Article Title

Archeological Testing at the Prehistoric Site of 41SM231 Smith County, Texas

Authors

Steven AhrFollow

Agency

TxDOT

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21112/ita.2001.1.18

Abstract

In December 1998, TxDOT archeologists conducted an archeological survey for the proposed expansion of the walking and bicycle facility at Rose Rudman Park in Tyler, Texas. One previously unrecorded archeological site (41SM231) was recorded within the ca. 10-m wide trail corridor. In March 1999, TxDOT archeologists excavated two contiguous 1-x-1 -m test units at the site. Ninety-eight aboriginal ceramic sherds were recovered from test units and shovel tests. Recovered lithics include only a single edge-modified flake and a few pieces of debitage. No burned rock features, feature stains, postmolds, or datable remains were identified.

One Canton Incised and two Poyner Engraved sherds were recovered that suggest that the site was occupied between the Early to Late Caddoan Periods (AD 1000 to 1600). Most of the recovered sherds were small (diameter), without any diagnostic features. Fieldwork indicated that the upper ca. 50 cm of deposits was impacted and reworked by a variety of site formation processes. Most of the ceramics have been broken to a point beyond our ability to gain useful typologically grounded information about the aboriginal inhabitants of this region. Given the small number of artifacts and their generally small size, it is unlikely that this assemblage could yield important new information.

The portion of 41SM231 within the trail corridor does not retain sufficient integrity nor is it likely to yield important information that would make it eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) or merit designation as a State Archeological Landmark (SAL). Therefore, construction of the proposed trail should have no effect on archeological historic properties or SALs, and no further archeological work is recommended. However, because the site may extend beyond the examined corridor, future development activity adjacent to the trail may require examination to determine whether intact archeological deposits are present.

Licensing Statement

This is a work produced for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) by the report producer. TxDOT and the report producer jointly own all rights, title, and interest in and to all intellectual property developed under TxDOT’s contract with the report producer. The report may be cited and brief passages from this publication may be reproduced without permission provided that credit is given to both TxDOT and the report producer. Permission to reprint an entire chapter, section, figures or tables must be obtained in advance from either the Supervisor of the Archeological Studies Branch, Environmental Affairs Division, Texas Department of Transportation, 125 East 11th Street, Austin, Texas, 78701 or from the report producer.