Article Title

Frankston Phase Ceramics from the Alcoa #1 (41AN87) Site, Mound Prairie Creek, Anderson County, Texas

Authors

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

Agency

Journal of Northeast Texas Archeology

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21112/.ita.2009.1.37

Abstract

In 1990, Amick investigated a well-preserved Late Caddo Frankston phase midden deposit at the ALCOA #1 (41AN87) site on Mound Prairie Creek, about 7 km northeast of Palestine, Texas. During the course of that work, more than 900 Caddo ceramic vessel sherds and a few pipe sherds were recovered, but they were only cursorily described by Amick. That was unfortunate at the time because it appeared then, and is still evident now, that the ALCOA #I site was a single component 15th century A.D. Frankston phase settlement, and detailed study of the recovered ceramic assemblage would have provided unique insights into the stylistic and technological character of the ceramic vessels being made and used for culinary purposes by the prehistoric Caddo in this part of the Neches River basin.

With the renewed study of the archaeology of the Frankston phase occasioned by the Texas Department of Transportation-sponsored excavations at the Lang Pasture site (41AN38) and the recovery there of a substantial ceramic sherd assemblage-and the reexamination of sherd and vessel collections from Frankston phase collections at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, The University of Texas at Austin, I returned to the detailed study of the ALCOA # 1 ceramic assemblage. The assemblage of ceramic vessel sherds from the Amick work is sufficiently robust that it is possible to characterize with some precision the use of fine wares, utility wares, and plain wares by the 15th century A.D. Caddo that lived at the site.

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