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\u27s 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

Prehistoric Caddo Ceramics from the Henry Lake Site (41CE324), Cherokee County, Texas

This article discusses the character of the Caddo ceramics from a single component Frankston phase (ca. A.D. 1400-1650) occupation at the Henry Lake site (41CE324) in northwestern Cherokee County, Texas. This follows a brief discussion of the history of the site, and we conclude this article with a consideration of the temporal and cultural place of the site\u27s Caddo ceramic assemblage within the upper Neches River basin

Current Research: Recent Documentation of Ceramic Vessels and Other Funerary Objects in the Titus Phase Cemetery at the Tuck Carpenter Site, Camp County, Texas

Recently, we had the opportunity to complete the documentation of Late Caddo period Titus phase ceramic vessels and other funerary offerings from the Tuck Carpenter site (41CP5) in the Big Cypress Creek basin in Camp County, Texas. This portion of the funerary assemblage from the site has been in the hands of R. W. Walsh since the 1960s. Unable to properly care for the assemblage, he recently donated his collection to an anonymous individual, who graciously allowed us to fully document these funerary offerings. The Tuck Carpenter site (41CP5), on Dry Creek several miles from its confluence with Big Cypress Creek, is perhaps the best known Titus phase cemetery in the Big Cypress Creek basin in East Texas. This is due to the careful analysis and reporting of the recovered funerary offerings and remains from 45 burials excavated by Robert L.Turner and R. W. Walsh between 1963-1967. More than 95 percent of the graves had the bodies of single individuals laid in an extended supine position on the floor of the pit, but two burial features had two individuals placed side by side in the burial pit

History of the East Texas Caddoan/Caddo Research Group, 1996-2008

Recently, the senior author of this article has been working with Hester Davis (Arkansas Archeological Survey) regarding the editing of her manuscript on the history of the Caddo Conference, which had its 50th meeting in March 2008. In her manuscript she laments the fact that there is very little time being spent by its participants in keeping track of its history: either in the form of transcripts of the meetings, notes on each conference, saving photographs and images, or actively maintaining an archive of materials resulting from each Conference. Davis pointed out that it was important to maintain a record of each Conference, and take steps to do a better job in preserving for others that record for present and future Caddo Conference participants and researchers. Hester’s points, which we agree with, led directly to our discussing the need to put on record a history, as best we can recall it, of the East Texas Caddoan/Caddo Research Group. This informal group has met a number of times since 1996, with the purpose of advancing the general understanding of Caddo archaeology in the East Texas region. The meetings have been held to discuss pertinent and current problems and research issues concerning East Texas Caddo archaeology. As we recall, the East Texas Caddoan [now Caddo] Research Group (ETCRG) developed out of discussions between Perttula and Middlebrook in January 1996. Middlebrook’s own interests in the idea had been piqued by reading the obituary of Fred Plog in the October 1995 American Antiquity that described his founding of the Southwestern Anthropological Research Group, the success that group had in working together on common research problems, and in working together to improve understandings of the prehistory of the American Southwest. This seemed to both of us like an idea worth emulating for the Caddo archaeological area, or at least the East Texas part of the area since we were more familiar with this region’s archaeology and the archaeologists working in that area

Radiocarbon Dates from the Henry M. Site (41NA60), Nacogdoches County, in East Texas

1980s and early 1990s excavations at the Henry M. site (41NA60) on Bayou Loco in the Angelina River basin exposed a well-preserved Historic Caddo midden deposit that partially overlapped a ca. 8.8 m circular Caddo structure (apparently rebuilt to some extent) marked by a variety of cultural features and stains, including two central posts from sequent structure use. There is a probable storage platform or arbor just outside the north wall of the structure. The Patton Engraved sherds in the recovered ceramic assemblage, the two gunflints, and one European glass bead suggests that the Henry M. site was occupied by a Caddo group in the late 17th century. Given that Caddo wood structures would probably only last at most 20 years before they begin to deteriorate (see Good 1982:69), available feature evidence suggests that the houses and midden deposit were created over a ca. 20-40 year period, at most, by one or two Caddo families that lived at the site year-round. Sherd midden accumulation rates suggest that the occupation may have lasted less than 10 years. Recovered archaeological materials from the site are representative of Historic Caddo Allen phase domestic activities, including food processing, cooking, and serving foods, hunting, and animal procurement and trash disposal. Maize and other plant foods were grown at the site during the occupation, and a variety of wild plant foods were also gathered, particularly hickory nutshells. With respect to the animal species that were gathered by the Caddo during the occupation, white-tailed deer was particularly important, both for meat as well as probably for its pelts. Other important animal food sources include a variety of fish (including freshwater drum, gar, and catfish), turtles (notably the box turtle), turkey, and several mammals, among them opossum, rabbit, and raccoon. Technological, functional, and stylistic comparisons of the ceramic assemblages between the Henry M. site and nearby Caddo settlements at the Deshazo (41NA27), and Spradley (41NA206) sites, and then with other Historic Caddo sites in Nacogdoches County indicated that: (a) the closest ceramic comparisons between the Henry M. site and the other known Nacogdoches County historic Caddo sites is with the Deshazo site; (b) Bayou Loco and Angelina River sites are dominated by brushed utility wares; and (c) the Lanana Creek Caddo sites, Legg Creek sites, and Attoyac Bayou sites are part of a different local ceramic tradition, where brushed pottery is much less important. The Henry M. site appears to be part of temporally and culturally related communities of Caddo peoples within a small part of the Angelina River basin, although at present it is not known which of the many related tribes in the Hasinai Confederacy they are affiliated with. It is suspected that the Henry M. and Deshazo sites are affiliated with the Hainai tribe

Historic Caddo Archaeology: An Occasional Meeting of the East Texas Caddo Research Group, December 2-3, 2006, in Nacogdoches Texas

The articles in this issue of the Journal of Northeast Texas Archaeology had their origins in a meeting held in December 2006 of the East Texas Caddo Research Group (ETCRG). The meeting of archaeologists was held on December 2 and 3, 2006 at the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. The ETCRG is an informal group of individuals interested in advancing the general understanding of Caddo archaeology in the East Texas region, and we have attempted to do this by convening meetings at various times to discuss pertinent and current problems and research issues concerning East Texas Caddo archaeology. The group has met several times between 1996 and 1999, and our most productive sessions dealt with a specific topic: namely, new understandings of the Middle Caddo period (ca. A.D. 1200-1400)

Archaeological Investigations at the Henry M. Site (41NA60): An Early Historic Caddo Farmstead in Nacogdoches County, Texas

The Henry M. site (41NA60) is an early historic (post-A.D. 1680) Allen phase farmstead on a natural rise in the Bayou Loco floodplain in western Nacogdoches County in East Texas. Bayou Loco, a relatively small stream, flows south a few miles to its confluence with the Angelina River. The dam for Lake Nacogdoches on the bayou is about 1.7 miles to the north. Construction of Lake Nacogdoches inundated a number of contemporaneous Allen phase farmsteads- some of which were the scene of 1970s excavations-including 41NA18. The Henry M. site in the mid-1980s. (41NA21), Iron Rock (41NA22), Loco Bottoms (41NA23), and Deshazo (41NA27). The Bayou Loco valley has a high density of historic Caddo settlements. The natural rise that the Henry M. site is located on was in an 8 acre pasture. This rise is about 50 min diameter, ca. 1 min height, and south a short distance from an eastward-flowing spring-fed tributary to Bayou Loco. The rise has loamy alluvial Marietta soils. The main part of the Henry M. site has a ca. 10 m diameter midden deposit near the center of the natural rise. The midden deposit contains extensive amounts of Caddo ceramic sherds and many well-preserved animal bones, some mussel shell, and other artifactual debris

Redwine or Pie-Crust Mode Forms in East Texas Caddo Ceramics and Comparisons with Sprocket-Rims of Southwest Arkansas

Caddo ceramics served many purposes, including cooking, storage, and the serving of foods and liquids. The various forms and shapes of these vessels were subject to the ideas of the potters themselves and the larger community of which they were a part. Products of human behavior reflect conscious and predictable actions that can be identified and measured in time and space. Artifacts are “embodiments of human behavior. The various elements that make up an artifact are termed attributes. Certain attributes that reflect customary usage or current fashion are termed nodes. Irving Rouse describes a mode as “any standard, concept, or custom which governs the behavior of the artisans of a community, which they hand down from generation to generation over considerable distances. The particular artifact that is the main focus of consideration in this article is a unique prehistoric Caddo ceramic rim mode defined as the Redwine or “pie-crust” mode. We also discuss the related Myers mode or “sprocket-rim” that is another particular form of rim identified in prehistoric Caddo sites. We examine specific Caddo ceramic vessels from East Texas sites, almost all of which date to the Middle Caddo period (ca. A.D. 1200-1400), and in particular one unique attribute found on those vessels, to hopefully better understand prehistoric Caddo communities and their interaction. The Middle Caddo period in East Texas was dynamic in terms of the artistic ceramic artifacts characteristic of the period. Different but contemporaneous groups were experimenting with new forms of ceramic vessels as well as how they chose to decorate their vessels, as exemplified by the appearance of the engraved canebrake rattlesnake motif on fine ware vessels. These vessel forms and designs became established patterns and through contact and interaction, movement of people, and/or the sharing and adoption of ideas, they spread to other groups. In the study of Caddo archeology, we are very fortunate that the Caddo potters left an extensive ceramic record that is very rich in its stylistic diversity. By studying the ties between different but contemporaneous groups of people through the similarities and differences in ceramic styles, attributes, modes, and techniques, we can arrive at a better understanding of how these diverse groups interacted with each other. It is becoming increasingly evident that ceramic vessels were widely traded amongst widelyspaced Caddo groups, and that some kinds of ceramic vessels (such as the Redwine mode vessels or other distinctive forms) were an important indication of the existence of exchange relationships, or special bonds and alliances, between groups