A Prehistoric Caddo Site on Black Fork Creek, Upper Neches River Basin, Smith County, Texas

During the course of recent archaeological survey investigations for a proposed waterline, a previously unrecorded prehistoric Caddo site Lakewood Gardens (41SM425)-was found near, but outside the rightof-way and construction casement of, the proposed waterline. This article provides summary details about the site, hopefully adding information to the sparse archaeological record of prehistoric Caddo sites along Black Fork Creek. The site is situated on a natural upland rise (440 feet amsl) overlooking the Black Fork Creek floodplain less than 200 m to the north. Black Fork Creek is in the upper Neches River basin; the creek flows west into Prairie Creek, which enters the Neches River about 10 km to the west of the site. This area is in the Post Oak Savannah. Before the midto late 19th century, the swampy Black Fork Creek floodplain would have been covered with an oak-hickory forest, with more mesic hardwoods, including various oaks, maple, sweetgum, ash, and elm. The Post Oak Savanna vegetation would have been dominated by a variety of fire-tolerant oaks and hickory on upland landforms. The upland landforms in this part of Smith County area have Eocene-aged Queen Sparta, Tyler Greenstone Member, and Weches Formation interbedded deposits of sand and clays.


INTRODUCTION
During the course of recent archaeological survey investigations for a proposed waterline, a previously unrecorded prehistoric Caddo site-Lakewood Gardens (41 SM425 )-was found near, but outside the right-of-way and construction casement of, the proposed waterline (Nelson and Perttula 20 I 0). This artide provides summary details about the site, hopefully adding information to the sparse archaeological record of prehistoric Caddo sites along Black Fork Creek.
The site is situated on a natural upland rise (440 feel amsl) overlooking the Black Fork Creek floodplain less than 200 m to the north. I31ack Fork Creek is in the upper Neches River basin; the creek flows west into Prairie Creek, which enters the Neches River about 10 km to the west of the site. This area is in the Post Oak Savannah (Pcrttula and Nelson 2004: Figure 2). Before the mid-to late 19th century, the swampy Black Fork Creek floodplain would have heen covered with an oak-hickory forest, with more mesic hardwoods, including various oaks, maple, sweetg um, ash, and elm (Hatherly 1993;Perttula and Nelson 2004

ARCHAEOLOGICAL .FINDINGS
AU six shovel tests excavated at the Lakewood Gardens site contain prehistoric Caddo ceramic and lithic artifacts in moderately thick (ca. !30 em) Bresner soils (Hatherly 1993:22). These soils have yellowish-brown fine sandy loam A-and E-horizons overlying a strong brown clay subsoil. The prehistoric Caddo occupation at the site is shallowly and naturally buried in this soil at depths between 40-80 em bs; no artit"acls were found in the shove.! testing between 0-40 em bs. The density of prehistoric artifacts in the shovel testing is 1.83 per positive shovel test, or a relatively low density of ca. 14.6 artifacts per m 2 . The size of the landform and the distribution of positive shovel tests suggests the Lakewood Gardens site covers ca. I acre (4000 m 2 ).
Prehistoric grog-tempered Caddo sherds were recovered in two shovel tests (ST 4 and ST 6) between 40-80 em bs (Table I). All three sherds are from the body of moderately thick-walled vessels, probably jars. One of the sherds has parallel brushing on its exterior surface, suggesting it came from a cooking or storage jar; the brushing probably was oriented vertically on the vessel body.
In this part of Smith County, Texas, brushed jars were like.ly manufa<.:tured and used Jlrst in the Middle Caddo period (cf. Perttula and Nelson 2004;Walters 2008), from ca. A.D. 1200-1400, and this may he the likely period when the Lakewood Gardens site was occupied by prehistoric Caddo peoples. since just to the north in the Sabine River basin, Caddo groups had abandoned this region about A.D. 1400 (cf. Walters 2008). Late (ca. A.D. 1400-1650) and Historic (post-ca. A.D. 1650) Caddo groups in the upper Neches River valley to the south and west (see Anderson et al. 1974) continued to make brushed ceramic vessels, however, until they abandoned the. area in the early 18th century.
Chipped stone tools were knapped and/or resharpcned at the Lakewood Gardens site, and certain tools were useu here as well. Evidence or chipped stone tool manufacture and use includes one bilateral and unifacially used/worn expedient flake tool (ST 4, 40-60 em bs)-probably used to cut, sliec, and lightly scrape hides and packages of meat-made from a non-local grayish-brown chert raw material. Knapping debris consists of small (less than 6.4 mm)  [ 1993)); C and E=incompktely oxidiz.ed during firing; G. fired in a reducing environment. and cookd in the open air; ST=surface treatment; l=intt)rior; SM=smoothnl flakes on locally available lithic raw materials that have both smooth cortical (n=2; probably gathered from stream gravels) and non-cortical (n=5) exterior surfaces. These Hakes are from petrified wood (n=4) and quartzite (n=3); one of the quartzite pieces came from a heat-treated core or tool.

SUMMARY
The Lakewood Gardens site (41SM425) is a shallowly buried Middle and/or Late Caddo period habitation site recently discovered in the Black Fork Creek valley in the upper Neches River basin. The fact that the site appears to contain both intact and buried archaeological deposits and Caddo habitation debris suggests that the site may contain-upon further investigation, provided it is not disturbed by future development activities-features from a domestic occupation, including one or more wood structures, outdoor activity areas with ramadas and arbors, and localized trash deposits.