texas. Most of these exotic copper artifacts are found in burial mound context in important civic-ceremonial centers, or in burials in non-mound cemeteries. About 80 percent of the known copper artifacts occur in contexts in sites that date to the Early Caddo period (ca. A.D. 1000-1200). These copper items likely are linked to the Cahokia exchange system, and represent prestige goods with ritual status acquired and displayed by leaders in different Caddo communities. By Late Caddo period times (ca. A.D. 1400-1680), copper items tend to be ear spools, especially copper-covered stone ear spools. Copper continued to be used as personal ornaments linked to specific Caddo individuals, but they no longer served for objects that may have been involved in public ritual, as there are no effigies, sheet copper hand cutouts, or maskettes from Late Caddo contexts as there were in Early or Middle Caddo period contexts.

A reanalysis of strontium isotopes from a skull and mandible cemetery at the Crenshaw site: Implications for Caddo interregional warfare

The 352 individuals from a skull and mandible cemetery at the Crenshaw site (3MI6) in southwest Arkansas have been argued to represent non-Caddo victims of warfare from other regions. Strontium isotopes taken from 80 individuals were processed as part of a NAGPRA grant and have been used to claim they supported evidence of interregional warfare between the Caddo and groups in the Southern Plains. A second analysis suggested that the strontium isotopes were subject to diagenesis and unusable for interpretations. A reanalysis of the results and comparison with recent literature shows that the strontium isotope results are valid. This article demonstrates the importance of considering context during analysis. The deer and people from different times and contexts have different strontium isotope ratios. Going beyond evaluating if they are local or non-local, this difference shows the potential for strontium isotope ratios to document settlement pattern change through time. Computing the biologically available strontium range using the mid-range of comparative samples (instead of the mean) is offered as a more theoretically appropriate method for investigating populations suspected of coming from the hinterlands or surrounding sites, such as those at Crenshaw. When the mid-range method is used, all individuals match the local range. Strontium isotopic data from other regions including the Midwest and Southern Plains suggest that the skulls and mandibles were not likely coming from these regions. Instead, it is hypothesized that they represent a local burial practice associated with a dispersed settlement pattern at the time the Caddo were adopting maize as a staple.

Hesperornithiform Birds from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of Arkansas, USA

The Late Cretaceous Hesperornithiformes constitute a geographically expansive order of early birds, spanning the Northern Hemisphere from Asia to North America. Within North America, hesperornithiforms have been reported from as far north as Ellesmere Island in the Arctic to the Gulf Coastal Plain of southwest Arkansas, a distribution spanning the entire Western Interior Seaway. This paper presents two new specimens of Hesperornis from the middle to late Campanian of Arkansas: an isolated phalanx from the third toe and a section of the shaft of a tibiotarsus. These are the second and third occurrences of Hesperornis from the southeastern-most portion of the range in North America. An expanded description of the only other hesperornithiform material from Arkansas, an isolated partial tarsometatarsus, is also provided. Morphometric comparisons with other hesperornithiforms show that these specimens are some of the largest known individuals of Hesperornis.

ZOOMORPHIC EFFIGY PENDANTS: AN EXAMINATION OF STYLE, MEDIUM, AND DISTRIBUTION IN THE CADDO AREA

Caddo zoomorphic effigy pendants were crafted from a wide variety of raw material, such as freshwater mussel shell, Busycon perversum (whelk) marine shell, animal bone, and various types of soft stone. They have been documented at contemporaneous Late Caddo (A.D. 1400–1700) sites along the Red River in northeast Texas, southwest Arkansas, and northwest Louisiana; the Black Bayou, Big Cypress Bayou, and upper Sabine River basins in northeast Texas; the Ouachita River in south-central Arkansas; and the Arkansas River in central Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. This paper describes the development of a comprehensive corpus that investigates stylistic groups, differential raw material or medium utilized, and the spatial distribution of zoomorphic effigy pendants throughout the Caddo area. Results reveal north-south heterogeneity, suggesting the presence of broader traditional cultural narratives associated with a complex idea that is manifest regionally in distinct stylistic forms and linked to Caddo beliefs concerning Beneath World themes. Additionally, this stylistic and spatial analysis offers an additional dataset to further explore social, political, and economic linkages among and between contemporary Caddo groups around A.D. 1500.

The T. N. Coles Site (41RR3): An Early Caddo Period Burial Mound Site on the Sulphur River, Red River County, Texas

The T. N. Coles site (41RR3), also known as the Mustang Creek site, is an Early Caddo period (ca. A.D. 1000-1200) site with a single burial mound constructed on a tributary to the Sulphur River in East Texas. The site was never investigated by a professional archaeologist, but the available information about the site and the artifact findings indicate that the burial mound contained (and may still contain) at least one burial with multiple interments, very similar to Early Caddo period shaft tombs at the Gahagan and Mounds Plantation sites on the Red River in Northwest Louisiana, the Crenshaw site on the Red River in Southwest Arkansas, and the George C. Davis and Boxed Springs sites on the Neches and Sabine rivers in East Texas.

The Distribution of Passenger Pigeon on Caddo Sites in the Trans-Mississippi South

Following up on the discovery of 10 passenger pigeon elements from one bird in a Caddo burial feature (Burial 52) at the Mitchell site (41BW4) on the Red River in Bowie County, we have documented the distribution of passenger pigeon on Caddo sites in the Trans-Mississippi South. To date, we have identified 10 Caddo sites dating between ca. A.D. 1160-1710 with passenger pigeon bones, along with two Woodland period sites (generally predating ca. A.D. 800-900) in the region. These sites range as far east as the Saline River basin in Southwest Arkansas, as far west as the George C. Davis (41CE19) and Spike (41DT16) sites in East Texas, as far north as the Spiro site (34Lf40) in eastern Oklahoma, and as far south as the McLelland site (16BO236) in Northwest Louisiana, primarily situated in the Pineywoods. As Jackson and Jackson have noted, the passenger pigeons found on Caddo sites appear to reflect a “southward and westward extension of their range during the Late Woodland period (ca. A.D. 700-1000) that continues into the Caddo era (ca. A.D. 1000-1500), likely reaching East Texas sometime shortly after A.D. 1000.”