From Clovis to Comanchero: Archeological Overview of the Southern Great Plains by Jack L. Hofman, Robert L. Brooks, Joe S. Hays, Douglas W. Owsley, Richard L. Jantz, Murray K. Marks, and Mary H. Manhein Prepared by the Oklahoma Archeological Survey of the University of Oklahoma and the Louisiana State University, with the Arkansas Archeological Survey Final Report Submitted to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Southwestern Division. Study Unit 5 of the Southwestern Division Archeological Overview Contract DACW63-84-C-0149 1989 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 89-084616 ISBN 1-56349-063-3 Arkansas Archeological Survey Fayetteville, Arkansas 72702 Printed in the United States of America Third printing June 1997 Offset Printing by the Arkansas Department of Corrections, Wrightsville. Fourth printing July 2001 University of Arkansas Copy Services Abstract This volume presents an overview of archeology -and the nature of archeological resources -in the Southern Great Plains, specifically, the Great Plains subregion of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Southwest Division. A brief sketch of the region’s environment is presented as well as an account of the history and development of archeological research in the Southern Plains. The area of concern is bordered by the foothills of the Rocky Mountains on the west and by the Cross Timbers on the east. The north to south extent is from the Arkansas to Pecos rivers, respectively. A tradi- tional cultural-historical summary including mention of the numerous archeological taxonomic units from the earliest prehistoric groups to the fully historic period is presented in a series of chapters. The Native American groups who are represented in the area in historic times are surveyed in Appendix I, although almost no archeology has been conducted on the sites of most of these groups. The current status and limited history of bioarcheological research is summarized for the region and significant new data are presented especially concerning Late Prehistoric cultural groups. A detailed summary of known prehistoric and historic skeletal remains from the region is provided. Bioarcheology is already add substantially to our understanding of prehistoric cultural events and processes in the region. A synthesizing chapter is presented using the concept of Adaptation Types in which the various archeological taxa are grouped and discussed in general economic terms disregarding the problems caused by modern political boundaries and archeological research histories. The various prehistoric and historic adaptation types are summarized with regard to economy, technology, bioarcheology, environment, important research problems, and significant data gaps. The concluding chapter presents some of the highlights of the study and discusses some of the current problems confronting archeological research in the region. ii CONTENTS 1Introduction, by Robert L. Brooks and Jack L. Hofman 1 2 Land of Sun, Wind, and Grass, by Jack L. Hofman 5 3A History of Archeological Research on the Southern Great Plains, by Jack L. Hofman and Joe S. Hays 15 4Prehistoric Culture History: Hunters and Gatherers in the Southern Great Plain, by Jack L. Hofman 25 5Prehistoric Culture History Woodland Complexes in the Southern Great Plains, by Jack L. Hofman and Robert L. Brooks 61 6Village Farming Societies, by Robert L. Brooks 71 7Protohistoric Culture History on the Southern Great Plains, by Jack L. Hofman 91 8Historical Archeology in the Southern Great Plains, by Joe S.Hays, Robert L. Brooks, and Jack L. Hofman 101 9 Human Skeletal Samples in the Southern Great Plains, by Douglas W. Owsley, Murray K. Marks, and Mary H. Manhein 111 10 The History of Bioarcheological Research in the Southern Great Plains, by Douglas W. Owsley 123 11 A Systematic Approach to the Skeletal Biology of the Southern Plains, by Douglas W. Owsley and Richard L. Jantz 137 12 Adaptation Types for the Southern Great Plains Region, by Jack L. Hofman, Robert L. Brooks, Joe S. Hays, and Douglas W. Owsley 157 13 Summary Discussion: Southern Plains Archeology in the Late Twentieth Century, by Jack L. Hofman and Robert L. Brooks 175 References Cited 183 Appendix I: Historic Tribal Groups in the Southern Great Plains, by Joe S. Hays 247 Appendix II: Bioarcheology Inventory Code Sheets 263 Appendix III: Computer Data Sheets for Pathological Features 268 Appendix IV: Cranial and Postcranial Measurement Code Sheets. 285 iii FIGURES 1 Region encompassed by the Southwestern Division 1 2 The Southern Great Plains study area . 2 3Primary rivers in the Southern Great Plains 7 4 Locations of weather stations 10 5 General physiographic subdivisions of the Southern Plains 10 6 Selected man-made reservoirs in the Great Plains 21 7 Map of pre-Clovis sites in the Southern Plains region 27 8 Selected Paleo-Indian projectile point types 30 9 Map of Clovis site locations in the Southern Plains 32 10 Map of Folsom site locations in the Southern Plains 35 11 Map of late Paleo-Indian site locations in the Southern Plains 39 12 Locations of selected Archaic sites in the Southern Plains 48 13 Selected artifact types distinctive of the Southern Plains Archaic 49 14 Locations of Woodland complexes and key sites in the region 63 15 Cultural complexes identified for the Plains Village period 72 16 Chipped and ground stone artifacts characteristic of the Plains Village period 73 17 Bone tools and ceramics characteristic of the Plains Village period 74 18 Locations of selected protohistoric sites on the Southern Plains 92 19 Sites with mortuary components and excavated burials in the region 113 20 Child’s skull showing perforation 132 21 Close-up of postauricular abscess 133 22 Lumbar vertebra with embedded projectile point 134 23 Cut marks from scalping on the frontal bone 135 24 Cranium of an adult male from the Nagle site 136 25 Plot of group centroids (cranial measurements) 152 26 Plot of group centroids (humerus) 154 27 Plot of group centroids (femur) 156 28 Oklahoma fluted point survey form 162 29 Counties in the region with 100 or more reported sites 177 30 Counties in the region with 10 or fewer reported sites 177 I-1 Tribal locations before removal 247 I-2 Lands in Indian Territory, 1830-1855 251 I-3 Lands in Indian Territory, 1855-1866 252 I-4 Lands in Indian Territory, 1866-1889 253 I-5 Openings of Native American lands 255 I-6 Present tribal locations in Oklahoma 256 iv TABLES 1 Selected climatological data 9 2 Selected listing of important flora 11 3 Selected listing of important fauna 12 4 Man-made reservoirs within the study unit 17 5 Summary of Paleo-Indian complexes 26 6 Selected radiocarbon dates from some Paleo-Indian sites 28 7 Cultural complexes during the Village Farming period 71 8 Published historic site reports 101 9 Artifact-based reports for historic archeology studies 104 10 Counties in the Great Plains study area 112 11 Adaptation types for the Southern Great Plains 114 12 Bioarcheology data base 116 13 Distribution of human skeletons by cultural affiliation 120 14 Human skeletons by age, sex, and cultural affiliation 121 15 Human skeletons by cultural affiliation and river drainage 121 16 Human bone preservation in archeological sites 121 17 Human skeletons by Region 5 adaptation types 122 18 Level of analysis of skeletal samples 122 19 Burial position at the McLemore site 128 20 Number of sites by cultural affiliation and type of burial 129 21 Age and sex of skeletons from McLemore and Four Bear 139 22 Age and sex of skeletons from Fred Loomis and Nagle 140 23 Cranial bone inventory for McLemore, Grant, and Four Bear 141 24 Vertebra bone inventory for McLemore, Grant, and Four Bear 142 25 Diaphyses and joint surfaces on bone for McLemore, Grant, and Four Bear 143 26 Complete long bone inventory for McLemore, Grant, and Four Bear 145 27 Bone loss and bone increase at Four Bear and Grant/McLemore 147 28 Arthritic changes at Four Bear and Grant/McLemore 149 29 Carious permanent teeth from Four Bear and Grant/McLemore 150 30 Alveolar bone pathology from Four Bear and Grant/McLemore 151 31 Cranial measurement means and standard deviations by group and sex 152 32 Correlation of original variables with canonical discriminant score 153 33 Means and standard deviations for femora and humeri by group and sex 154 34 Correlation of original variables with canonical discriminant scores 155 35 Summary of political units in the study area 176 36 Summary of site frequencies in the study area 176 I-1 Native American population by tribe in Oklahoma, 1980 248 I-2 Linguistic associations in the region 249 I-3 Contemporary tribal entities in the region 250 I-4 Temporal units of the protohistoric and historic periods 251 I-5 Selected Native American sites 258 I-6 Artifacts reported from selected historic Native American sites 259 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The completion of this archeological overview has been the result of continuing support of numerous people for more than three years. There are several people who have contributed significantly since the inception of this project and without whose help the project would not have been initiated, much less completed. Special thanks are extended to Larry Banks, Fred Limp, and Don Wyckoff. Specialists from several states took time to review the manuscript or portions of it in various stages of completion. Others provided key source materials. These individuals include Jan Guy, Tom Hester, Dee Ann Story, Carolyn Spock, and Helen Simmons in Texas; Marsha Jackson in New Mexico; Martin Stein and Tom Witty in Kansas; personnel from the Colorado Historical Society; Marvin Jeter, Ann Early, Fred Limp, George Sabo, and Mary Lynn Kennedy of the Arkansas Archeological Survey, and Marshall Gettys of the Oklahoma Historical Society. Substantial assistance with the bibliography was provided by Ines Pennella, Kent Buehler and Mary McClain.