Texas Archeological Society Research Articles

Ancestral Caddo Ceramic Traditions ed. by Duncan P. McKinnon, Jeffrey S. Girard and Timothy K. Perttula

Reviewed by: Ancestral Caddo Ceramic Traditions ed. by Duncan P. McKinnon, Jeffrey S. Girard and Timothy K. Perttula Harry J. Shafer Ancestral Caddo Ceramic Traditions. Edited by Duncan P. McKinnon, Jeffrey S. Girard, and Timothy K. Perttula. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2021. Pp. 376. Illustrations, references, index.) The Caddo cultural area encompasses parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana, within which its largest geographic area is East Texas. The ceramic tradition is one of the main material hallmarks of the Caddo. This welcome, comprehensive study of ancestral Caddo ceramics by eighteen contributors presents new perspectives and incorporates not only traditional approaches such as typology and decorative variations but also addresses such topics as technology, ceramic exchange, ideology, and world view. The book is organized into three parts. Part I covers the history of archaeological studies of Caddo ceramics, beginning in the early twentieth century with Clarence B. Moore’s and Mark R. Harrington’s descriptive studies. Woodland period ancestors, who originated Caddo ceramic traditions, began to make pottery some three thousand years ago. Part II covers a variety of topics including ceramic variation, social interactions, stylistic analysis, three-dimensional geometric analysis, and technological [End Page 196] sourcing using instrumental neutron activation analysis. Part III addresses the revival of traditional ceramics by contemporary Caddo potters. Most previous studies of Caddo ceramics in the late-middle twentieth century were typological and were either state- or site-specific. These early efforts were brought together by the original type descriptions published in the Texas Archeological Society’s Introductory Handbook of Texas Archeology (volume 25, 1954). Since that time, much work has been done in the Caddo area as referenced in part I of this book, which then goes far beyond the original typological studies and brings the study of Caddo pottery into contemporary archaeological and anthropological perspectives. Rather than viewing the Caddo area as a whole, the geographic focus now is along specific river systems where ancient tribal units and stylistic variations were concentrated: the Red (chapters 2 and 3), the Ouachita (chapter 4), the Arkansas (chapter 5), and the Sulphur, Neches, and other Texas streams (chapter 6). The book includes historical backgrounds, well-dated chronological schemes for each drainage, and the ceramic typology. New approaches in the study of Caddo ceramics are presented in chapters on non-typological approaches. Chapter 7 addresses vessel function related to salt production and specialized craft production of Caddo fine wares such as Holly Fine Engraved, Spiro Engraved, Hickory Engraved, and Crockett Curvilinear. In chapter 9, we see that interregional interaction and long-distant exchange of fine wares produced by cottage-level craft specialists yielded surprising results. Ross C. Fields presents an interesting and model study of microscale variation in Titus Phase Ripley Engraved bowls in chapter 10 and explores the potential of that approach. In chapter 11, Eloise Frances Gadus considers the scroll, one of the most common design motifs, as a cosmogram “representing the multilevel world theme with the axis mundi at the center” (239). Caddo pottery was made for cooking, storage, and serving. Both utility and fine wares were produced for consumption and exchange. Robert Z. Selden Jr. takes innovative approaches to the study of network analysis of ceramic assemblages in chapter 12, and in chapter 13 examines the morphology of Caddo bottle shapes. Jeri Redcorn’s personal story of the Caddo fine-ware pottery revival and tribal history comprises chapter 14, and Caddo artist, potter, and tribal ambassador Chase Kahwinhut Earles explains in chapter 15 his approach to creating traditional Native American art, his important relationship with archaeologists, and how the art and relationships strengthened his own identity in his culture and past. The book is highly recommended for scholars and archaeologists interested in ceramic analysis in general and Caddo area specifically. While the chapters cover Caddo ceramics in all four states, eastern Texas holds the largest and most diverse regional clusters of ancient Caddo cultures. Furthermore, Caddo pottery distribution extends well into Central Texas. But more specifically, the book provides new perspectives for archaeologists [End Page 197] studying Caddo pottery by addressing the great variety in form and design from ancient to modern times. Harry J. Shafer Witte Museum, San Antonio...

Perspectives on East Texas Archaeology

A key to my career as an archaeologist working in East Texas has been a very successful professional-avocational collaboration on a wide range of projects with individuals and avocational organizations working in East Texas, such as the Northeast Texas Archeological Society, the East Texas Archeological Society, the Valley of the Caddo Archeological Society, the East Texas Caddo Research Group, as well as the Gregg County Historical Museum, among other museums in the region that hold ancestral Caddo archaeological collections. It has been my good fortune to work with a number of very knowledgeable and hard-working East Texas avocational archaeologists and Texas Archeological Stewardship Network members over the years, including Bo Nelson (who has gone on to establish a professional career as an archaeologist and also start his own CRM firm, Tejas Archaeology, in 1997), Mark Walters, Tom Middlebrook, Patti Haskins, Robert L. Turner, Jr., Kevin Stingley, Bryan Boyd, Mike Turner, Mark Thatcher, Gary W. Cheatwood, Clyde Amick, Lee Green, and Bill Young, among others.

The Archaeological Findings from the East Texas Archeological Society 2018 Field Day at the Bowles Creek Site (41CE475), Cherokee County, Texas

The Bowles Creek site is a substantial Historic Caddo period Allen phase settlement on a natural rise in the Bowles Creek floodplain in the Neches River basin in East Texas. There have been several rounds of work completed at the site, and other ancestral Caddo sites in the Bowles Creek valley since the Bowles Creek site was first recorded by Stingley, including intensive shovel testing, the excavation of a number of 1 x 1 m units in various parts of the site, and the remote sensing of a 2400 square meter area in the southern part of the site. In this article, we discuss the archaeological findings from work done at the site in May 2018 by the East Texas Archeological Society.

The Decorated Ceramic Sherds, Plain Rim Sherds, and Clay Pipe Sherds from the Stallings Ranch Site (41LR297), Lamar County, Texas

Excavations at the Gene and Ruth Ann Stallings Ranch site (41LR297) during the 2005 and 2006 Texas Archeological Society Field Schools, as well as 2004 excavations by the Valley of the Caddo Archeological Society, recovered an interesting assemblage of prehistoric ceramics. In this article, I analyze the 88 decorated sherds, the 99 plain rims, and the 67 clay pipe sherds found during that work. In addition to characterizing the assemblage of vessel sherds and pipes in terms of decorative style and various technological attributes (i.e., temper and paste, firing conditions, surface treatment, etc.), I am also concerned with establishing the temporal and cultural affiliation of the recovered ceramics, particularly with respect to determining whether the ceramics found at the Stallings site are primarily from a Fourche Maline Woodland period occupation or a later, post-A.D. 800 Caddo ancestral occupation.

Documentation of Ancestral Caddo Ceramic Vessels from the Harold Williams Site (41CP10), Camp County, Texas

The Harold Williams site (41CP10) is a large ancestral Caddo community cemetery on Dry Creek in the Big Cypress Creek basin in Camp County, Texas. Caddo burials and associated ceramic vessel funerary offerings have been discovered and dug at the Harold Williams site since the 1940s, and in 1967 the Texas Archeological Society (TAS) held their annual field school at the site. During the course of the 1967 TAS excavations in Area A and B, several burial features were encountered and excavated, and these had associated ceramic vessels and other grave goods. These vessels were illustrated and cursorily described by Turner and Smith, and they were from Late Caddo period Titus phase graves. Recently two boxes of TAS Field School materials from the Harold Williams site were re-examined at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, and a number of whole and partial Caddo ceramic vessels from the TAS work were re-discovered. I took the opportunity to examine and document these vessels in detail, and the results of these analyses are presented in this article.

The Joe Meyer Estate #1 Site (41SM73) on Saline Creek in the Upper Neches River Basin in East Texas

The Joe Meyer Estate #1 site (41SM73) is an ancestral Caddo settlement and cemetery on an upland landform west of Saline Creek, a southern-flowing tributary of the Neches River in the upper Neches River basin. In the spring of 1957 members of the East Texas Archeological Society (ETAS), including John Mulligan, Sam Whiteside, Derrell Sanders, and Jowell Proctor, had located the site and commenced excavations. The site had substantial midden deposits as well as Caddo burial features. W. A. Davis and E. Mott Davis of The University of Texas visited the site in April 1957, took notes on the burial features and associated funerary offerings, and obtained a surface collection of artifacts. The summer of 1957, LeRoy Johnson, Jr. visited the site and obtained a surface collection as part of a broader survey of Blackburn Crossing Reservoir (now Lake Palestine) on the Neches River. In December 1957, E. Mott Davis visited the site again, at which time ETAS members had excavated two test pits (A and B) in the midden deposits. In June 1969 George Kegley and Dan Witter returned to the site, and made a small surface collection. They also noted that at least 25 Caddo burials (some, if not all, of apparent post-A.D. 1400 age based on the finding of Poynor Engraved vessels) had been excavated in 1966-1967 in another cemetery at the site; one of the main excavators of this cemetery was William “Red” McFarland of Whitehouse, Texas, a well known East Texas digger; this same cemetery may have also been explored by Buddy Jones and ETAS members some years before, where two burials were excavated. Finally, in August 1969 and March 1970, archaeologists from Southern Methodist University (SMU) returned to the Joe Meyer Estate #1 site as part of a more intensive survey of proposed Lake Palestine. A large assemblage of ceramic sherds (n=596) was collected from the surface of the site as part of this survey. About 86 percent of the decorated sherds in this assemblage were from brushed jars, suggesting the sherds were collected from a Late Caddo occupation area, probably an occupation dating to the 17th century given the very high proportion of brushed sherds in the decorated sherd assemblage. The Joe Meyer Estate #1 site was not one of the sites selected for excavation by SMU before construction of the reservoir, likely because the site was not to be inundated by the reservoir flood pool. There have been no professional archaeological investigations at the site since 1970.

East Texas Archeological Society, Tyler, Texas, 1956-1959

The East Texas Archeological Society (ETAS) was formed in Tyler, Texas, on June 26, 1956. The last record of any activity by that society was in 1959. This article is an attempt to document the brief history of that organization and identify some of the key players associated with it. One of those that played a major role was my late uncle, Sam Whiteside. His family graciously gave permission to study his notes and records, which included the records from the ETAS. Unfortunately, Mr. Whiteside suffered from a debilitating disease that became acute in the summer of 1959, requiring hospitalization, and rendered him incapable of any further productive activity. His notes are not complete, but I will present what information is available. As a teenager, I belonged to the ETAS and attended the 1958 Texas Archeological Society (TAS) annual meeting in Tyler, Texas; the TAS annual meeting was not held in Tyler again until 2012. I was fortunate that Mr. Whiteside included me on some of his visits to area salvage projects that were being conducted in East Texas during this period. His son Jim Whiteside and I also helped him on several of his projects on Caddo sites in East Texas. He inspired me to continue that interest until the present.

Analysis of the Prehistoric Artifact Assemblage of Ceramic and Lithic Artifacts from 41LR351, Lamar County, Texas

Site 41LR351 was first recorded during the 2005 Texas Archeological Society summer field school on the Stallings Ranch in Lamar County, Texas. This prehistoric site is on a natural knoll (420-430 feet amsl) in the headwaters of Pine Creek, a northward-flowing tributary of the Red River, in the Post Oak Savannah. The site has been excavated by the Valley of the Caddo Archeological Society, and a large prehistoric Caddo ceramic assemblage has been recovered, along with a substantial chipped stone tool and debris assemblage. The analysis of the ceramic and lithic artifact assemblages from the site is the subject of this article.

Analysis of Ceramic Sherds from the Mid-18th Century Gilbert Site on Lake Fork Creek, Rains County, Texas

The Gilbert site (41RA13) is an important mid-18th century American Indian site on an alluvial terrace along Lake Fork Creek, adjacent to the upper part of Lake Fork Reservoir in Rains County, Texas. The site was first investigated in 1962 by the Dallas Archeological Society, and based on the findings from that work, the Texas Archeological Society (TAS) had a field school at the site in June and July 1962. There are several notable features of the Gilbert site. First, it contains 21 midden mounds about 6-9 m in diameter and ca. 1 m in height spread out over ca. 50 aces of the alluvial terrace landform. The middens do not represent habitation features, as the “only occupational features discovered besides the middens were two pits that were evidently used for storing grain or other products. No house floors, post-mold patterns, burials, hearths, or other such structural remains were found." Further investigation by Blaine identified other midden features (discussed further below, and the source of the ceramic sherds discussed in this article) and a well-preserved bell-shaped storage pit in Feature 20. The newly-discovered midden features were not mounded or had a clay cap, and neither contained any evidence of structural remains or features. Structural features are considered more likely to be found in inter-midden areas than in the middens themselves. A second notable feature of the Gilbert site is the abundance of mid-18th century European trade goods in the archeological deposits, much of it likely obtained from French traders. These goods include metal tools (knives, axes, wedges, hatchets, hoes, scrapers, awls, chisels, scissors, arrow points, and a Spanish sword hilt), gun parts, ornaments (especially glass trade beads), brass kettles, horse trappings, fl at and bottle glass, and chipped glass pieces. Third, there was a substantial aboriginal ceramic sherd assemblage from the Gilbert site. The analysis of the sherds suggested that they are from vessels “too stylistically and technologically diverse to represent only one locally-produced ceramic complex." Furthermore, “the majority, and perhaps even all, of the decorated ceramics [at the site] are derived ultimately from the Caddoan [sic], particularly Fulton Aspect [Late Caddo period], tradition. Many close parallels exist in the modes and styles of decoration, paste characteristics, and vessel forms." And lastly, the various results of the investigations suggested that the site was a village occupied by southern Wichita groups, possibly the Tawakoni, Kichai, or Yscani Indians. This conclusion is far from uniformly accepted, a point I will return to in the final section of this article. In the remainder of this article, I discuss the analysis of a small collection of previously unstudied ceramic sherds from two midden features (F-B3 and F-B4) excavated by Jay and Jerrylee Blaine from the Gilbert site. The focus of the analysis is to characterize the principal stylistic and technological characteristics of the ceramic sherd assemblages from these two middens, compare this assemblage in those aspects with the larger assemblage from numerous middens studied by Story, and then offer my own interpretation of the cultural affiliations of the Gilbert site occupants based on the ceramic sherd assemblage data.

Erratum

know and what is supposition? It is in this respect and this respect alone, that Reséndez strays from that fine line between popular and academic writing. Historians will certainly enjoy this volume, but will gain the most from the detailed endnotes and the lengthy “Further Reading” section, which offer a comprehensive guide to the most recent research on Cabeza de Vaca. University of North Texas Aaron W. Navarro Historic Native Peoples of Texas. By William C. Foster. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2008. Pp. 364. Maps, illustration, appendices, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 978-0-29271-792-3. $60.00, cloth. ISBN 978-0-29271-793-0. $24.94, paper.) In the past decade or so, William C. Foster has edited several books that have dealt with the journals of various Spanish and French expeditions into Texas that took place in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. In the work under review here, Foster has employed more than twenty diary and journal accounts of early European expeditions that have been published in English— from Cabeza de Vaca in 1528 to Governor Marqués de San Miguel de Aguayo in 1721–1722—in order to describe the historic Native peoples of Texas during that two century period. The author divides the entire state of Texas into eight separate regions—between the Lower Brazos and the Lower Colorado Rivers; between the Lower Colorado and the San Antonio Rivers; the Central Texas Coast; South Texas; the Texas Trans-Pecos; the Texas Southern Plains; Northeast Texas; and the Upper Texas Coast—and then describes the various European expeditions that traversed each area over the course of two hundred years, paying particular attention to the different Indian tribes they encountered as well as the flora and the fauna. Accompanying each regional account is an annotated list of named Indian tribes in the area and maps that show tribal territories and European expedition routes. For example, Study Area II is concerned with the region between the Lower Colorado River and the San Antonio River. Eight European expeditions entered the region between 1686 and 1722: La Salle, Joutel, De León, Terán, Salinas, Espinosa, Alarcón, and Aguayo. Foster describes the physical attributes of the region and then provides outlines for the route of each Spanish and French interloper. He then discusses each tribe mentioned in the journals, including any special observations the chronicler made. Finally, Foster supplements the chapters by providing an alphabetical list of the fifty-six Indian groups that were encountered by the Europeans. After going through each region, Foster then draws interesting conclusions about the Texas Indians during this crucial period, the most obvious being that the Native peoples of Texas displayed a broad range of cultures and followed a wide variety of lifestyles. Despite the wide cultural variations in the Texas Native population, the author also identifies several common cultural traits among the various tribes. The Indians of Texas shared an exceptionally strong propensity for long-distance movement, trade, and interaction with other tribal groups, 2009 Book Reviews 315 *jan 09 11/26/08 12:00 PM Page 315 leading Foster to conclude that “the Native peoples in all areas seem much less provincial than most writers portray” (p. 243). A second common cultural feature that extended throughout all Native groups in the state was the firm and deep belief in a spiritual realm. Finally, Foster includes two appendices that list the twenty animals and forty plants that are mentioned in the journals. In the end, Foster’s work here is short on analysis and interpretation, but provides a very useful encyclopedic regional account of the Europeans and Native peoples of Texas who encountered one another during the relatively unexamined two hundred years before the Spanish occupation of Texas and the French establishment of Louisiana. University of North Texas F. Todd Smith La Salle in Texas: A Teacher’s Guide for the Age of Discovery and Exploration. By Pam Wheat-Stranahan, DVD by Alan Govenar. (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2007. Pp. 150. Illustrations, TEKS, DVD, glossary, bibliography . ISBN 978-1-58544-607-4. $24.95, paper.) Pam Wheat-Stranahan, executive director of the Texas Archeological Society and seasoned educator...

Archaeological Investigations Along James Bayou in Marion County, Texas and Caddo Parish, Louisiana

This is a report on archaeological investigations conducted along James Bayou in Marion County, Texas, and Caddo Parish, Louisiana, between 1991- 1993. This work was done primarily by Claude McCrocklin (Shreveport, Louisiana) and a large group of volunteers, some from the Northeast Texas Archeological Society and others from the Northwest Chapter of the Louisiana Archaeological Society, assisted by Perttula and Nelson on occasion. With the permission of McCrocklin, we analyzed the recovered artifacts and available notes/records/ site reports to prepare this article summarizing the archaeological findings of the project. James Bayou, also known as Coushatta Jim’s Bayou, Jim’s Bayou, and Jeems Bayou, is an eastward and southward-flowing tributary to Big Cypress Bayou and Caddo Lake. “On an upper portion of this bayou there was a small, deep lake formed by stream scour between bluffs that later came to be known as Monterey Lake. Before the 1800s, this was the only permanent lake in the region." Caddo Lake at its maximum extent may have reached elevations (although fluctuating) between 173-180 feet amsl, based on historic maps, studies of lacustrine deposits on the lake bed, and relict shorelines. The main purpose of the archaeological investigations was to identify the location or locations of the early 19th century Caddo Indian village known to have been situated in the vicinity of James Bayou, at the upper end of what was then Caddo Lake. The archaeological investigations reported on herein began in the Monterey Lake area of James Bayou. During the course of these archaeological investigations, a number of archaeological sites were located along James Bayou, and the findings from these sites are discussed below. “Several possible components of the [Caddo] village were located, but for one reason or another, no conclusive identifications could be made." McCrocklin, however, continued to periodically conduct archaeological survey and metal detecting investigations along James Bayou, and in 1998, he located several areas of an early 19th century Caddo archaeological site (41MR211) on the south side of James Bayou. The location and character of this site is consistent with the historical and archival sources concerning the James Bayou Caddo village, that being “on a bayou or creek… which is navigable for pirogues only, within about six miles of their village, and that only in the rainy season." This site in the recent archaeological literature has been identifi ed as the site of Timber Hill or Sha’chahdinnih, although other locations for that village south of Caddo Lake have been proposed by Tiller. The Texas Historical Commission conducted excavations at one area (Area 3) of 41MR211 in 1999.

Analysis of the Prehistoric Caddo Ceramics from 41LR351, Lamar County, Texas

Site 41LR351 was first recorded during the 2005 Texas Archeological Society summer field school on the Stallings Ranch in Lamar County, Texas. This prehistoric site is on a natural knoll (420-430 feet amsl) in the headwaters of Pine Creek, a northward-flowing tributary of the Red River. The site is currently being excavated by the Valley of the Caddo Archeological Society, and a large prehistoric Caddo ceramic assemblage has been recovered that warrants study. In addition to characterizing the assemblage of vessel sherds in terms of decorative style and various technological attributes (i.e., temper and paste, firing conditions, surface treatment, etc.), I am also concerned with establishing the temporal and cultural affiliation of the recovered ceramics from 41LR351.

The Henry Chapman Site (41SM56)

In the mid-1950s, Sam Whiteside conducted excavations at the Henry Chapman site, his site P-5 (41SM56), on Prairie Creek in eastern Smith County, Texas, some 18 miles east of Tyler, Texas. Mr. Whiteside was an amateur archaeologist who discovered and explored numerous sites up and down Prairie Creek as well as other important sites in Smith and adjoining counties. The Chapman site was one of the first sites to be investigated by Mr. Whiteside, and the major part of the work took place there in 1957 and 1958. In August 1957, the site was visited by Edward B. Jelks and Leroy Johnson, who viewed the excavations and examined artifacts collected from there. Mr. Jelks, in notes on record at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL) at The University of Texas in Austin, Texas, on August 21, 1958, indicated after observing the artifacts from the Henry Chapman site that the ceramics indicated an Alto focus occupation. He recognized Hickory Engraved and Holly Fine Engraved wares as well as Dunkin Incised and possible Pennington Punctated-Incised sherds. He mentioned that no Crockett Curvilinear Incised or Weches Fingernail Impressed sherds were present (two common types present at the Alto focus type site, the George C. Davis site [41CE19]). E. Mott Davis also visited the site in late 1957, and in February 1959, Davis, Lathel F. Duffield, and William A. Davis collected skeletal material from the site. In a June 15, 1958, newsletter from the East Texas Archeological Society (ETAS), Mr. Whiteside described excavations at the Henry Chapman site that had revealed refuse pits, post holes, and an abundance of pottery sherds indicative of an Alto focus occupation. In the summer of 1983, Mr. Whiteside visited the University of Texas Field School at the George C. Davis site, where he loaned some of his notes and collections from the Chapman site for recording purposes (these are on file at TARL). After Mr. Whiteside’s death, his family graciously allowed me access to his notes and artifacts. Not all of the artifacts have survived, having been stored in paper bags and subjected to several moves, but thanks to Mr. Whiteside’s writing lot numbers on artifacts and listing them in a journal, a majority of them have survived, and thus are suitable for study. Although 50 years have passed since Mr. Whiteside’s work at the Henry Chapman site, it is my intent to now make that work public.

The Lake Clear (41SM243) Site and Crotalus horridus atricaudatus

I fell heir to a collection of prehistoric Caddo sherds from my late Uncle Sam Whiteside and a location on a 7.5’ topographic map labeled Lake Clear. Sam Whiteside during the period from the mid-1950s to the late 1960s was very active in the East Texas area working through the old East Texas Archeological Society headquartered in Tyler, Texas. The name Lake Clear was vaguely familiar but a check of local maps failed to reveal its location. However, an older map jolted my memory. The lake had been built on east Mill Creek west of Winona, Texas, as a club lake. For some reason, the project was abandoned after a short period of time and the lake was drained and turned into pasture. Although I have never even visited the site location, but did record it in 2000, I felt that writing this article was justified in order to (1) describe this interesting collection of Caddo sherds and (2) compare one aspect of the sherds—the engraved rattlesnake motif found on several Lake Clear sherds—to other known examples in the Caddo archeological area. This was not a new idea but had been hashed around in prior years by Tim Perttula, Tom Middlebrook, and the late Jim Corbin, among others. Tim Perttula was especially helpful in sharing his notes. Perhaps the most important part of research is knowing when to stop. I realize that other examples of the rattlesnake motif in Caddo pottery will appear in the future, hopefully spurred on by this article, and if someone else would like to take up the subject where I have left off, I would be pleased.

Archaeological Investigations and Oxidizable Carbon Ratio Dates from 41RK476, Rusk County, Texas

Volunteer survey work on a section of Rabbit Creek in Rusk County, Texas, found a possible buried midden deposit at 41RK476. This ongoing survey, which has resulted in 10 new sites being recorded, was conducted with the assistance of Bryan Boyd, also a member of the Texas Archeological Society and the Texas Archeological Stewards Network. Also aiding with shovel tests were Bo Nelson, Patti Haskins, Tim Perttula, and Bobby Gonzalez. Of particular interest in selecting this area for archaeological survey was the presence of protohistoric Caddo and historic Cherokee Indian groups that have been reported on Rabbit Creek. The creek derives its name from Chief Rabbit, a Cherokee chief. With the landowner's permission a 1 x 2 m test unit was placed at 41RK476 adjacent to a shovel test (ST 1) that indicated a possible midden deposit. This article reports the findings from this limited investigation, and includes a series of Oxidizable Carbon Ratio (OCR) dates financed by a grant from the Texas Archeological Society's Donor Fund.

Bulletin of the Texas Archeological Society, Volume 71 (2000), Austin, Paper.

This annual bulletin of the Texas Archeological Society is a unique contribution specifically focused upon the history of Texas archaeology in a format that no others have done previously. The volume contains 150 pages, the majority of which consists of interviews (146 pages) conducted by the first State Archaeologist of Texas, Curtis Tunnell. In 1968 Tunnell conceived of the idea of obtaining personal interviews from individuals whom he considered his heroes for their pioneering efforts in Texas archeology. This volume entails the first publication of such information, but more will certainly follow. The remaining four pages comprise two different reviews of other publications important in their own right to those interested in Southern Plains archeology of Texas. These two reviews by Timothy K Pertulla and David T. Hughes, respectively, are of The Coronado Expedition to Tierra Nueva: The 1540·1542 Route Across the Southwest by Richard Flint and Shirley Cushing flint, and GaffCreek: Artifact Collection Strategy and Occupation Prehistory on the Southern High Plains, Texas County. Oklahoma. The section by Tunnell titled "In Their Own Words: Stories from Some Pioneer Texas Archeologists" contains numerous previously unpublished photographs of people, sites and artifacts referred to the texts.

The Caddoan Ceramics from the Gray's Pasture Site (41HS524), Harrison County, Texas

This paper discusses the Caddoan ceramics recovered during the 1992 Northeast Texas Archeological Society Field School at the Gray's Pasture site (41HS524) on Clark's Creek, a few miles south of Hallsville, Texas and about 2 miles from the Sabine River floodplain. During the course of the excavations, an extensive Caddoan settlement was documented on a series of knolls on a broad terrace landform overlooking the Clark's Creek floodplain, and each of those areas contains Caddoan ceramics. Most notably, a dense concentration of Caddoan ceramics, as well as two burials with whole ceramic vessels, was encountered in the northwestern part of the site, and the majority of the ceramics are from this area. The four site areas include Areal (Unit 1) on a knoll at the northeastern part of the site, Area II on the terrace at the far eastern end of the site (Units 3 and 7), Area lll on the crest of the landform in the central and southwestern part of the site (Units 2, 5, and 6), and Area IV in the northwestern part of the site (Units 8, 8X, 10-16). Unit 4 belongs in Area III, and contained a number of sherds, but these artifacts are missing, except for one plain sherd. Unit 9, in the southeastern part of the site only had a few plain sherds. A total of 2352 sherds and four vessels comprise the Caddoan ceramic assemblage from Gray's Pasture. This includes 1740 plain body and base sherds, 61 plain rims, and 551 decorated rim and body sherds. About 81% of the sherds are from ArealV, with 9.3% of the sherds from Area III. There are 71 decorated rim sherds and 480 decorated body sherds (not including 11 red slipped sherds). The plain/decorated sherd ratio is 3.27 for the site as a whole, and ranges from 3.21 to 3.69 by site area. This is consistent with other pre-A.D. 1200 Caddoan sites in the Red, middle Sabine, and Neches-Angelina river basins, where such sites have plain/decorated sherd ratios that range between 2.97-4.80. Thirteenth and 14th century sites in these areas have plain/decorated sherd ratios of 1.30- 1.61, and Late Caddoan sites dating between ca. A.D. 1450--1650 have ratios of 0.56- 1.03. Through time, more Caddoan vessels are decorated, and vessels are more completely covered with decoration, rather than having the decoration confined primarily to the rim.

Lake Sam Rayburn Archaeological Site Inventory and Monitoring Project

In January 1995, the East Texas Archeological Society (ETAS), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and the Texas Historical Commission (THC) agreed to cooperate in a partnership project to inventory and monitor archaeological sites along the Lake Sam Rayburn shoreline. A Letter of Intent (LOI-095-02) was formulated and signed, stating that: the participants are mutually interested in fostering integrated problem solving among heritage resource managers regarding historic preservation issues, with special emphasis on training and information sharing. The Forest Service [and the COE] will gain additional information on the condition and location of archeological sites within its ownership along the shores of Sam Rayburn Reservoir. The participants will gain experience in recording and monitoring of site conditions, gain knowledge concerning the effects of shoreline erosion and looting of sites along the shores of Sam Rayburn Reservoir. Finally, the USFS and the COE will profit from the volunteer labor provided by members of ETAS. This paper reports on inventory and monitoring project activities that took place on September 30, 1995, and October 7, 1995 along the northern end of Lake Sam Rayburn. Elaine P. Sherman was the Project Archeologist, and the work was conducted under ARPA permit no. DACW63-95-0656.

A Study in Frustration: Analysis of Human Remains Removed from the Coker Mound Site (41CS1)

Human skeletal remains were removed from the Coker Mound site (41CS1) by unidentified excavators sometime immediately prior to the Texas Archeological Society (TAS) meetings of 1995. Mike Turner, a Steward in the Office of the State Archeologists' Texas Archeological Steward Network and a founding member of the Friends of Northeast Texas Archaeology, was able to retrieve a cranium, mandible; and six cervical vertebrae from this collection for a brief period, bringing them to the TAS meetings. It was his dedication that provided the opportunity for these remains to be studied.

The Middle Caddoan Period in East Texas: A Summary of the Findings of the East Texas Caddoan Research Group

The second meeting of the East Texas Caddoan Research Group (ETCRG) met in San Antonio on October 27, 1996, to consider the archaeology of the Middle Caddoan period in East Texas. The meeting was arranged as a three hour symposium held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Texas Archeological Society. The meeting's format involved the informal presentation by several ETCRG members of major research findings along thematic lines for each of several river basins in the region. The presenters distributed handouts to participants and mixed their comments with slides, photographs, and the hands-on examination of a few selected artifacts. The presentations and discussions were tape-recorded, and transcribed and edited proceedings of the meeting are to be published in a future volume of the Journal of Northeast Texas Archaeology. Brief periods of discussion did occur between the presenters, and the audience participated as well, during the three hour meeting; however, the general consensus of the group was that more time was needed and there was much left to be discussed. This paper attempts to summarize the information presented during the ETCRG meeting, and may (we think) represent a good starting place for continued dialog on the archeology of the Middle Caddoan period, as well as further dialog on the organization and arrangement of future ETCRG meetings. Eight handouts were available to the research group. Four were river basin archaeological summaries prepared by Maynard Cliff (the lower Sulphur River basin), Bo Nelson and Mike Turner (Cypress Creek Drainage basin), Tim Perttula and Brett Cruse (the upper and middle Sabine River basin), and Tom Middlebrook (Attoyac and Angelina River basins). Two handouts not associated with presentations were also prepared for the ETCRG members, namely archaeological summaries of the Middle Caddoan period by Tim Perttula for the middle Red River basin and the upper Sulphur River basin. Jim Corbin provided extensive information on the Middle Caddoan Washington Square Mound site (41NA49) in Nacogdoches County, while Bob Turner discussed archaeological materials found in three Middle Caddoan period cemeteries in Camp and Upshur counties.