scholarly journals The Robert Richey Site in Northern Van Zandt County, Texas

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy K. Perttula ◽  
Robert Richey
Keyword(s):  
Sandy Loam ◽  
Woodland Period ◽  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
East Texas ◽  
The North ◽  
Ceramic Vessel ◽  
Oak Tree ◽  
Lithic Artifacts ◽  
Alluvial Terraces ◽  
Sabine River

This article discusses a collection of ancestral Caddo ceramic and lithic artifacts found at the Robert Richey site in northern Van Zandt County in East Texas. The site is in a pasture on an upland landform facing year-round flowing Caney Creek about 130-180 m to the east, a northern-flowing tributary that merges with the Sabine River about 2.2 miles to the north. The site lies within the flood pool of the long-defunct Mineola Reservoir, but the Robert Richey site was not recorded at the time of the early 1970s archaeological survey of the reservoir. Sites 41VN53-56, prehistoric sites of either uncertain age (41VN53), Woodland period age (41VN54, 41VN55, and 41VN56), as well as ancestral Caddo (41VN55), likely Early or Middle Caddo period in age. were recorded on alluvial terraces on both sides of Caney Creek not far from the Robert Richey site. For years, Mr. Richey’s father had been advised by one of the old-timers who owned the adjoining ranch about a rise in his field “that particular mound in the pasture was an Indian mound.” Richey’s father identified the structure to him years ago. So, it was a known and identifiable rise in their land that had (tongue-in-cheek) been called an Indian mound for many years. Richey’s investigation into the rise was prompted by the fact that he had found a ceramic vessel sherd along the banks of a dam of a recently constructed pond. That sherd was discovered approximately 180 m south of the Robert Richey site, on a landform with tan sandy loam sediments; this place may be 41VN55 recorded by Malone. Malone indicated the site had plain sherds, scrapers, lithic debris, Gary points, as well as an ancestral Caddo sherd with a cross-hatched incised rim and rows of fingernail impressed punctations on the vessel body. From there, Mr. Richey took that rumor a step further last year and dug four test trenches about 3 feet deep and 10 feet long in the rise and waited for rain. Frankly, he did not expect to discover anything as he has not found much in the way of artifacts on the place. After digging the trenches he waited for rain. After a rain, the artifacts discussed in this article were found over an area about 15 m in diameter; they represent about 50 percent of what had been noted there. He did not note any charcoal in the trenches. The soil on the Robert Richey site appears to be a reddish-brown loam, and not the black lands characteristic of the soils in the Sabine River floodplain. There is an old and majestic Oak tree growing along the edge of the rise. Generally speaking, this is pasture land.

scholarly journals Upper Sabine River Basin Caddo Mound Sites: The Seaton Bros. (41RA38) and Fruitvale (41VN35) Sites in Rains and Van Zandt Counties, Texas

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy K. Perttula
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
East Texas ◽  
River Floodplain ◽  
Alluvial Terraces ◽  
Sabine River ◽  
Mound Sites

There are a number of ancestral Caddo-constructed earthen mounds on sites in the upper Sabine River Basin in East Texas. Perhaps the best known are the multiple mound centers at the Early Caddo period Boxed Springs site (41UR30) and the Middle Caddo period Jamestown site (41SM54). The Seaton Bros. and Fruitvale sites are two of the least known ancestral Caddo mound sites in the upper Sabine River basin. Both sites were recorded by Malone during the archaeological survey of the proposed Mineola Reservoir, but because the reservoir was not constructed, these mound sites were only investigated during cursory survey efforts. Neither mound site is situated in the Sabine River floodplain or associated alluvial terraces, but had been placed along tributary streams either north or south of the river.

scholarly journals Caddo Ceramic Assemblages from Sites in the Ayish and Palo Gaucho Bayou Basins, San Augustine County, Texas

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy K. Perttula
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
Works Progress Administration ◽  
East Texas ◽  
Ceramic Assemblages ◽  
Lithic Artifacts ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
Sabine River

In 1939 and 1940, G. E. Arnold recorded a number of archaeological sites in and around San Augustine, in East Texas, as part of a Works Progress Administration-funded (WPA) archaeological survey of East Texas. The eight sites of concern in this article are in either the Ayish Bayou or Palo Gaucho Bayou basins; the former is a southward-flowing tributary to the Angelina River, while the latter is a southeast-flowing tributary to the Sabine River. In several instances, depending upon the circumstances, Arnold was able to collect substantial numbers of ancestral Caddo ceramic and lithic artifacts from several of these sites. The character of these ceramic sherds—and their stylistic and technological similarities or differences to the ceramic assemblages from the 1716-1719, 1722-1773 Mission Dolores de los Ais in San Augustine as well as other known sites on Palo Gaucho and Housen bayous and Attoyac Bayou are the primary focus of the analysis reported on herein, but other temporally diagnostic ceramic and lithic artifacts are discussed as well.

scholarly journals The E. Williams Site on Martin Creek in Panola County, Texas

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy K. Perttula
Keyword(s):  
East Texas ◽  
The North ◽  
North Side ◽  
Ceramic Vessel ◽  
Small Collection ◽  
Sabine River

The E. Williams site is an ancestral Caddo site on the north side of Martin Creek, an eastward–flowing tributary to the Sabine River, in Panola County in the East Texas Pineywoods. The site is just a few miles west of the confluence of Martin Creek and the Sabine River. Buddy Calvin Jones located the site (which he labeled as Panola–2) and obtained a small collection of ceramic vessel sherds, probably from surface contexts. This collection is among the holdings of the Gregg County Historical Museum.

scholarly journals Prehistoric Sites in the Sabine River Valley in Northeastern Smith County, Texas Timothy K. Perttula and Mark Walters

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy K. Perttula ◽  
Mark Walters
Keyword(s):  
River Valley ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
East Texas ◽  
The North ◽  
North Side ◽  
Junior Author ◽  
Sabine River ◽  
Limited Surface ◽  
Smith County

In the winter of 2003, the junior author completed archaeological survey investigations of a small area of the Sabine River valley in northeastern Smith County in the East Texas Pineywoods. The work consisted of limited surface collections and shovel tests, and four archaeological sites were found during the work. The sites are about 2.4-3.0 km south-southwest of the Early Caddo period Boxed Spring mound site (41UR30) on the north side of the Sabine River. Two of the archaeological sites (41SM307 and 41SM308) are situated on alluvial landforms in the Sabine River valley at elevations of ca. 280-290 ft. amsl. The other two (41SM309 and 41SM310) are on upland landforms at elevations of 310 ft. amsl and 350 ft. amsl, respectively.

scholarly journals The Beckham (41SB35) and Print Bell (41SB36) Woodland Period and Caddo Ceramic Assemblages Collected by G. E. Arnold in 1939, Sabine County, Texas

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Perttula
Keyword(s):  
Drainage System ◽  
Woodland Period ◽  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
East Texas ◽  
River Drainage ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
Ceramic Assemblages ◽  
The University ◽  
Sabine River

The Beckham (41SB35) and Print Bell (41SB36) sites were recorded by Gus E. Arnold of The University of Texas in December 1939 during his WPA-sponsored archaeological survey of East Texas. Both sites have substantial ancestral Caddo deposits. The Beckham site is in the Housen Bayou basin of the larger Sabine River drainage system, while the Print Bell site is on a tributary of the Angelina River (Figure 1). Excavations were conducted at the Print Bell site in the early 1950s by Jelks (1965:88- 93) prior to the construction of Lake Sam Rayburn, but there have been no further investigations at the Beckham site after Arnold’s 1939 survey.

scholarly journals 41AG9 and 41AG10: Ancestral Caddo Sites on Percella Creek in the Angelina River Basin in East Texas

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Perttula
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
East Texas ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
The Core ◽  
Good Surface ◽  
Ceramic Vessel

Both 41AG9 (ET-609) and 41AG10 (ET-610) were identified and recorded by Gus E. Arnold in late 1939-early 1940 under the auspices of the very successful WPA University of Texas archaeological survey of East Texas; they are only ca. 400 m apart. The sites are on elevated alluvial landforms in the Percella Creek valley; Percella Creek is an eastward-flowing tributary to the Angelina River, and joins the river about 3 km to the east of the sites (Figure 1). During Arnold’s archaeological survey, he collected substantial numbers of ceramic vessel sherds from both sites, and the sites were in plowed fields with good surface visibility. 41AG9 was estimated to cover ca. 1.5 acres, and had midden deposits, as well as disturbed remnants of Caddo burial features. Midden deposits and remnants of possible disturbed Caddo burial features were also noted at 41AG10, and the core of the site covered a ca. 60 x 60 m area (ca. 0.9 acres).

scholarly journals 41VN63: A Late Archaic-Woodland Period Site in the Upper Sabine River Basin, Van Zandt County, Texas

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy K. Perttula ◽  
Bob D. Skiles ◽  
Julian A. Sitters
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Woodland Period ◽  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
Petrified Wood ◽  
Pottery Sherds ◽  
Multiple Component ◽  
The University ◽  
Sabine River

Site 41VN63 is a multiple component Late Archaic (circa [ca.] 5000-2500 years B.P.) and Woodland period (ca. 2500-1150 years B.P.) site on an upland landform in the upper Sabine River basin. The site was recorded by James Malone (1972) during the archaeological survey of then-proposed Mineola Reservoir on the Sabine River; the reservoir has not been built. Malone described the site in 1971 as being located on an upland ridge on the southeast side of Caney Creek, and covered a 20 x 50 m area. He noted and/or collected from the site surface chert, quartzite, and petrified wood lithic debris (n=28) and cores (n=11) . Malone also mentioned finding flake tools as well as plain pottery sherds at the site, but no such artifacts were mentioned in Malone’s tabulations. This collection has yet to be examined at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin. Shortly thereafter, Bob D. Skiles learned of the site and, with the permission of the landowner, conducted surface collections there on several occasions over the next two years, and recorded the site as GS-1 in his site recording system. In the late 1980s, Skiles loaned Perttula the artifacts he had collected from the site, and they were studied and documented at that time. Now, this many years later, the results of those analyses are provided in this article.

scholarly journals Archaeological Investigations at the Redwine Site (41SM193), Smith County, Texas

1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Walters ◽  
Patti Haskins ◽  
David H. Jurney ◽  
S. Eileen Goldborer ◽  
Timothy K. Perttula
Keyword(s):  
Drainage Basin ◽  
Sandy Loam ◽  
The North ◽  
Animal Remains ◽  
Small House ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Sabine River ◽  
River Drainage Basin ◽  
Made In ◽  
Smith County

The Redwine site (41SM193) is a probable Middle Caddoan habitation site located on an upland terrace (Figure I) on the headwaters of Auburn Creek, a small tributary of the Sabine River in central Smith County; the Angelina River drainage basin begins about 1.5 km to the south of the site. Auburn Creek is about 100 meters to the north of the site. The Sabine River lies approximately 24 km to the north. Soils on the Redwine site are Bowie fine sandy loam. The site was discovered in the early 1960s by Sam Whlteside an avocational archaeologist who lived in the Tyler area. His work consisted of trenching, and he located and excavated several burials and a small house mound. In an attempt to relocate the site limited controlled excavations were undertaken in 1995 by the authors, under the direction of Dr. John Keller of Southern Archaeological Consultants, Inc. We hoped to gain enough information about the size, age, and integrity of the Redwine site to apply for legal designation and protection under the Antiquities Code of Texas. After confirming that the Redwine site contained important archaeological information, an application for State Archeological Landmark (SAL) designation was made in 1996, and in July 1996, the Redwine site was officially designated an SAL by the Texas Historical Commission, the first SAL in Smith County. This paper describes our findings, and discusses the artifacts and plant and animal remains recovered during the work. We also provide information on the 1960s excavations of a small house mound at the site, along with the grave goods recovered by Sam Whiteside from the four Redwine site burials.

scholarly journals The Westerman Mound Site (41HO15), Houston County, Texas

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy K. Perttula
Keyword(s):  
Woodland Period ◽  
East Texas ◽  
Alluvial Terrace ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
The North ◽  
School Director ◽  
Field School ◽  
Field Schools ◽  
The University ◽  
Neches River

The Westerman site is located in the middle Neches River basin in the Pineywoods of East Texas. The site, first recorded in 1969, is on an alluvial terrace lying between Armstrong Creek to the south and Cochino Bayou to the north; these are eastward-flowing tributaries to the Neches River. The site has a single earthen mound and an associated settlement that is estimated to cover ca. 10-15 acres; there are several areas at the site where aboriginal artifacts were noted at the surface, on each side of the mound. The mound, which was well preserved when it was visited in 1969, 1970, and 1986 by archaeologists from the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin (TARL), is estimated to be 20 x 25 m in size, rectangular-shaped, with a level top that covers a ca. 10 x 5 m area; the height of the mound has not been established as it has never been mapped. The character of the archaeological deposits in the mound or the associated settlement has also not been established because no shovel tests or other forms of subsurface explorations have ever been conducted at the site. Only two small potholes were noted in the mound in 1969, and the mound and site were well preserved and protected by the landowners through the last visit by TARL personnel in 1986. TARL archaeologists had speculated that the mound may have been constructed during the Woodland period (between ca. 2500-1250 years B.P.); Woodland period mound sites are rare in East Texas. To investigate this possibility, or to establish that the mound may have been built by ancestral Caddo peoples native to East Texas, TARL had made plans to hold their annual field school at the Westerman site in both 1975 and 1976, with Dr. Dee Ann Story as the field school director. However, due to various circumstances, including sale of the property in April 1976, these field schools were unfortunately never held at the site. In 1986 Dr. Dee Ann Story and Janice A. Guy visited the Westerman site and completed a reconnaissance of the site to assess its current condition and obtain a surface collection of artifacts from the mound and associated settlement. The Westerman site does not appear to have been visited by professional archaeologists since that time.

scholarly journals Caddo Sites on Patroon, Palo Gaucho, and Housen Bayous in Sabine County in the Sabine River Basin of East Texas

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy K. Perttula
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
East Texas ◽  
Social Character ◽  
Reservoir Area ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The University ◽  
Sabine River

The 13 ancestral Caddo sites and collections discussed in this article were recorded by G. E. Arnold of The University of Texas at Austin between January and April 1940 as part of a WPA-funded archaeological survey of East Texas. The sites are located along the lower reaches of Patroon, Palo Gaucho, and Housen bayous in Sabine County, Texas. These bayous are eastward-flowing tributaries to the Sabine River in the Toledo Bend Reservoir area, but only 41SB30 is located below the current Toledo Bend Reservoir flood pool. This is an area where the temporal, spatial, and social character of the Caddo archaeological record is not well known, despite the archaeological investigations of Caddo sites at Toledo Bend Reservoir in the 1960s-early 1970s, and in more recent years.

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