UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE THE ANALYSIS OF A FOURCHE MALINE MOUND SITE: TROY ADAMS (34LF33) A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS By CANDACE N. PARKER Norman, Oklahoma 2020 THE ANALYSIS OF A FOURHCE MALINE MOUND SITE: TROY ADAMS (34LF33) A THESIS APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY BY THE COMMITTEE CONSISTING OF Dr. Asa Randall, Chair Dr. Scott Hammerstedt Dr. Patrick Livingood © Copyright by CANDACE N. PARKER 2020 All Rights Reserved Abstract The Fourche Maline archaeological culture is a group of people that have constructed a series of mound sites that are located along the Fourche Maline creek in eastern Oklahoma with other similar sites in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. The Fourche Maline archaeological culture is identified by the large dark-earth mounds, distinct ceramic wares, varieties of Gary points and presence of various bone and stone tools. A large number of these mounds were excavated in the 1930s and 1940s by the Works Progress Administration. Many of these sites were to be destroyed by the construction of Lake Wister and in order to prevent the complete loss of important cultural resources, many Fourche Maline sites were excavated. After the excavations were complete, very little analysis of those collections were conducted. Over the years, various sites received material analysis, but many continue to go unanalyzed. This thesis presents an analysis of materials collected from the Troy Adams site – 34LF33 – one of the sites that has received very little, if any analysis and interpretation. In order to gain a better understanding of how this site fits into the broader ideas of Fourche Maline, a landscape approach is taken. This approach will help to encapsulate both the physical setting of these sites on the landscape while also accounting for the human influence on that environment and the things that took place on that landscape, especially with regard to the tools that they used and the activities in which they participated. In addition to presenting a material analysis, this thesis will also take a comparative look at what other sites identified as Fourche Maline look like and how these general ideas about Fourche Maline compare to what was found at Troy Adams (34LF33). The main question that I will be addressing for this research is regarding the use and significance of the landscape in which these sites are located. It is my goal to gain a better understanding of what the artifacts can iv tell us about the landscape and how it was being used and manipulated by people in the past. I will also answer questions about the production and use of ceramic materials, the acquisition of raw materials for stone tools and the uses of those stone tools; this will all tie into landscape usage. This thesis demonstrates that Troy Adams (34LF33) was part of a series of mound sites along the creek that depict landscape modification. Through an examination of archaeological materials, I conclude that this area and these sites were highly modified by the people in the past that occupied them. They were only constructing and mounds and burying their dead within them, but they prepared the landscape for cultivation, manufacturing tools and other daily lifestyle activities. v Acknowledgements I would like to thank my thesis committee chair, Dr. Asa Randall for his insight, support, and accountability during this journey. Thank you for meeting with me weekly and sometimes multiple times a week to help me improve this work. Your continued commitment to this work was greatly appreciated and directly shaped my graduate school experience. To Dr. Scott Hammerstedt, thank you for helping me navigate the nuances of WPA archaeology and for always being able to answer questions about Fourche Maline research. Additionally, I would like to thank Dr. Patrick Livingood for your invaluable comments and suggestions for improving my thesis, for sharing your abundance of knowledge of archaeology in eastern Oklahoma, and for providing me with access to GIS and helping me navigate that process as well. I would like to that the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History for allowing me access to these collections and the field records. I would like to thank Susie Armstrong for meeting with me and helping me navigate the process of acquiring archaeological materials for research. Thank you to the Oklahoma Archaeological Survey Laboratory of Southeast Archaeology for providing me with a workspace for the analysis of these materials. I would also like to thank my parents, Terri and Dennis for their love, support and for instilling in me a desire for knowledge and a sense of curiosity. My sister, Katherine, for the continuous encouragement and support of my aspirations. My grandparents for the continued support and interest in my research. To my friends whom I would not have gotten through this without. Finally, I would like to thank Caleb for his unwavering love, encouragement, and calming presence throughout this entire process. Thank you to everyone that has supported me throughout this process. vi Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ vi List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. ix List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. x Chapter One: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 Chapter Two: Understanding the Fourche Maline Archaeological Culture and the Theory Behind it ...................................................................................................................................................... 7 Understanding Fourche Maline................................................................................................... 8 Fourche Maline Chronology ..................................................................................................... 11 Fourche Maline Theory............................................................................................................. 14 Concluding Remarks ................................................................................................................. 17 Chapter 3: The WPA, Fourche Maline Research, and Troy Adams (34LF33) ............................ 19 Wister Valley Geography and Physiography ............................................................................ 19 The Works Progress Administration ......................................................................................... 20 Oklahoma and the WPA ........................................................................................................... 21 Post-WPA Archaeological Work .............................................................................................. 22 Recent Progress in Fourche Maline Research .......................................................................... 24 History of Work at 34LF33 – Troy Adams .............................................................................. 25 Chapter Four: Fourche Maline Pottery Examination and Analysis .............................................. 36 Fourche Maline Ceramic Typology .......................................................................................... 36 Analyzed Ceramic Assemblages at Fourche Maline sites ........................................................ 39 34LF11 (The Scott Site)........................................................................................................ 39 34LF24 (The Williams I Site) ............................................................................................... 40 Other Analyses ...................................................................................................................... 41 Ceramic Analysis of Artifacts from 34LF33 ............................................................................ 42 Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 43 Analysis................................................................................................................................. 46 Results ................................................................................................................................... 53 Vessel Use and Form ................................................................................................................ 56 Discussion and Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 60 Chapter Five: Fourche Maline Chipped Stone Examination and Analysis .................................. 64 A Background of Fourche Maline Chipped-stone Technology ................................................ 64 Fourche Maline Chipped Stone Tools ...................................................................................... 66 vii Chipped Stone Raw Material Sources .................................................................................. 66 Contracting Stem Hafted Bifaces.........................................................................................