1968 BTAS Vol 39.Pdf

Table of Contents Page A Wooden Mortar and Pestle from Val Verde County, Texas. by Michael B. Collins and Thomas Roy Hester 1 Coral Snake Mound (X16SA48). by Harald P. Jensen, Jr 9 The Acton Site: Hood County, Texas. by Jay C. Blame, R. K. Harris, Wilson W. Crook, and Joel L. Shiner 45 A Partial Report on Research Work Concerning Lithic Typology and Technology. by J. B. Soliberger 95 Excavation at a Midden Circle Site in El Paso County, Texas. by John W. Greer 111 Report on Excavations at the Field Ranch Site (X41CO-1O) Cooke County, Texas. by Harald P. Jensen, Jr 133 Paleo-Indian Artifacts from Sites Along San Miguel Creek: Frio, Atascosa and McMullen Counties, Texas. by Thomas Roy Hester 147 Suggestions to Authors. by Maxine and Joel Shiner 163 Book Review Ambler, J. Richard. Three Prehistoric Sites near Cedar Bayou, Galveston Bay Area. byJonL. Gibson 167 Illustrations Page BLAINE, CROOK, HARRIS AND SHINER Fig. 1 Geologic cross-section showing the location of Acton Archeological site 54 Fig. 2 Idealized cross-section of the geology at the Acton Archeological site. 55 Fig. 3 Plainview points 58 Fig. 4 Meserve points 62 Fig. 5 Angostura, Scottsbluff, San Patrice and Untyped points 65 Fig. 6 Early Archaic points. 70 Fig. 7 Late Archaic points. 74. Fig. 8 Scrapers 78 Fig. 9 Gouges 81 Fig. 10 Biface foliates 82 Fig. 11 Burins, gouges, netsinker. 83 COLLINS AND HESTER Fig. 1 Site location map 2 Fig. 2 Wooden mortar and pestle. 4 Fig. 3 Vertical section of mortar. 6 GREER Fig. 1 Sketch plan of site. 112 Fig. 2 Profile through the center of niidden. 114 Fig. 3 Pottery 117 Fig. 4 Rim profiles 118 Fig. 5 Small flint artifacts 120 Fig. 6 Limestone tools 124 Fig. 7 Large limestone knives 125 HESTER Fig. 1 Archeological Sites along San Miguel Creek. 148 Fig. 2 Group A projectile points 150 Fig. 3 Group B and Group C projectile points. 153. Page Fig. 4 Group C and Group D projectile points. • . • 155 Fig. 5 Group A, Group D, and Group E projectile points 157 JENSEN Fig. 1 Plan of mound 10 Fig. 2 Profile of mound, N—S • . 11 Fig. 3 Profile of mound, E—W 11 Fig. 4 Three large stemmed points. • • • 14 Fig. 5 Projectile points • . 17 Fig. 6 Knives and other stone tools. 19 Fig. 7 Pottery 27 Fig. 8 Marksville stamped pot 28 Fig. 9 Marksville stamped pot (bottom view). 29 Fig. 10 Ear spool, beads and pendant 30 JENSEN Fig. 1 Field Ranch Site 135 Fig. 2 Sketch of Hearth 1 • . 136 Fig. 3 Sketch of Hearth 2 137 Fig. 4 Projectile points 138 Fig. 5 Graver, Denticulates, Gouge and Convex Side Scraper • . 141 Fig. 6 Cores and Hammerstones • . 143 SOLLBERGER Fig. 1 Tools, probably used abrading knives. as • 100 Fig. 2 Tools, probably used as carcass cleavers. • • . 102 A Wooden Mortar and Pestle From Val Verde County, Texas MICHAEL B. COLLINS AND THOIVIAS ROY HESTER ABSTRACT This paper describes a wooden mortar and pestle found by spelunkers in a small cave near Pandale, in Val Verde County, Texas. Cactus seeds (Opuntia sp.) were found in the mortar, suggesting that one function of the implements was the preparation of plant parts for food. Ethnographic accounts have mentioned the presence of wooden mortars and pestles in the aboriginal cultures of southwestern Texas and northern Mexico; although perishable artifacts are abundant in the dry caves of this region, the speci mens described in this paper are the first of their type to be reported. In February, 1968, David G. Cooke and Glenn Southard (spelunkers from Ozona, Texas) entered a small cave near the mouth of Big Fielder’s Canyon in the vicinity of Pandale, Val Verde County, Texas (Fig. 1). Cigarettes accidentally dropped behind a ledge by the spelunkers led to the discovery of a wooden mortar and pestle evi dently cached beneath an overhang in the ledge. Cooke and Southard reported their find to the Department of Anthropology, The Univer sity of Texas at Austin. The authors, accompanied by Mary Ringwood Bacon of the Texas Archeological Salvage Project, examined and photographed the specimens at Ozona in March, 1968. The cave in which the mortar and pestle were found is in the Pecos River canyon near Pandale Crossing, approximately 22 miles north of Langtry and 65 miles northwest of Del Rio, Texas. The region is an extensive tableland of limestone (the Edwards and Stockton plateaus) that has been deeply dissected by three major rivers, (Pecos, Rio Grande, and Devils) and countless small streams. Rockshelters and caves are numerous in these canyons and many show evidence of aboriginal occupation. Aridity has occasioned the preservation of a wide variety of perishable debris and artifacts in some of the shelters. The archeological material from these sites exhibits the general char acteristics of the widespread Desert Culture (Suhm and others, 1954; Lehmer, 1960; johnson, 1964; Story, 1966). Occupation by peoples who practiced gathering of plant foods, fishing, and hunting evidently began at least 6,000 years ago and lasted until historic times. Cultural change was minimal over this entire period—even the brief influx of bison hunters at about 700 B.C. and the introduction of the bow and arrow at about A.D. 1400 failed to alter significantly the economy 2 TEXAS ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY crossing 41 VV 425 Oc VICINITY 0 5 10 miles Co I Co FIGURE 1. Site location map, 41 VV 425. based on hunting, gathering and fishing (Dibble, 1968; Johnson, 1964; Story, 1966). The prehistoric cultural trait relevant to the present paper is the gathering and preparation of Opuntia (prickly pear) tuna for plant food. Prickly pear tuna (as well as lechuguilla and sotol) provided a substantial part of the diet throughout the long periods of WOODEN MORTAR AND PESTLE 3 occupation. Various techniques of baking in earth ovens seem to have been employed in preparation of the agave and sotol whereas prickly pear tuna was evidently eaten raw or prepared in various ways (including pulverization). Human feces (currently under analysis) from late prehistoric deposits in a shelter near the mouth of the Pecos River contain whole Opuntia seeds as well as other plant and animal parts (V. M. Bryant, Jr., personal communication). It seems clear that gathering of desert plant foods was the major means of subsistence for over 8,000 years. Bedrock mortars and oval-basin metates (both portable and in bedrock) occur at most sites in the area and presum ably served in food preparation. Pestles are rare (or have escaped recognition). The large samples of perishable artifacts from the area contain little or nothing that would suggest the use of wooden crushing implements. Historic documents record the presence of numerous groups, mostly of Coahuiltecan linguistic affiliation, in the Edwards Plateau and Rio Grande Valley regions. These were food gatherers who also practiced fishing and some hunting. Jumanos and numerous other Indian groups inhabited the general region in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Apaches were reported in Big Fielder’s Canyon in 1879, and Coman ches crossed the region frequently during the 19th century (Hackett, 1926 and 1931; Newcomb, 1961; Bolton, 1911; Kirkland, 1942; Rueck ing, 1955; Campbell, ms.). The various Coahuiltecan groups were fre quently reported to have gathered Opuntia tunas and one reference mentions use of wooden mortars (Ruecking, 1955; Bandelier, 1905). The wooden mortar and pestle were discovered in a small cave (University of Texas site designation: 41 VV 425) on a rocky hillside on the west bank of the Pecos River. The cave is in a thick ledge about one-third of the distance up the hillside from the river, and just north of the mouth of Big Fielder’s Canyon. There are numerous other small caves, crevices, and shelters in the immediate vicinity, most of which seem to be devoid of cultural remains. The cave faces south and is about 10 feet high at the mouth and only 2 to 3 feet wide; it extends back into the hill for a distance of about 15 to 20 feet. Near the back of the cave, a ledge extends into the passageway, and it was on the surface beneath this ledge that the mortar and pestle were found. The mortar lay on its side and the pestle was nearby. The floor of this small cave is covered with roof spalls and there is no evidence of any cultural deposit; however, some smoke staining on the roof is present at the mouth of the cave. A few lithic artifacts (including a contracting stem dart point) were collected from the hillside below the cave. The mortar (Fig. 2, a, b, d and e) appears to have been fashioned TEXAS ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY L I, ci C e 0 15 30 centimeters FIGURE 2. Wooden mortar and pestle from 41 VV 425. a, interior cavity. b, side view with pestle in position. c, pestle with crushing end up. d. side view of mortar- note charred area below rim on interior. e, mortar base—note concavity. from a section of a tree with fine, straight-grained wood (probably pine), from which the bark had been removed. The height of the specimen is 31 cm., with maximum diameters at the rim and base of 17.6 and 18.3 cm. The interior cavity is 18 cm. deep; the lip of the rim has been rounded and smoothed, and is beveled along one-third of its interior circumference. The interior is roughly conical in vertical section (Fig. 2, a; Fig. 3). There is a charred area extending in a band most of the way around the interior just below the beveled rim, sug WOODEN MORTAR A Ii I’ESTLE gesting that the cavity was formed by a process of alternately charring and scraping (Fig.

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