The George C. Davis Site, Cherokee County, Texas: Spring 1980 Archeological Investigations

The results of archeological investigations in portions of the George C. Davis Site are presented in this report prepared by Ross Fields and J. Peter Thurmond . Stringent contract requirements and the provisions of Texas Antiquities Permit No. 237 dictate that this report be brief and descriptive in nature. Requirements such as inclusion of a detailed site investigation history and environmental data were excluded and extensive excavations were stressed in preference to detailed analyses and comparisons. Field investigations were limited by contract to 20 working days and the analysis/write-up to 10 working days. The governing research design was prepared by the Texas Antiquities Committee staff to reflect agreements between the Committee and the Texas Forest Service. Sighificant findings include the general delineation of extensive, and in places intensive, Archaic and Late Prehistoric occupations. Of primary importance is the lack of an identifiable Alto Focus occupation within the northern portion of the Davis Site. This suggests that the small left bank tributary to Bowles Creek existed during Alto Focus times and served as a natural boundary for the village area during that period of site usage. There are hints that significant variations in the selection and use of lithic resources through time are identifiable. It is indeed ! unfortunate that time limitations precluded pursuit of this line of investigation. Ross and Pete have successfully accomplished a most challenging task under less than ideal conditions. They and their field crew are commended for their outstanding work at the Davis Site

Girikihaciyan: A Halafian Site in Southeastern Turkey

This report presents the results of excavations undertaken at the site of Girikihaciyan in southeastern Turkey during 1968 and 1970 by the Joint Prehistoric Project, Istanbul-Chicago under the overal direction of Professor Halet Cambel, University of Istanbul, and Professor Robert J. Braidwood, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago.Series: Monographs 3

"THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF TANAMU 1

Presenting results from Tanamu 1, the first site to be published in detail in the Caution Bay Studies in Archaeology series. Yielding well-provenanced and finely dated assemblages of ceramics, faunal remains, and stone and shell artefacts, these remarkable sites extend the range of the Lapita cultural complex to the south coast of Papua New Guinea

41HSS74, The Coleman Farm Site on Starkey Creek

Recent archaeological research on the Middle Caddoan period in Northeast Texas has made it abundantly clear that Middle Caddoan archaeological sites are much more common in the region than previously thought. Furthermore, with additional archaeological investigations, some radiocarbon dates, and a different perspectives on the regional archaeological record, a number of sites in the Sabine River drainage that used to be considered of Late Caddoan age are now more properly seen to be part of an intensive Middle Caddoan settlement of much of the basin. Truly, a broader and more complete view of the important Middle Caddoan period (ca. A.D. 1200-1400) in Northeast Texas looms before us. With the understanding of the Middle Caddoan period increasing anew through field investigations, as well as the synthetic efforts of the East Texas Caddoan Research Group, and the implications of new archaeological findings (such as the Oak Hill Village excavation) a further motivation for new archaeological research, documenting other Middle Caddoan sites remains important. That is the goal of this paper, namely to document an assemblage of lithic and ceramic artifacts from a late Middle Caddoan period component at the Coleman Farm site (41HS574) in Harrison County, Texas. The archaeological materials reported on here are from a surface collection made by Marshall Macintosh at the site in late 1994

The Archaeology of Tanamu 1: A Pre-Lapita to Post-Lapita Site from Caution Bay, South Coast of Mainland Papua New Guinea

[Extract] The discovery in 2010 of stratified Lapita assemblages at Caution Bay near Port Moresby, south coast of mainland Papua New Guinea (PNG) (David et al. 2011; McNiven et al. 2011), brought to the fore a series of important questions (Richards et al. 2016), many of which also apply to other parts of Island Melanesia where Lapita sites have been known for many decades. Unlike other parts of Melanesia, however, at Caution Bay some of the Lapita sites also have pre-Lapita horizons. A number are culturally very rich. At Caution Bay, where the oldest confirmed Lapita finds date to no earlier than c. 2900 cal BP (McNiven et al. 2012a), the major questions do not concern the earliest expressions of Lapita around 3300–3400 cal BP. Rather, here we are concerned more with identifying how assemblages associated with the Lapita cultural complex arrived and transformed along the south coast, after a presence in coastal and island regions to the northeast over the previous 400 years. These concerns contain both spatial and temporal elements: how and when, as a prelude to why, particular cultural traits continued and changed across Caution Bay. Tanamu 1 is the first of 122 archaeological sites excavated in Caution Bay upon which we will report. As a site, it represents the ideal entry point, as being a coastal site which contains pre-Lapita, Lapita and post-Lapita horizons it encapsulates many of the signatures, trends and transformations seen across the >5000 year Caution Bay sequence at large. Of special note in the wider context of Lapita archaeology, the presence of rich pre-Lapita horizons is what makes Caution Bay so important both in and of itself and for the Lapita story

Pushing the Limits: Testing, Magnetometry and Ontario Lithic Scatters

Lithic scatters, small ephemeral clusters of stone artifacts on cultivated surfaces, lie on the periphery of archaeology. These sites are often too ephemeral to be fully understood through standardized fieldwork methodologies mandated in Ontario CRM archaeology and yet, they are widely regarded as worth documenting with hundreds now recorded. In this thesis, it is argued that what are small artifact scatters on the surface can belie more complex subsurface finds of significant cultural and historical value. As such, there is a need to reconsider the approaches made to the investigation of these sites. Geophysical techniques applied early in a scatter’s investigation, particularly magnetometry, have the ability to facilitate the extraction of more pertinent data about past peoples and their activities from such sites. Archaeological work was carried out at two sites near Kitchener, Ontario, in order to evaluate whether surface and excavated artifact densities correlate with preserved subsurface cultural deposits. This work also included a direct and positive attempt at one of the sites to test the utility of magnetometry in this process

Excavations at the Early Caddo Period Mound Pond Site (41HS12) in Harrison County, Texas

This publication summarizes major archaeological findings from the July 1977 excavations at the Mound Pond site (41HS12), in the Pineywoods of Harrison County, Texas. The site lies on the south, or right, bank of Big Cypress Creek in the upper reaches of Caddo Lake, approximately 4 km north of the village of Uncertain. The Mound Pond Site was recorded by Dr. E. Mott Davis (The University of Texas at Austin) in the 1950s, during the time that he was conducting investigations at nearby Lake O’ the Pines Reservoir. Early in 1977, Forrest Murphey, of Marshall, Texas, approached Glenn Goode about assisting in a test excavation of the large mound at the site. Mr. Murphey (now deceased) had been informed that the landowners intended to build a house on the site, and that the mound would be leveled to make a flat surface. Forrest was a knowledgeable avocational archaeologist of the region, having worked for several years with Dr. Clarence H. Webb and others at the Resch site on Potters Creek south of Marshall, Texas. In preparation for this undertaking, Goode conducted a file and library search at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL) at the University of Texas at Austin, and discussed with Dr. Dee Ann Story (director of TARL) the feasibility of attempting such an effort. It was agreed that given the circumstances of impending destruction, an attempt to learn as much as possible in the three weeks available should be made. With Murphey and Goode being the only individuals committed to the entire project, and with no money to hire a crew, they turned to both the avocational and professional communities for assistance. East Texas residents David C. (Dave) Brown of Texarkana Junior College, and Rodney Still, of Kilgore, devoted significant time and expertise to the project. Dave had considerable archaeological experience in East Texas, having worked on several projects for Southern Methodist University in the 1960s. In 1974, Rodney had worked with Goode and the Texas Highway Department at the Marshall Powder Mill excavations, and he was keenly interested in all aspects of Caddo and moundbuilder archaeology

"THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF TANAMU 1

Presenting results from Tanamu 1, the first site to be published in detail in the Caution Bay Studies in Archaeology series. Yielding well-provenanced and finely dated assemblages of ceramics, faunal remains, and stone and shell artefacts, these remarkable sites extend the range of the Lapita cultural complex to the south coast of Papua New Guinea

An Archaeological Survey of a Portion of the Choke Canyon Reservoir Area in McMullen and Live Oak Counties, Texas

An intensive cultural resource survey was carried out on approximately 2544 hectares (6285 acres) of the proposed Choke Canyon Reservoir by the Cultural Resources Institute (CRI) of Texas Tech University from August through October 1977. The project was undertaken in response to needs of the Bureau of Reclamation. This report is one of a multivolume study.\u27concerning the area\u27s cultural resources. During the 1977 survey, 113 archaeological sites, 42 low density artifact scatters, and five isolated finds were located and recorded. A no-collection policy was maintained, except isolated finds. In the late fall 1977, 15 of the recorded sites were subjected to limited testing activities. The cultural resources recorded during the survey document the presence of human groups in the reservoir beginning in late Paleo-Indian times and extending to the present. Based upon the limited occurrence of diagnostic artifacts, most of the prehistoric occupation occurred during the Archaic. Historic sites recorded were occupied primarily during the last quarter of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century. This report documents the research design and particularly the methodology utilized during the project. Special emphasis is given to describing the systematic and intensive survey, as well as to the random/judgmental approach of selecting the various sites for limited testing. Cultural material recovered during testing activities are described in techno-morphological terms. The nature of survey projects in general and the paucity of reliable time markers recovered during field work severely limited the development of a cultural chronology for the study area. Research efforts resulted in the developmert of a model of lithic technology based on the ready availability of raw materials. Also presented is a settlement and subsistence pattern model which is based primarily on a rainy and dry season dichotomy and the availability of food resources.

The Caddo Archaeology of the San Pedro Creek Valley, Houston County, in East Texas

The Nabedache Caddo that lived on San Pedro Creek in Houston County in the East Texas Pineywoods were a prominent nation during the early years of European contact, from ca. A.D. 1687-1730, if not later. Their villages, hamlets, and farmsteads sat astride an aboriginal Caddo trail that came to be known as El Camino Real de los Tejas, and thus their community was a principal gateway to Europeans and other Native American tribes who came from the west in Spanish Texas to meet with the Tejas or Hasinai Caddo peoples. The first Spanish mission in East Texas was established amidst the Nabedache Caddo community in 1690. According to Swanton, Nabedache means the place of the thorny trees with black berries growing on them (beidatco). The “Na” is the Caddo language locative prefix meaning “the place of;” it can also “refer to the people residing at that place”. Rogers and Sabo indicate that Nabedache means “blackberry place.” The archaeology of the Nabedache Caddo, or that of their pre-A.D. 1542 ancestors, is not well understood, primarily because of the dearth of intensive investigations at a range of Nabedache Caddo sites that likely occur along San Pedro Creek as well as nearby streams in the Neches River basin. Work that has been completed, primarily on sites at Mission Tejas State Park, have included surveys and limited test excavations at a few sites that have Caddo material culture remains (sherds from ceramic vessels, chipped stone tools, etc.) and European trade goods, including glass beads, gunflints, lead balls and sprue, an iron hoe, an iron rowel, a possible strike-a-light, an iron gun cock, trigger plate, butt plate finial, and gun barrel fragments, iron cast iron kettle fragments, iron knife fragments, wrought iron nails, brass tinklers, and Spanish majolica sherds. In this article, I discuss the archaeological material culture remains from ancestral Caddo sites along San Pedro Creek, including those known to have been occupied by the Nabedache Caddo peoples after the mid-1680s