The Ceramics from a Late Caddo Site on Mud Creek in Cherokee County, Texas

This article discusses the character of a large assemblage of prehistoric Caddo vessel sherds from a Late Caddo site (41CE309) on Mud Creek in Cherokee County, Texas, not far from the creek's confluence with the Angelina River. The site was discovered by Bill Young, an avocational archaeologist and Texas Archeological Steward, on a terrace of Mud Creek, just west of the city of Reklaw, Texas. During the course of a number of visits to the site in the 1980s, more than 2300 ceramic sherds were collected by Young, most of the sherds being found in the central part of the terrace landform; in this same area, three or more Caddo burials had been previously looted by collectors. A few sherds and Friley points were noted at the southern part of the terrace, suggesting that archaeological materials from a preA. D. 900 Woodland period occupation may be present there as well as a more substantial Late Caddo occupation across the remainder of 41CE309.

The Ceramics from a Late Caddo Site on Mud Creek in Cherokee County, Texas INTRODUCTION This article discusses the character of a large assemblage of prehistoric Caddo vessel sherds from a Late Caddo site (41CE309) on Mud Creek in Cherokee County, Texas, not far from the creek's confluence with the Angelina River. The site was discovered by Bill Young, an a vocational archaeologist and Texas Archeological Steward, on a terrace of Mud Creek, just west of the city of Reklaw, Texas.
During the course of a number of visits to the site in the 1980s, more than 2300 ceramic sherds were collected by Young, most of the sherds being found in the central part of the terrace landform; in this same area, three or more Caddo burials had been previously looted by collectors. A few sherds and Friley points were noted at the southern part of the terrace, suggesting that archaeological materials from a pre-A .D. 900 Woodland period occupation may be present there as well as a more substantial Late Caddo occupation across the remainder of 41 CE309.

ASSEMBLAGE
The ceramic vessel sherd assemblage from 4lCE309 includes 2380 sherds. About 2.4% of the sherds are from Woodland period sandy paste Goose Creek Plain, var. unspecified vessels (including one sandy paste sherd with a row of small circular punctates), while the remainder of the sherds (n=2323) are from tempered Caddo vessels of several different wares. Almost 60% of these tempered Caddo sherds are from the decorated portions of utility ware and fine ware vessels.

Plain Wares
The tempered plain wares (n=954) from 41 CE309 includes 41 rims, 852 body sherds, and 61 base sherds. There is a substantial plain ware assemblage of primarily simple bowls, jars, and bottles at the site, as demonstrated by the fact that almost 33% of the rims from the Caddo ceramic assemblage (n=l25) are from plain wares. Nevertheless, the plain to decorated sherd ratio of 0. 70 from the site, as well as the preponderance of decorated rims (67% ), suggests that the majority of the vessels have decoration on either the exterior surface of the rim and/or the body.

Utility Wares
The utility wares from 41 CE309 include 73 rims and 1183 body sherds (Table 1). Utility wares are predominantly from jars used for cooking and food storage, and this ware is certainly the most common kind of pottery vessel made and used at the site by the Caddo people. Approximately 58% of all the rims from 41 CE309 are from utility wares.
Among the utility wares, the principal decorative methods present at 41 CE309 include incised (32.9% of the rims), punctated (23.3%), and brushed (23.3%). Including both rim and body sherds, more than 72% of the 41CE309 utility ware sherds have brushing marks on either the rim and/or the body of jars; another 3.8% have brushed decorations in combination with another decorative method (i.e., incised, punctated, appliqued, and incised-appliqued). Incised jars comprise 13.2% of the utility wares and jars with punctated decorations another 8% (see Table 1).
The brushed rims have horizontal brushing marks on them. Most of the remainder of the brushed vessels (and vessels with brushed bodies and non-brushed decorations on the rim) have vertical brushing on vessel bodies (n=n=833). About 6% (n=54) have overlapping brushed marks on the vessel body, as well as opposed brushing (n=7, 0.8%) and diagonal brushing (n=1) marks. These brushed vessels are likely primarily from Bullard Brushed jars, or types such as Maydelle Incised or Pease Brushed-Incised (see Suhm and Jelks 1962) that have brushed bodies.  Stokes and Woodring 1981) These same sorts of vessels were sometimes decorated on the body with parallel or vertical brushing ami sets of vertical incised lines; these brushedincised sherds represent 1.8% of the utility wares. One of these sherds has parallel brushing marks with incised lines that overlie the brushing. Three sherds from 41 CE309 have brushed-incised-punctated decorative elements (see Table I). One rim has horizontal brushing marks below a row of tool punctates at the lip, and at least one diagonal incised line drawn through the brushing (Figure I a). The other two are body sherds with parallel brushing marks alongside a single straight incised line; a row of tool punctates has been pushed through the brushing.
Brushed-punctated decorations on utility wares at 41CE309 include five rim sherds (6.8% of the utility ware rims) and 11 body sherds (1% of the utility ware body sherds) (see Table l). All five rims have horizontal brushing marks, three with tool punctations at the lip and two others with a single row of tool punctations underneath an everted rim. The body sherds have parallel brushing marks as well as either rows of tool punctates pushed through the brushing (n= I 0) or a single row of tool punctates adjacent to an area of brushing; in the latter case, the punctates likely ran vertically on the vessel body.
Seven other body sherds have straight appliqued fillets amidst areas of parallel brushing marks. These appliqued fillets likely served to divide the body of Pease Brushed-Incised jars into panels filled with vertical brushing marks. Two sherds have appliqued decorative elements: a rim with a large appliqued node, and a body sherd with a straight appliqued fillet.
Among the rim sherds with incised decorative elements, five (22.7%) have sets of vertical incised lines, eight rims have either horizontal ( 18.2%) or diagonal ( 18.2%) incised lines, and six rims have cross-hatched (13.6%) or opposed (13.6%, see Three of the incised sherds from 41 CE309 arc from carinated bowls that have decorative elements otherwise found only on Poynor Engraved vessels; in these cases, the decorative motif was executed before the vessel was fired, rather than after firing. These Poynor Incised vessels include one rim with hatched triangles (see Figure I e), another rim with an incised circle, scroll, and hatched triangles (Figure 2g), and a body sherd with hatched triangles and diagonal incised lines (also likely part of a scroll element).
The incised-punctated vessel sherds are diverse, even though they only comprise 1.9% of the utility ware sherds and 9.6% of the utility ware rims (see Table 1). Two of the rims have horizontal incised lines above tool punctate-filled zones, while two others have a row of tool punctates at the lip and either diagonal or horizontal incised lines on the rim. examples include a l:arinated bowl sherd with horizontal incised lines above the carination and a row of tool punl:tates below the l:arination; a body sberd with diagonal opposed incised lines with different kinds of fingernail and tool punctations between the incised lines (see Figure lh); another body sherd with tool punctated rows between incised lines (see Figure  I i); a body sherd with horizontal lines above a tool punctated row; and a body sherd with opposed indsed lines above a zone of fingernail punctates. The one remaining incised-punctated body sherd has a single curvilinear incised line framing a zone of tool punctates.
The punctated utility ware sherds primarily have tool punctations (n=72, including 16 rims) rather than fingernail punctations (n=28, but only one rim sherd). The punctations occur in rows on the rim and/or body of utility ware vessels. Ten of the tool punctated rims bave a single row of punctates under the lip of everted rim jars.
Only a single Killough Pinched body sherd is in the collection from 41CE309. Apparently the Caddo manufacture and use of this distinctive utility ware was most prevalent in the upper part of the Neches River valley (Perttula 2008a).
Two of the utility ware sherds from the site are from pre-AD. 1300 Weches Fingernail Impressed, var. Weches vessels (see Table 1). These two sherds are the only ceramic materiall:ulture evidence of an early Caddo use of 41 CE309. The more complex engraved decorative elements primarily include those from Poynor Engraved vessels that feature: (a) hatched triangles in combination with horizontal and/or diagonal engraved lines (n= 12, see Figure  2a. j ); (b) hatched panels and narrow zones (n=4, see Figure 2c); (c) cross-hatched zones and panels (n= 13, see Figure 2d, h-i, k); and (d) scroll elements (n=2, sec Figure  2f). Two sherds can he identified as Var. B (see Figure 2f) and Var. S (see Figure 2e) versiom of Poynor Engraved as defined from a large sample of whole vesseb in the upper Neches River hasin (Perttula 20oga: Table 6-37). These particular varieties apparently were made and used in that area in the early part of the Late Caddo Frankston phase, dating from ca. A.D. 1400-1480. Where the temporal context of these varieties is known, they apparently are common elements in stylistic motifs seen on vessels from mortuary contexts that date from ca. A.D. 1400-1560. rim sherd.

Fine Wares
The engraved and red-slipped fine wares include 12 rims and 101 body sherds (see Table 1 ). The engraved rims, all from carinated bowls. comprise only 8.8% of the rims in the Caddo cerami!.' assemblage as a whole, indicating that fine wares were only relatively rarely made and used during the Late Caddo occupation at 41CE309. The engraved sherds are divided into carinated bowls (n= 100) and bottles (n= II).
The diversity in decorative elements among the 41CE309 carinated bowl fine wares is considerable (Tahle 2). In addition to a number of sherds (61%) with relatively simple straight and geometric elements-including horizontal lines (n=5). horizontal and vertical lines (n=2), opposed lines (n=7), cross-hatching (n=2), diagonal lines (n=3), vertical lines (n=2). parallel lines (n=18). and single straight lines (n=22)-there are a few fine ware sherds at 41CE309 that have semi-circle (n=4, see Figure 2e) or curvilinear (n=3) elements (7% ), but these are in Bottle sherds arc not common at 4ICE309. accounting for less than 10% of the fine wares. Most of the bottle sherds have widely-spaced curvilinear engraved lines (n=6) or curvilinear and opposed engraved lines (n=3, see Figure 2b). One Poynor Engraved bottle sherd has hatched triangles and engraved scroll clements. The last bottle sherd has a set of opposed engraved lines on the body of the bottle.
Two of the fine ware sherds are red-slipped (see Tahle l). One is from a carinated bowl that is redslipped on both interior and exterior vessel surfal.:es: the other sherd (from a vessel of unknown form) has a red slip only on the exterior vessel surface.

Elbow pipe
There is a single plain elbow pipe sherd in the collection from 41CE309. Such forms of clay pipes began to manufactured after ca. A.D. 1350 in the upper Neches River basin in East Texas (Pcrttula 2008a).

Sandy-paste Woodland period pottery
A total of 57 Woodland period sandy paste sherds are in the Bill Young collection from 41 CE309. This includes 51 plain body sherds, two plain rims, two base sherds, a body sherd with a drilled suspension hole, and a body sherd with rows of very small circular punctations. Similar decorated sherds have been found in pre-AD. 800 Woodland period contexts at relatively well -dated and extensive Woodland period components at Lake Naconiche in the Attoyac Bayou drainage in Nacogdoches County. Texas (see Perttula 2008b).
Sandy paste Goose Creek Plain pottery is some of the earliest pottery made and used by Native Americans in East Texas and Southeast Texas, especially south and west ofthe Sabine River. The earliest pottery in these regions-Tchefuncte pottery-may date as early as 2500 years ago, if not earlier (see Webb et a!. 1969). Saunders and Hays (2004: 16) report that Tchefuncte pottery from Louisiana has been dated as early as 2800-3400 years B.P. Story ( 1990:275) had suggested some years ago that the earliest sandy paste ceramics in the Conroe-Livingston area dated from ca. 100 B.C. to A.D. 900; she termed this the Early Ceramic period of the Mossy Grove culture in inland Southeast Texas. More recent dating of archaeological components with Goose Creek Plain sandy paste pottery indicates that this distinctive plain ware was made beginning about and after 2500 years ago. Table 3 lists a range of these dated sites-some Mossy Grove, but not all (e.g., Rogers et a!. 2001 )-and includes sites from inland Southeast Texas and the Louisiana coast to the Sabine River basin in East Texas. The most thoroughly documented (although undated) Woodland period ceramic assemblage in the region is from the Deshazo site (Fields 1995). This site is in the Bayou Loco drainage basin in the southwestern part of Nacogdoches County, Texas. Other well-described Woodland period ceramics include several sites at Lake Sam Ra ybum in the Angelina and Attoyac drainage basins in the southern and southeastern part of Nacogdoches and adjoining counties (Jelks 1965).
These dated sites range as late as ca. A.D. 900 in age, as previously indicated by Story ( 1990). It is possible to refine the ending date for the Woodland period to ca. A.D. 700 or 1250 years B.P. by excluding sites that have early arrow points in addition to. or instead of, Gary and Kent dart points. The latter are apparently diagnostic of the Early Ceramic period (Story 1990:275) in Southeast Texas and perhaps the beginning of the Formative Caddo period. Based on the Table 3 radiocarbon and OSL-dated summary of sites with Goose Creek Plain sherds and the presumed timing in the adoption of arrow points. then, Mossy Grove sandy paste ceramic assemblage from 41 CE309 could date conservatively to anywhere from ca. 2470-1250 years ago in the region.

Bone-tempered pottery
Bone temper was employed in the manufacture of tempered Caddo vessels from 41 CE309, amounting to 15% of the Caddo vessel sherds (Table 4). The remainder of the sherds from the site are from vessels tempered with grog (i.e., crushed sherds or fired clay).
One of the technological features of the post-AD. 1300 upper Neches River basin Caddo ceramic tradition is the reliance by Caddo potters on the use of grog as the principal tempering aplastic (Perttula 2008a). Such is the situation in the ceramic assemblage at 41CE309. Farther to the east in the Angelina, Attoyac, and Sabine River drainages (see Perttula 2008b: Figure 12-3), contemporaneous Caddo ceramic complexes belonging to a ditTerent ceramic tradition are dominated by bone-tempered pottery vessels. Only the plain wares (i.e., bowls used in food serving) and decorated utility wares (i.e., used in cooking and storage tasks) at 41CE309 have bone-tempered vessels in any frequency. Bone tempering was clearly not preferred in the manufacture of tine ware vessels.

Conclusions
The abundant ceramic vessel sherds from 41 CE309 indicate that a substantial prehistoric Caddo settlement was present at the site. The ceramic assemblage from this site is d ominated by utility wares and plain wares, with a low frequency of engraved and red-slipped fine ware vessel sherds. The predominance of utility wares and plain wares would be expected at a Caddo domestic residential Ensor and Carlson 1991 Gadus andFields 1997 *Later calibrated dates between AD 670-877 from the Boyette site ( 41 NA285) are also associated with sandy paste pottery, but possibly also associated with the adoption of tempered Caddo wares. **OSL dates closely affiliated socially and technologically with other Caddo groups living to the north and west in the Neches River valley and its tributaries. The identification of Weches Fingernail Impressed, var. Weches sherds and a fair number of plain sandy paste Goose Creek Plain, var. unspecified sherds are ceramic evidence that 41 CE309 was also inhabited before ca. A.D. 1300. The more substantial of these earlier occupations was during the Woodland period by a Mossy Grove Culture group (see Story 1990).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank Bill Young for the opportunity to examine this collection of Caddo ceramic sherds. Mark Walters and Shawn Marceaux assisted in the documentation of the collection.