Article Title

Collected Papers on Caddoan Archaeology in the Upper Sabine River Basin, Northeastern Texas

Authors

Timothy K. Perttula, Heritage Research Center, Stephen F. Austin State UniversityFollow

Agency

Friends of Northeast Texas Archaeology

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21112/ita.1995.1.12

Abstract

This Special Publication of the Friends of Northeast Texas Archaeology presents a series of papers written and published between 1983-1994 on various aspects of the archaeology of the Upper Sabine River basin in Northeast Texas (Figure 1). Their particular focus is on the lifeways and material culture of the Caddoan peoples who permanently settled in the basin between about A.D. 700-800 (if not earlier) and the mid- 1700s.

This part of Northeast Texas has a highly significant and diverse archaeological record, one that has intrigued professional and a vocational archaeologists alike for at least 75 years (e.g., Pearce 1920; Johnson and Jelks 1958; Johnson 1962; Bruseth and Perttula 1981; Granberry 1985; Friedell and Skinner 1995). However, we still know very little about the prehistoric and early historic Caddoan groups who lived in the basin, and unfortunately it has been a number of years since dedicated archaeologists, professional or avocational, turned their attention to this region; on the other hand, looters and vandals who want to make a profit from their plunder of the past have not overlooked the region.

Thus, the publication of this compilation of papers serves two purposes: first, to make accessible in one document an integrated and coherent series of papers that illustrate the interesting and dynamic nature of Caddoan archaeology in the Upper Sabine River basin, and second, to foster a renewed interest in studying the regional Caddoan archaeological record. Hopefully, this will help to effectively communicate the results of archaeological investigations to interested members of the public and the Caddo Tribe (something that professional archaeologists in Texas and elsewhere have fallen fall short of accomplishing successfully [Jameson 1994]), and in tum will engender the continued quest for knowledge about the past in a spirit of protection and enhancement of the region's archaeological resources.

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