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

Data Recovery Excavations at Site 41HR751, Woodforest Road, Harris County, Texas

41HR751 is located in southeastern Harris County, at the confluence of Greens Bayou and an unnamed tributary, both of which are part of the larger Buffalo Bayou/San Jacinto drainage system. 41HR751 was identified during a cultural resource survey of a 65-acre tract of land north of Interstate 10 that was undertaken for the Maxey Road Venture as mandated under United States Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District, Permit Application 18735(02). The site falls along the proposed route for the extension of Woodforest Road between Maxey Road on the east, and Normandy Road on the west, and thus was recommended for National Register Testing. After National Register testing excavations were completed during the summer of 1995 it was determined that 41HR751 was eligible for placement on the National Register of Historic Places. Testing of 41HR751 indicated the site is a well-sealed, multicomponent site containing lithic and ceramic material dating predominantly to the Late Ceramic period. Diagnostic lithics from this period include several Perdiz arrow points or point fragments, while the ceramics include Goose Creek, Baytown and San Jacinto types. Though the majority of artifacts recovered from the site relates to this occupation phase, the recovery of Gary/Kent dart points and Middle Archaic points in the lower levels of the site indicates that the area is likely to have been used over a long period of time. Data Recovery excavations were undertaken by MAC archeologists from March 1 to May 10, 1996 and a total of 35 cubic meters were excavated. Excavations yielded lithic tools dating from the Late Archaic underlain by evidence from the Middle Archaic. However, owing to financial limitations, the focus of the Data Recovery excavations was limited to the upper levels of the site. A series of radiocarbon dates obtained during these Data Recovery excavations allows Woodforest Road to provide some insights into current lithic controversies such as the age of Perdiz points in southeast Texas. Additionally, statistical analysis of the lithic debitage from the site reveals that there were significant changes in site occupation over the course of the ceramic period, both in the way certain areas of the site were used, and possibly in the intensity of occupation. Archeologists were also able to identify several features at the site, and through flotation, identified several of these as possible hearths. It is the opinion of MAC that the proposed project area does not require any further intensive cultural resources survey. No further archeological investigations at site 41HR751 are recommended prior to the construction of Woodforest Road. Artifacts and paper records will be curated at the Center for Archaeological Studies at Texas State University. The project was directed by Principal Investigator Dr. Nicola Hubbard, and staffed by Project Archeologist Tom Dureka, along with archeological technicians including Madeleine Donachie, Bob D’Aigle, Alan Meyers, Sharon Clarkson, Sharon Ferguson, Ibrahim Thiaw, Ann Michelle Huebner, and V. Temple

Settlement and Subsistence in Early Formative Soconusco: El Varal and the Problem of Inter-Site Assemblage Variation

The Soconusco region, a narrow strip of the Pacific coast of Mexico and Guatemala, is the location of some of the earliest pottery-using villages of ancient Mesoamerica. Mobile early inhabitants of the area harvested marsh clams in the estuaries, leaving behind vast mounds of shell. With the introduction of pottery and the establishment of permanent villages (from 1900 B.C.), use of the resource-rich estuary changed. The archaeological manifestation of that new estuary adaptation is a dramatic pattern of inter-site variability in pottery vessel forms. Vessels at sites within the estuary were about seventy percent neckless jars -- "tecomates" -- while vessels at contemporaneous sites a few kilometers inland were seventy percent open dishes. The pattern is well-known, but the the settlement arrangements or subsistence practices that produced it have remained unclear. Archaeological investigations at El Varal, a special-purpose estuary site of the later Early Formative (1250-1000 B.C.) expand possibilities for an anthropological understanding of the archaeological patterns. The goal of this volume is to describe excavations and finds at the site and to propose, based on a variety of analyses, a new understanding of Early Formative assemblage variability.Series: Monographs 6

Archeological Investigations at the Lang Pasture Site (41AN38) in the Upper Neches River Basin of East Texas

Archeological testing at the Lang Pasture site (41AN38) and nearby Site 41AN159, was carried out in 2004 by a team of archeologists from Coastal Environments, Inc. and Archeological & Environmental Consultants, LLC, working under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 3333. Based on these efforts, it was determined that the Lang Pasture site had considerable research potential, as it contained remains of prehistoric Caddo domestic habitation and associated burial features. 41AN159 was found to have been seriously disturbed by historic agricultural activities, and to thus have no significant research potential. Data recovery investigations were recommended for the Lang Pasture Site in anticipation of planned widening of State Highway 155, within the right-of-way of which a significant portion of the site was located. The data recovery work sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation and completed in 2006 by a team from Coastal Environments, Inc. and Archeological & Environmental Consultants, LLC at the Lang Pasture site (41AN38) was carried out under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 4040. This work obtained a wealth of new archeological, bioarchaeological, and paleoenvironmental information about the lives and practices of prehistoric ancestors of the Caddo Indian peoples. This multidisciplinary work has cast a new light on the character and pace of native history of the Caddo in the East Texas region. The data recovery investigations have been particularly important in advancing the field of Caddo archeology in several different respects: (1) work completed in 14th to early 15th century A.D. domestic habitation contexts resulted in the identification of a well-defined series of features from prehistoric Caddo houses, specialized structures (i.e., granaries or ramadas/arbors), and ancillary outdoor activity areas, such that the character of a rural domestic Caddo household in much of East Texas (or at least the Neches-Angelina River basins) has come into better focus; (2) the exposure and excavation of a Caddo family cemetery— and the attempt to determine the regional context for changes in Caddo diet and health—has contributed to an understanding of the bioarcheological character of the Caddo people in the upper Neches River basin that is unparalleled anywhere in the larger Caddo archeological area. The bioarcheological information on diet, health, and pathologies obtained during the course of the Lang Pasture site work provides a sweeping view of more than 800 years of Caddo life that will be relevant to understanding different Caddo peoples and groups in other parts of the Caddo world; (3) the Lang Pasture archeological and bioarcheological investigations were done in consultation with the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma. That consultation has allowed the Caddo peoples to keep abreast of the bioarcheological approach and findings, and to provide their perspectives on the meaning of the findings from these investigations. This is a first for the field of Caddo archeology, and it is a step in the right direction of making room for the Caddo peoples to be full partners in future Caddo archeological and bioarcheological investigations in their traditional homelands. Robert Cast and Bobby Gonzalez of the Caddo Nation have offered their impressions of this work and of the overall project, and these are included in the final chapter of this report; and (4) finally, the identification of the family cemetery at the Lang Pasture site—as well as the associated funerary offerings placed in each of the graves— allowed for the regional consideration of Caddo mortuary practices based on a study of a number of upper Neches River basin Caddo cemeteries. Additionally, the study of the style, manufacture, and function of mortuary ceramic vessels in the region permitted the first examination of issues of style and stylistic change, social identity, and changes in culinary traditions as possible manifestations of changes in ceramic practice that occurred among Caddo groups living in the upper Neches River valley of East Texas between the 14th to 17th centuries A.D. The mortuary ceramics from upper Neches River basin Caddo sites illustrate broad continuities in ceramic practice, particularly in terms of vessel decoration and vessel form, but also demonstrate patterns in technical choices that are very different than what is documented in domestic Caddo ceramic assemblages of the same age and made by the same social group of potters. The ceramic-practice data from both domestic and mortuary contexts has been employed to posit the existence of a distinctive upper Neches Caddo ceramic tradition. A report on archeological testing at nearby Site 41AN159 is included as an appendix to this report. The senior author of this report, Jon C. Lohse, served as Project Archeologist, and Robert Ricklis and Timothy Perttula were Co-Principal Investigators. The non-mortuary portion of the collection from 41AN38, as well as artifacts recovered during testing at nearby 41AN159, along with associated field and laboratory records, are permanently curated at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, The University of Texas at Austin. Human remains from burials, and associated funerary offerings, are being repatriated to the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma (Binger, Oklahoma)

Archaeological Investigations at the Belmont Site, Henry County, Virginia

Research Report No. 15, Research Laboratories of Archaeology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Reports in this series discuss the findings of archaeological excavations and research projects undertaken by the RLA between 1984 and present

Prehistoric settlement and networks of interaction in the Western Solomon Islands: A survey of Manning Strait

This thesis is an investigation into the prehistory of the western Solomon Islands and an examination of archaeological sites located in and around a deep-sea passage between Choiseul and Santa Isabel known as Manning Strait. Archaeological surveying has been carried out in this part of Solomon Islands since the 1960s, however, Choiseul, Manning Strait and large parts of Santa Isabel have received little attention. An important aim of this study was to address this and, ultimately, contribute towards constructing a more complete and comprehensive archaeological sequence for Solomon Islands. Three fundamental aspects of the culture history of the western Solomon Islands are examined. The first is the prehistoric settlement of the region during the late Lapita period (ca. 2700-2000 BP) and evidence of how mobility patterns changed over time. The second is the development of prehistoric trade and exchange networks from initial settlement leading into late prehistory. This period, specifically the last millennium, was a pivotal time in western Solomon Islands which saw major cultural developments such as the emergence of head-hunting, monumental architecture, specialised production and exchanging of shell valuables and increasing contact with Europeans. The third is processes by which cultures in the region changed and diversified over the last two and a half millennia. This traditional culture historical approach is partnered with theoretical outlooks that have developed in more recent years in island archaeology whereby islands are perceived not as singular entities but as part of a broader ‘sea of islands’ or ‘seascapes’. Manning Strait is perceived in this manner not simply as a setting but as an active agent in influencing the course of cultural transformation in the western Solomon Islands. The methodological approach taken in this study draws upon archaeological survey and excavation, laboratory analysis of ceramics, lithics, shell artefacts and faunal remains, and a systematic review of ethnographic and historical literature. Significant outcomes of the fieldwork that are presented include the discovery of a 2.5 m deep cave deposit on Wagina, southeast Choiseul, dating to 2300-2150 calBP, a late Lapita intertidal site in northwest Santa Isabel, and ceramic deposits on the Arnavon Islands and Laena Island dating to between 850-150 calBP. A wide range of artefacts are analysed in this study, although emphasis is placed on exploring production and distribution patterns of pottery to gain insight into the development of both local and regional patterns of inter-island interaction. At the end of the thesis, a ceramic sequence is put forward for Choiseul as well as a revised cultural sequence for the wider western Solomon Islands that builds upon earlier archaeological modelling and findings. Additionally, the dynamic role Manning Strait played in prehistory as an ocean highway in the late Lapita period and altering to becoming a highly contested seascape in late prehistory is discussed

TA31: The Early Prehistory of Fiji

I enjoyed reading this volume. It is rare to see such a comprehensive report on hard data published these days, especially one so insightfully contextualised by the editors’ introductory and concluding chapters. These scholars and the others involved in the work really know their stuff, and it shows. The editors connect the preoccupations of Pacific archaeologists with those of their colleagues working in other island regions and on “big questions” of colonisation, migration, interaction and patterns and processes of cultural change in hitherto-uninhabited environments. These sorts of outward-looking, big-picture contextual studies are invaluable, but all too often are missing from locally- and regionally-oriented writing, very much to its detriment. In sum, the work strongly advances our understanding of the early prehistory of Fiji through its well-integrated combination of original research and the reinterpretation of existing knowledge in the context of wider theoretical and historical concerns. In doing so The Early Prehistory of Fiji makes a truly substantial contribution to Pacific and archaeological scholarship

A Pilot Study of Wichita Indian Archeology and Ethnohistory

In 1965 several anthropologists drew up plans for a one-year pilot study of the archeology and ethnohistory of the Wichita Indian tribes. After financial support had been generously provided by the National Science Foundation, the proposed research was carried out. This is a report on the results of that study. The pilot study was designed to: a) obtain a body of field data from the components of the Spanish Fort sites, the largest and best=documented of the historic Wichita sites in the Red River area; b) make test excavations at several other sites in order that a problem=oriented program of future research can be accurately planned; c) attempt to locate, by field reconnaissance, sites that relate to the Wichita occupation of the southern plains on both the historic and prehistoric time levels; d) make a survey of available ethnohistorical data in order (1) to compile a bibliography of documentary materials relevant to Wichita ethnohistory, (2) to make a detailed study of documents that relate specifically to the excavations being carried out at Spanish Fort and at the sites being tested, (3) to seek information that might lead to the field locations of other Wichita sites, and (4) to appraise those sources best suited for more extended examination. The co-investigators of the project were Tyler Bastian of the Museum of the Great Plains, Robert E. Bell of The University of Oklahoma, Edward B. Jelks of Southern Methodist University, and W.W. Newcomb of the Texas Memorial Museum at The University of Texas. Bastian supervised the archeological field work in Oklahoma under the direction of Bell. Jelks directed the archeological work in Texas. Newcomb directed the ethnohistorical research. Marvin E. Tong of the Museum of the Great Plains served the project as general coordinator. The main part of the ethnohistorical study consisted of a thorough search of the archives at The University of Texas for documents relating to Wichita ethnohistory. The archeological work included extensive excavations at the Longest Site in Oklahoma and at the Upper Tucker and Coyote Sites in Texas. More limited excavations were carried out at the Glass and Gas Plant Sites in Texas. Several other archeological sites were visited but not excavated beyond a test pit or two: the Devils Canyon and Wilson Springs Sites in Oklahoma, and the Gilbert, Stone, Vinson, and Womack Sites in Texas. An effort was also made to locate several sites in Oklahoma and Texas which were reported in historical documents but which had not been located in the field. After the library research and the archeological field work had been completed, a brief, general report could have been prepared to satisfy our contractual obligation to the National Science Foundation. It was felt, however, that the data which had been collected would be of interest to archeologists and ethnohistorians and, if possible, it should be made available to them in some detail without delay. Consequently, a series of descriptive papers was prepared instead of a summary report. Those papers are presented here

II Workshop on Late Neolithic Ceramics in Ancient Mesopotamia : pottery in context

Aquest volum és el resultat del workshop celebrat per investigadors i especialistes en ceràmiques del Pròxim Orient que va tenir lloc al MAC-Empúries l'octubre de 2015. Els articles compilats en el llibre han estat escrits per 31 investigadors de 13 nacionalitats diferents i abasten temàtiques diverses al voltant de la producció ceràmica: matèries primeres, tècniques, analítiques, etc. Pel que fa al context geogràfic, els estudis se centren a Turquia, Siria, Irak, Jordània, Israel i Palestina, els països en que va aparèixer la ceràmica per primera vegada en l'àrea mediterrània, i on va experimentar un ràpid procés de transformació morfotipològic i tecnològic

Documentation of Caddo Funerary Objects from the Crenshaw Site (3MI6) in the Gilcrease Museum Collections

This report is one in a series of reports produced and published by the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, Cultural Preservation Program, that concern the documentation of funerary objects in museum facilities that are subject to the provisions and regulations of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) (Gonzalez et al. 2005; Cast et al. 2006; Perttula et al. 2007, 2009a, 2009b, 2010). These documentation studies have been done either with grants from the National Park Service, or through funding provided by the museum facility. In the case of the present study of Caddo funerary objects from the Crenshaw site (3MI6) in the collections at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the documentation effort was supported by a NAGPRA grant provided by the National Park Service (NPS)