View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by SFA ScholarWorks Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State Volume 2010 Article 24 2010 Archaeological Findings from an Historic Caddo Site (41AN184) in Anderson County, Texas Timothy K. Perttula Center for Regional Heritage Research, Stephen F. Austin State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ita Part of the American Material Culture Commons, Archaeological Anthropology Commons, Environmental Studies Commons, Other American Studies Commons, Other Arts and Humanities Commons, Other History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons, and the United States History Commons Tell us how this article helped you. Repository Citation Perttula, Timothy K. (2010) "Archaeological Findings from an Historic Caddo Site (41AN184) in Anderson County, Texas," Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State: Vol. 2010 , Article 24. https://doi.org/10.21112/.ita.2010.1.24 ISSN: 2475-9333 Available at: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ita/vol2010/iss1/24 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by SFA ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State by an authorized editor of SFA ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Archaeological Findings from an Historic Caddo Site (41AN184) in Anderson County, Texas Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. This article is available in Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ita/vol2010/iss1/24 Archaeological Findings from an Historic Caddo Site (41AN184) in Anderson County, Texas Timothy K. Perttula INTRODUCTION using a 1/4-inch thick pokey rod to help with their search. In two locations at what is now known as This article reports on the archaeological fi nd- 41AN184, Ron Green and his friends encountered ings from a Historic Caddo site (41AN184)1 in the evidence of what turned out to be Caddo burial pits upper Neches River basin in Anderson County, in (an unknown depth below the surface). According East Texas. The site was found in about 1960 by Ron to Green (2007:2): Green (of Rockdale, Texas) when he was a teenager. In 2007, he donated the collection of artifacts to the We tried to be careful with the digging Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, noting that “[n]othing to make sure we did not break anything. can undo what has been done, but I know that the In removing the layers of dirt I noticed a Caddo Nation will ensure these artifacts are given thin layer of black dirt above where we the proper respect and honor they would get no would fi nd the artifacts. It was not clear where else” (Green 2007:2). The artifacts donated what this was about until the last place we by Mr. Green are from a late 17th to early 18th cen- excavated. In that excavation was a part tury Caddo site, and includes European trade goods of a skull and leg bone. It was then that I (glass beads) as well as Caddo manufactured objects realized the black layer must have been a (including ceramic vessels and arrow points), which charcoal like material to prevent animals are rarely found on Caddo sites in the upper Neches from digging into the shallow graves. River basin.2 We carefully fi lled in the excavation and never dug again. The black charcoal-like layer encountered in their BACKGROUND ON THE SITE AND digging likely marked the accumulation of charred THE DISCOVERY OF ARTIFACTS organic materials and foods that had been burned Site 41AN184 is situated on an alluvial fan (320 and deliberately placed in the graves of the Caddo feet amsl) on the side south of Walnut Creek, just deceased, possibly part of the “Sixth Day Feast” west of the confl uence of Walnut Creek and Cooper burial rituals of the Caddo peoples (Gonzalez Creek. Walnut Creek is an eastward-fl owing tribu- 2005:57). The charcoal-like layer may also represent tary of the Neches River, about 15 km south of the evidence of fi res lit at the foot of the grave. Lake Palestine dam, and 50 km north of the various crossings of the Neches River by the El Camino Real de los Tejas (Corbin 1991). In 1960, the site was in RECOVERED ARTIFACTS an abandoned fi eld that had not been cultivated for several years; Ron Green’s father had leased the land A varied assortment of artifacts are in the do- from ca. 1930 to 1960 for cultivation and had told nated Ron Green collection from 41AN184. This his son that he had found pieces of pottery there. includes four Caddo ceramic vessels, four arrow When the site was recorded in 2007, the land had points, one large biface, and fi ve European glass recently been cleared of hardwoods and pine trees beads. Information is not available, unfortunately, that had grown up in the old fi eld. on either the provenience of any of the artifacts by In 1960, Ron Green and friends were looking burial feature, or which of the artifacts had been for artifacts in the old fi elds along Walnut Creek placed together in those features. Journal of Northeast Texas Archaeology, Volume 33, 2010 54 Journal of Northeast Texas Archaeology 33 (2010) this variety of Patton Engraved, the ticked circle Ceramic Vessels element, encircled by ticked semi-circles, is on the There are four ceramic vessels from 41AN184 body of the vessel, while the rim has two widely- in the Ron Green donated collection. They include spaced horizontal engraved lines with triangular tick a very large Patton Engraved bowl (Figure 1, back marks on them; the vessel from 41AN184 lacks the row), a medium-sized Poynor Engraved globular horizontal engraved and ticked rim panel. carinated bowl (Figure 1, front row, second from In one instance on the 41AN184 vessel, the cen- left), an inverted rim engraved carinated bowl tral ticked circle element has been bisected (because (Figure 1, front row, far left), and a medium-sized of a design or execution error?) by a single arcing engraved bottle (Figure 1, front row, far right). curvilinear and ticked engraved line (Figure 2b). Patton Engraved is considered to be the principal The placement of this additional curvilinear ticked engraved fi ne ware vessel in ca. post-A.D. 1650 engraved line at least indicates that the central ticked Historic Caddo sites in the Neches-Angelina river circle elements were engraved fi rst on the vessel, basins in East Texas. followed by the adjacent curvilinear ticked lines. The Patton Engraved, var. unspecifi ed bowl The dark brown globular carinated bowl (see from 41AN184 has an engraved design on the upper Figure 1, front row, second from left), a common vessel body, enclosed by upper and lower horizontal Poynor Engraved vessel form (Suhm and Jelks engraved lines, as well as horizontal brushing marks 1962:Plate 62b, j), has a distinctive engraved motif on the lower body (Figure 2a). The engraved design on the rim. The motif includes a central negative consists of a series of arcing curvilinear and ticked oval outlined by two sets of hatched brackets (remi- engraved lines that extend from the top to the bottom niscent of Poynor Engraved, var. Hood, see Perttula of the engraved panel, and are on opposite sides of 2008:Figure 1e), and these elements are enclosed two increasingly smaller central ticked circles. The within a rectangular panel defi ned at either end by central ticked circle element is also seen on Patton two closely-spaced vertical engraved lines and a Engraved, var. Fair vessels in the upper Neches large hatched pendant triangle whose apexes point (Perttula 2008:Figure 2g). However, in the case of towards the central negative oval. This vessel from Figure 1. Ceramic vessels donated by Ron Green to the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma from 41AN184. Archaeological Findings from an Historic Caddo Site (41AN184) in Anderson County, Texas 55 a b Figure 2. Patton Engraved, var. unspecifi ed globular bowl from 41AN184: a, side view; b, close-up of the engraved lines and triangular tick marks. 56 Journal of Northeast Texas Archaeology 33 (2010) 41AN184 is considered to be a Poynor Engraved, the slight collar; the apex of the triangles touch the var. unspecifi ed vessel. wavy horizontal engraved line. The vessel body has The inverted rim carinated bowl has a series several sets of poorly executed curvilinear engraved of engraved hook arm elements within an oval- scrolls (i.e., each scroll is comprised of three or four shaped area on a rim panel defi ned by upper and closely-spaced engraved lines rather than one broad lower horizontal engraved lines (see Figure 1, and carefully executed scroll) that begin either along front row, far left), and divided from each other the upper or lower vessel body and intersect around by hatched vertical brackets on either side of a central oval formed by the meeting of the upper the hooked arms. This particular motif clearly and lower scrolls. resembles two unnamed varieties (var. N and var. P) of Poynor Engraved recently recognized in the Ceramic Pipe upper Neches River basin (see Perttula 2009:Figure 6-64), as well as Poynor Engraved, var. Lang (Pert- Green (2007:2) notes that a ceramic pipe was tula 2008:Figure 1g’). These unnamed varieties of also found in the partial excavations of the burial Poynor Engraved make their appearance after ca.