The Smithport Landing Site: An Alto Focus Component in De Soto Parish, Louisiana, by Clarence H. Webb

This is a belated description of the Smithport Landing Site, one of several known Alto Focus components in northwestern Louisiana. This large village site, on the western margin of the Red River flood plain, covers portions of several low hills which front on a former lake.

Nineteen pottery vessels, all but two identifiable as Alto Focus types, were found with fourteen burials. Included are Hickory Fine Engraved, Davis Incised, Kiam Incised, Wilkinson Punctated, and Smithport Plain (virtually identical with Bowles Creek Plain) types.

Surface materials comprise 1553 sherds, 61 dart and 55 arrow points, and a modest number of chipped and polished stone tools or ornaments. The stone tool assemblage seems to be basically late Archaic with the addition of small arrow points.

Although the sherds as well as whole vessels are predominantly derived from Alto Focus ceramics, a small percentage of Coles Creek, a somewhat larger representation of Bossier Focus, and a few late Caddoan pottery types are identified. Similarities and differences between the ceramics of this site, the Davis (Alto) Site in eastern Texas, and the central Louisiana sequence of pottery, are pointed out. Possible relationships between Coles Creek, Alto, Bossier, and Plaquemine ceramics are developed. It is postulated that Caddoan (Alto) and Coles Creek peoples or influences entered northwestern Louisiana almost simultaneously, and that Bossier Focus developed out of the amalgamation of these two previous cultures. A few very late Caddoan sherds indicate a late occupation at Smithport Landing, possibly during historic times.

INTRODUCTION

The Smithport Landing Site was initially explored by Monroe Dodd, Jr., and the author between 1934 and 1940.[1] It was the first site at which we found burials and whole pottery; it was also the first site in Louisiana which was identified as an Alto Focus component (Webb, 1948) and was recognized as such in the Davis Site report (Newell and Krieger, 1949: 195, 197, Fig. 62). In describing the Bossier Focus, Smithport Landing was one of 15 sites used for comparison and discussion of the relative incidence of Bossier Focus pottery types, and of several pottery complexes. First suggested in my 1948 paper, and elaborated in a more recent study (Webb, 1961) of 20 sites in northwestern Louisiana, is the thesis that the Bossier Focus developed out of a simultaneous spread of Alto and Coles Creek peoples or influences across this area in post-Marksville times. Smithport Landing was one of the key sites in this study, because of the admixture of Alto and Coles Creek pottery types and the presence of a minor Bossier Focus manifestation.

It therefore seems appropriate to publish the available information about this site, despite the limited excavations conducted nearly 30 years ago. The criticism has been made that too many foci in the Caddoan area have been based on excavation of a single site and that the Alto Focus, for example, is based on the Davis Site alone. The information presented herein concerning Smithport Landing and other Alto Focus manifestations in Louisiana was available to, and used by, Krieger as indicated in the Davis report. The details should have been published for other students, however, especially since burials of the Alto period are limited in number.

SITE ENVIRONMENT

The Smithport Landing Site is in the eastern edge of De Soto Parish, about eight miles east of Mansfield, the Parish seat (Fig. 1). It is a relatively large village site situated on eroded and dissected hills which project in an expanded tongue of land fronting on Old Smithport or Clear Lake (Bayou Pierre Lake). The former lake bed is now dry in the summer, swampy during the rainy season. Buffalo Bayou courses through this low area to join the outflow of present Smithport Lake about one mile northeast of the site. Further eastward this drainage flows into Bayou Pierre which continues some 20 miles down the southwestern margin of the Red River flood plain until it empties into this river near Natchitoches.

The hills on which the site is located (Fig. 2) are 10 to 20 feet above the lake bed; where dissected by small drainages the slope is gentle, but in several places is abrupt. Most of the site was formerly in cultivation and the topsoil, a grayish sand with liberal mixture of humus, 145 is three to four feet thick and apparently fertile. The subsoil is a rather dense, reddish or orange sandy clay. The trees around the site are oak, persimmon, gum, and many smaller hawthorns and sassafras. The uplands have heavy growths of pine and the lake bed has the usual cypress, willows, and some hardwoods. The nearby lakes still have abundant fish—bass, crappie, “bream” and other small perches, as well as the “rough” varieties like gar, carp, catfish, shad, and “gasper-gou”—and turtles, eels, bullfrogs, snakes, and an occasional alligator are present. Bird species are abundant and in former years migratory waterfowl came in tremendous numbers. Edible wild fruits and nuts in the area are persimmons, haws, crab apples, plums, muscadines and other wild grapes, hickory nuts, walnuts, pecans, chinquapins (dwarf chestnuts), yoncapins (seed of Nelumbo lutea, a water lily), and many others. Deer were present until the early part of the 20th century and are now returning; squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, and opossums are the more prevalent of the edible animals. Mussels and snails are available in moderate numbers. In aboriginal and early historic times this vicinity afforded, undoubtedly, an abundance of natural resources, with good soil and adequate rainfall for domestic crops.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

During the 18th and 19th centuries this land was spoken of as “the coast,” inferring a large body of water into which the tongue of land projected. Like so many other lakes formed where streams run into the river valley out of the hills, it is probable that old natural river levees formed a bar or dam which produced the lake; some, however, are of the opinion that the famous log jam in Red River was instrumental in production of these lakes. At any rate, much of the traffic on the river above Alexandria coursed along these lateral streams and lakes. When we first visited this site, old residents spoke of a deep lake with steamboat landings at the site and on present Smithport Lake.

The desirability of this land for habitation is attested by the several prehistoric sites in the neighborhood, the size of the Smithport Landing Site, and the early documents which indicate a white settlement within a few years after establishment of Natchitoches Post. About equidistant (25-30 miles) from Natchitoches and the Spanish counter post at Los Adaes (Fig. 1), families and influences were derived from both the French and Spanish. Records at Natchitoches record the birth of Joseph Marcel Antonio De Soto, son of Manuel De Soto and Marie De St. Denis, member of the family of Louis Juchereau De St. Denis who founded Natchitoches, in 1758 (D’Antonio, 1961a). A later daughter married Paul Lafitte of Bayou Pierre, as the Smithport Lake Settlement was called.

The Spanish influence became stronger in the latter 1700’s, after Louisiana was ceded to Spain. Even after the Louisiana Purchase, this land was on the margin of the “neutral ground” and for a time was under Spanish jurisdiction. This, as well as a comment about a Yatasi Indian village which may be of significance to the site, is indicated by D’Antoni’s (1961a) account of the journey in 1808 of Don Marcelo De Soto, who had become Spanish judge of Bayou Pierre Community, to San Antonio to petition the governor for a resident pastor. The petition reads in part:

Although a resident pastor was not sent, priests from Nacogdoches visited the settlement for some years, then visitation was taken over by the French priests at Natchitoches. A chapel was constructed in 1843 “in the center of De Soto Parish at Bayou Pierre.” In 1855 the first new parish of the Natchitoches Diocese was established here and a resident priest assigned (D’Antoni, 1961b).

In 1888 a Carmelite Mission was established, with a monastery and subsequently separate schools for boys and girls (D’Antoni, 1962). The Carmelites built a rock chapel which is now preserved as an historic monument to their labors; the small settlement three miles east of the site is now called Carmel.

SITE EXPLORATION AND EXCAVATION

The Smithport Landing Site is located in Township 13 N, Range 12 W, sections 23 and 26, on land owned at present by Edward Lafitte of Carmel, but at the time of our excavation by Guy Sample of Shreveport. When first visited in 1934, much of the site was in cultivation; now it is in pasturage or woodlands. Evidences of occupation were found on portions of four hills, heaviest on hills 2 and 3 (Fig. 2). Larger than most sites in this area, we estimated that a total of 40 to 50 acres was occupied. We first explored Hill 1, a low hill which sloped gently to the bottom lands and had been in cultivation for a long time. The topsoil was thin and sheet erosion exposed a number of pottery sherds, projectile points, and other stone objects. It is possible that this was a separate site, since it is set apart by a wide stream bed from the other occupied hills, but the artifact types were not different. The area of occupation covered about five acres.

Hill 2 is higher, about 20 feet above the old lake bed, and slopes rather sharply southward to the lowlands. The top is gently rounded and had been put into cultivation only a few years before our first visit. The topsoil was very dark and many large pottery sherds were found; in fact, this hill showed the heaviest occupation of the site, over an area of 20 to 30 acres. The burials (Fig. 3) which are described later occurred on the crest of this hill, immediately overlooking the old lake.

Hills 3 and 4 run north-south and slope down to a small stream which separates them. The occupation areas, chiefly along the slopes to the stream, are estimated at five to ten acres on each hill, although we were uncertain about Hill 4 because it was partly wooded. There were two tenant houses in a nearby deserted field. On the back part of Hill 2 and east of the main tenant house, very black soil, found over 148 a radius of 12-15 feet, contained large sherds, numerous animal bones or bone fragments, and ashes (Fig. 2). Two test pits showed that the black refuse soil was two to three feet in depth and ashes indicated extensive cooking. Our notes show no evidence of a house floor or post molds, although we did not trench the area.

Burial Excavations

In May, 1935, Monroe Dodd, Jr., found a small intact vessel (Fig. 4, O) in hog rootings on the crest of Hill 2, which had been left uncultivated and put into pasturage that year. Excavations exposed within a radius of two to three feet a cluster of nine pottery vessels (Fig. 3, Nos. V-94-102), three of which were intact and four largely so. Included are vessels shown in Figure 4, B, C, F, K, N, O, and R. Vessels which are not illustrated are two broken bottles (probably hit by the plow), one Hickory Fine Engraved and an untyped engraved ware with interlocking spirals. All of the vessels were within two feet of the surface, as were burials 1 and 2 (Fig. 3), male and female adults lying fully extended and supine, with heads turned to left and right, respectively. The pottery deposit could have related to either or both of these. Two Alba points were found to the side of Burial 1.

On weekend trips between May and November, 1935, with permission of the owner, we worked out the remainder of the burials; see Figure 3. As a result either of our inexperience or of the way the burials had been placed, we were not sure of pit outlines and of which skeletons were associated. All occurred at a depth of two to three feet from the surface, although disturbed soil continued to a depth of three to three and a half feet and in a few places to four feet. It was my impression, as recorded in notes, that burials 1 and 2 were together and that burials 5, 3-4, 6-8 and 11-13, and 9-10 represented interment groups.

Burials 3 and 4 were side by side and undoubtedly placed together. Both were supine and fully extended, except that the left arm of Burial 3 was abducted and flexed at right angles. Heads were directed almost south, that of 3 with face upward; the skull of Burial 4 was turned to the right. Both were adults, Burial 3 a female, 4 a male. A large, intact bottle (Fig. 4, A) was two feet above the heads and a small bowl (Fig. 4, I) was in fragments to the left of the skull of Burial 3.

Between this group and Burial 2 we found a skull and several long bones in an irregular bundle (Fig. 3, Burial 5). There were no associated artifacts.

Burials 6 to 8 were about a foot apart, on the same level, and were thought to be a single interment. Heads were directed north, all turned towards the left side, and the bodies were supine and extended, except that the left arm of Burial 6 was flexed, with the hand lying over a pottery 150 vessel above the head of Burial 7 (Fig. 3). This vessel, an intact cylindrical jar of the type Kiam Incised (Fig. 4, D) was the only offering. Burial 6 was that of a female, age estimated 40-50 years, rather gracile in build. Burial 7 was a child of 13-15 years and Burial 8 was either an adolescent or young adult female.

Burials 11 to 13, found on a subsequent visit, may have been a part of the burial 6-8 interment, as they were at the same depth (three feet), were immediately adjacent, and lay in the same orientation. Burial 11 was a male, supine and extended, with head directed north and turned to the left. Age was estimated at 18-20 years. Burial 12 was a female adult, also supine, fully extended and head directed north but rotated to the right to face Burial 11. Burial 13 was a female adult, lying across and directly on the previous two, with head directed just north of west and face turned upward. No artifacts were with these three.

Burials 9 and 10 were probably associated but separate from the others. They were north of the previous row of burials, with head orientation toward the north, supine, extended, and the feet just above the skulls of burials 6 and 7. Burial 9 had the face upright, and was a child of undetermined age. Burial 10 was of a female adult with head turned to the left, toward 9. Above the skull of Burial 10 there were pottery fragments which were later assembled to form vessels 130, 133, and 134 (Fig. 4, H, E, and G, respectively) and a toy bottle (Fig. 4, P). To the left of the skull of Burial 9 there were three small vessels, two plain bowls, and a fingernail-pinched cup (Fig. 4, L, M, Q).

In November, 1935, a final burial (not shown in Fig. 3) was found, six feet east of burials 12 and 13. This was of a male adult, turned on the right side with legs partially flexed and the head directed to southeast. No artifacts were associated.

Measurements were made on three intact skulls. That of Burial 6, adult female, had a circumference of 47 cm., glabella to occipital protuberance 27 cm., and zygoma to zygoma 30 cm. The skull of Burial 10, adult female, had circumference of 46.8 cm., glabella to occipital protuberance 28.5 cm., and zygoma to zygoma 31 cm. That of Burial 14, adult male, had circumference of 49.5 cm., glabella to occipital protuberance 29.2 cm., and zygoma to zygoma 30.5 cm.

DESCRIPTION OF ARTIFACTS

Ceramics

There are available for study of pottery from this site 19 whole vessels 151 from the burials, of which 10 are decorated and nine plain; 1533 sherds from surface collections and the several test pits, of which 875 are decorated and 658 plain. Among the sherds there is a group of 37 which have paste and decoration characteristics of late wares, historic or protohistoric, which will be described in a separate section. Consequently there are 19 whole vessels and 1496 sherds which relate to the earlier occupation. Most of these are assignable to existing types which have been described elsewhere and type descriptions will not be repeated, although local or regional variations will be indicated. Reference should be made to the Davis Site report (Newell and Krieger, 1949) and T. A. S. handbooks (Suhm, et al., 1954; Suhm and Jelks, 1962) for descriptions of Alto types; to the Bossier Focus report (Webb, 1948) and the handbooks for the Bossier types; and to the Crooks (Ford and Willey, 1940), Greenhouse (Ford, 1951), and Medora (Quimby, 1951) Site reports for Coles Creek and Plaquemine types. One new type of the Alto period, Carmel Engraved, will be described herein.

Certain characteristics of paste, temper, surface and core colors, and sherd thickness extend throughout the earlier wares from this site. The paste is generally uniform and compact, rarely lumpy or porous. The range of hardness is 2 to 3 (Moh’s Scale), the sherds are broken with difficulty and seldom can be scored with a fingernail; the majority of the sherds give a metallic ring when dropped on a hard surface (except for the dark chocolate to black wares). Tempering is clay-grit in most instances, sometimes with finely ground sherds, and a few with enough grit to feel slightly sandy (none is fully sand tempered). Bone temper occurs in 31 of the 1496 sherds (2%) and shell is totally missing.

Surface colors are predominantly light, showing oxidizing firing conditions, and fire clouds are frequent (Fig. 4, A-C), indicating incomplete control of firing. The majority of sherds have light interiors and cores, but some of the interiors are darker gray or smudged and some of the cores are dark brown to black, even though the surfaces are light. Surface colors are varying shades of gray, some buff or tan, a few orange or reddish-brown; in every type there will be varying percentages of dark brown (often chocolate or reddish-brown) to black, although these are never as numerous as in the Alto wares of the Davis Site, even in the engraved types. The sherds with chocolate brown to black exteriors usually have uniform darkness through the core and on interior surfaces; the paste is usually softer and the sherds seldom give a metallic ring when dropped. Their surfaces tend to be smoothed but rarely polished.

Sherd thickness varies from 4 to 10 mm., averaging 6 to 7 mm. in most types. Variations will be noted.

In general, this early ware is thicker and lighter in color than the later Caddoan wares of the Belcher and late Bossier periods. It is about the same thickness as the Alto wares of the Davis Site and the Coles Creek-Early Plaquemine of central Louisiana, but differs from Davis Alto in having less of the reddish and chocolate to black polished pottery and more buff to light gray. It shares bone tempering with Texas (Davis) Alto. In other respects of hardness and coloration, it more nearly approaches Coles Creek ceramics, although seldom having the orange tints and never the greenish tints of Coles Creek. It tends to be thicker, harder, and lighter in color than Plaquemine pottery, although some of the shapes and designs are similar to Plaquemine types.

A. Engraved Wares

Holly Fine Engraved type is represented by 10 sherds (Fig. 5, A, B), one from a bottle, five from shallow bowls, and four uncertain. Indicated height of bowl rims is 2.5 to 3 cm., vertical or mildly outsloping. Colors are tan, gray and brown, no black polished. Two of the sherds are bone tempered. Wall thickness is 6 to 9 mm. The engraved lines are usually diagonal on the bowls and seven have excised triangles.

Hickory Fine Engraved type includes two whole vessels, both bottles, and nine sherds from four bowls, one bottle, two small jar or cup forms, and two of uncertain form. The first bottle (Fig. 4, C) is 26 cm. high, 14 cm. in body diameter, has an evenly tapered spout and shouldered body. Three lightly engraved lines encircle the shoulder. The second bottle, which also occurred with Burial 1, has the spout missing but body intact. The body is 12.6 cm. high, 15.2 cm. in diameter, and has eight engraved lines encircling the upper body area. Both of these bottles are gray in color, with black fire clouds, and are clay tempered. Eight of the sherds of this type (Fig. 5, E, G) are tan to gray with black areas, while the ninth (Fig. 5, F) is black and polished, with cross-engraved decoration. No other Hickory sherd is polished. Temper is clay-grit or sherd, one with bone. The bowls appear to have vertical or outsloping rims, with walls 5 to 7 mm. thick, but one sherd is from an incurvate bowl, 4 mm. thick. Five of the sherds have horizontally engraved lines, 4 to 9 mm. apart; three have diagonal parallel lines and one has cross diagonals. The latter is a rim sherd and the rounded lip has transverse notching 7-9 mm. apart (Fig. 5, F).

Six sherds could be either Holly or Hickory Fine Engraved (Fig. 5, C, D). One is from the top of a bottle spout, another from a bottle shoulder, two are bowl sherds, and the other forms are doubtful. The bottle sherds have horizontally engraved lines, the other four are diagonal. One bowl sherd, light in surface color, is only 4 mm. thick. The surface colors of both Holly and Hickory Fine Engraved types at this site are more like the later (Phase 2 and 3) periods at the Davis Site; the earlier vessels at Davis were preponderantly dark in surface color.

Carmel Engraved Type
(Fig. 5, I-P)

This is presented as a new type, as it is a major engraved type at this site—with 17 sherds, of which 11 are rim sherds—and has been found with Alto pottery at five other sites in northwestern Louisiana. There were five Carmel Engraved sherds from the Colbert Site; four each from Greer, Mounds Plantation, and Marston sites; and three from Chamarre Lake Site. The description is based on the Smithport collection.

There is one untyped engraved vessel and seven sherds. The vessel (V-102), from Burial 1 is a bottle (with missing spout) of polished black ware, decorated with engraved interlocking spiral design, four times repeated. One sherd (Fig. 5, H) has a zig-zag engraved decoration with excisions at the angles, similar to the two sherds illustrated from the Davis Site (Newell and Krieger: 1949, Fig. 34, S, T). Three sherds have bands with cross hatching, probably Maddox Engraved motifs, but the sherds are too small to be sure about the design (Fig. 5, R). A bottle sherd (Fig. 5, Q) has diagonal spurred engraved lines. Two bowl sherds are from polished black wares, with designs which suggest the Glassell Engraved type (Webb, 1959: Fig. 118).

B. Incised Pottery Types

Davis Incised type is represented by one vessel (Fig. 4, H) and 17 sherds. The vessel is a deep, reddish-brown bowl, which curves outward from a slightly convex disc base, then is vertical to the rounded, unmodified lip. It is 10 cm. in height, 15.2 cm. in greatest diameter. There are five parallel, smoothed-over incised lines around the upper body, placed about 1 cm. apart. They are shallow and about 2 mm. in width. The surfaces are smoothed and questionably polished. The 17 sherds (Fig. 6, A-E) include 11 rim sherds, nine of which indicate vertical walls, two outward sloping (but no excurvate). Most of the vessels seem to be deep bowls, but two sherds indicate shallower carinated bowls with inward curving or sloping rims. All are clay or grit tempered, with walls 4.5 to 8 mm. thick. Three are black, others gray, buff, light brown or tan in surface color; surfaces are smoothed and one of the black sherds (Fig. 6, C) is polished lightly. The lips are rounded and unmodified except that most are thinned by an extra outward curving of the interior wall. The incised lines are smoothed over, 5 to 13 mm. apart and are 3 to 10 in number. Half of the lines are less than 1 mm. in width, the others are between 1 and 2 mm. wide, generally shallow and well executed.

Nine sherds are classified as Sanson Incised (Ford and Willey, 1940) because of the wide, shallow, smoothed incising in straight lines (Fig. 6, F, G). No rim sherds were found, hence patterning of the incising is indefinite. Tempering is clay-grit, the surface coloring is gray to black or dark brown, and the thickness is 5 to 8 mm. The incised lines are 2.5 to 4.5 mm. in width and appear to have been made with tools which had bluntly rounded or flat ends.

Two sherds (Fig. 6, H, I) are possibly Mazique Incised (Ford, 1951) but may be well executed Dunkin Incised. They are light gray and tan in color, and one is a rim sherd. The decoration consists of finely made parallel incisions, closely placed in diagonal fields or herring-bone effect on the upper body. Vessel shape is uncertain.

Coles Creek Incised type is represented by eight sherds, although it is almost certain that some which are typed as Hardy or Kiam Incised are in reality Coles Creek. In order to be certain of Coles Creek Period wares at this site, I have included in this type only those sherds whose paste characteristics are consistent and which have “overhanging” parallel lines around the rim (Fig. 6, J) or characteristically placed triangular punctations below the incised lines (Fig. 6, K). Surfaces are smoothed and are buff or gray in color. The incisions are bold, horizontal, and usually more closely spaced than in Davis Incised. The subjacent triangles on four sherds are pressed into the paste more deeply at the apex. It must be pointed out that it is not a simple task, in studying sherds from northern Louisiana, to distinguish the four related types which are characterized by parallel incisions around the rim—Davis Incised, Coles Creek Incised, Hardy Incised, and Kiam Incised—unless the technique and paste are characteristic or a large part of the vessel available. Much overlapping occurs.

One hundred and seventy four sherds from this site are included in type Kiam Incised or Hardy Incised (Fig. 6, L-Q). No attempt shall be made to distinguish between these types, but the problem will be pointed out and resolution left for future conferences. These sherds are characterized by parallel incised lines covering the rim or upper part of the vessel. Fortunately, there are four complete vessels from the burials (Fig. 4, D-G) which are typical Kiam Incised (Suhm and Jelks, 1962: 89, Pl. 45) and established the presence of this type. Vessel 106 (Fig. 4, D) is a heavy, thick-walled cylindrical jar with a slightly recurved and rounded lip. It is 11 cm. high, 10.6 cm. in diameter, clay tempered, and dark reddish-brown in color. Decoration consists of numerous scratchy incisions covering the upper 3 cm.; it is plain below this zone. Vessel 133 (Fig. 4, E) is a jar with narrow excurvate rim and semiglobular body. It is 12 cm. in height and in greatest width, and is clay tempered, with irregular light and dark gray surface color. The rim has three to four irregular, wavy incised lines which are not continuous; the body is covered with vertical, firm incisions spaced 4 to 7 mm. apart. Vessel 94 (Fig. 4, F) is a firm, intact, well made cylindrical jar, clay tempered, with dark gray-brown surface color except for a few light fire clouds. The upper 2.5 cm. has irregular horizontal incisions, 5 to 7 in number, and the remaining body exterior is covered with fingernail punctations, spaced rather regularly but not in exact rows. Vessel 134 (Fig. 4, G) is a jar with semiglobular body, narrowed toward the rim, which is vertical. The clay tempered paste is softer than the other three vessels and is fired black over the exterior, dark gray on the interior. It is 11 cm. high, 14 cm. wide. Decoration consists of five firmly incised lines around the rim exterior, spaced 3 to 5 mm. apart, and paired fingernail punctations or pinches covering the body. These vessels demonstrate the three most frequent body treatment techniques described for the Kiam Incised type.

The 174 sherds present more variation, and include 82 rim pieces. Temper is clay-grit or ground sherd except for five which are bone tempered. The surface colors cover the range of tan, buff, yellow-orange, 160 light to dark gray, reddish-brown and black; the light colors predominate. Interior and exterior surfaces are smoothed. Wall thickness is 5 to 10 mm., averaging 6.5 to 7 mm. The rim sherds show that about half have excurvate rims, ¼ to ⅕ of the vertical, and the others slant outward. Five have a row of punctations or notches on the rim exterior (Fig. 6, L-N), and one has transverse incisions on a flat lip. The lips are more often rounded, but about ¼ are flat; thinning may occur but not thickening.

The incising varies from thin scratchy lines made with a pointed tool, to rough and irregular (Fig. 6, Q), to firm, well made and regular (Fig. 6, L, M, P). The number of lines varies from two to 20 and the spacing from two to 10 mm. apart, often varying on the same sherd. Generally they are placed at 3 to 5 mm. intervals. Although most were produced with a pointed tool, a few were made with a blunt or square-tipped tool. Five have hemiconical or oval punctations below the last line (Fig. 6, O).

These characteristics as a unit do not fit either Kiam or Hardy Incised types. The predominant shape, with everted or excurvate rim is more like Kiam, as are bone tempering, and either punctated bodies (two vessels, two sherds) or vertical incising on bodies (one vessel, two sherds). The paste and surface coloration are more like Hardy Incised (except for the five with bone temper), as are the subjacent punctations (Fig. 6, O), occasional stabs or punctations at the ends of lines (in central Louisiana, this occurs more often in Yokena and French Fork Incised than in Hardy), plain bodies (one vessel, five sherds), cutting away of the body wall just below the incisions (Fig. 4, D), and flattened lips. Not described for either Kiam or Hardy types are notched or incised lips, vertical rows of plowed-up paste where the incisions meet (Fig. 6, L) or narrow undecorated gaps at this junction, which occur on a number of the Smithport sherds. The conclusion seems obvious that Kiam Incised, Hardy Incised and the similar wares from this area are local or regional variations of a single widespread type.

The Dunkin Incised type presents the same problem. Although the sherds assigned to this type have more similarities to type Dunkin Incised than to any other, there are some similarities to Mazique and Manchac Incised types of central Louisiana, and some items which differ from all of these types. Again, regional or temporal variations of a single type are indicated and should be subjected to study.

There are 117 sherds of Dunkin Incised which show incising in varying directions (Fig. 7, A-L), usually including diagonal lines, and 65 sherds (Fig. 7, O-R) which show only diagonal lines but are also 161 assigned to Dunkin. Thirty of the former group and 25 of the latter are rim sherds. Paste characteristics, color, and wall thickness are the same as those described for Kiam Incised. The majority of the rim sherds indicate everted or excurvate shapes, possibly a fourth are direct and vertical, none incurvate. Indicated vessel shapes are semiglobular jars with flaring rims, similar jars with narrowing at the neck and vertical or slightly everted rims, cylindrical vessels, and simple deep bowls. Lips are usually narrowed by outward curving of the interior wall, but may be rounded or occasionally flattened. There are no nodes or handles, and only one rim shows notching.

Incisions are generally bolder than in the Kiam Incised type, spaced 3 to 8 mm. apart, and seldom smoothed over. On the 117 sherds with lines in varying directions, 52 were made with a round-tipped tool, 47 with a pointed tool, 16 with square-tipped, and two with forked tool (Fig. 7, D). In the instance of the rim sherds with diagonal incising, 17 of the 25 slant downward from right to left (Fig. 7, P-R), eight from left to right (Fig. 7, O). The lines may produce diamonds (Fig. 7, C), triangles (Fig. 7, A, D, J), chevrons (Fig. 7, B) or, rarely, squares (Fig. 7, I). Hemiconical or oval punctations are placed in a single row below the incising in two instances (Fig. 7, L), above in one (Fig. 7, E). The trait of making firm punctations at the ends of the lines (Fig. 7, F, H-J) is more frequent than in type Kiam Incised, and gaps are left at times (Fig. 7, F). One sherd (Fig. 7, P) has a wide, smoothed band interrupting the previously placed incisions below the lip. The numerous body or rim-body sherds which show fields of varying incising more nearly resemble Dunkin Incised from the Davis Site in having full body decoration than the central Louisiana Manchac and Mazique types, where the decoration is usually confined to a narrow rim band.

Cross incising (Fig. 7, M, N), which is called Harrison Bayou Incised (from the Harrison Bayou Site on Caddo Lake) in central Louisiana, but is included in Dunkin Incised in eastern Texas (Suhm and Jelks, 1962: Pl. 19), is present on nine sherds from Smithport. They are clay tempered, light to dark gray in color, with smoothed surfaces. The incisions vary from narrow and closely placed to firm, wide lines.

Curvilinear incising is present on two sherds. These resemble curvilinear incising from the Sanson Site in central Louisiana which has been tentatively termed Neild Incised.

C. Punctated and Punctated-Incised Types

Pennington Punctated-Incised type is represented by 36 sherds (Fig. 8, A-F). Most of these derive from open carinated bowls with excurvate rims which are 4 to 7 cm. in height, but a few seem to be rims of recurved jars. Eight are chocolate brown in color, others tan, gray and brown-black. The paste is firm, hard in all but two sherds, with smoothed but not polished surfaces. Two sherds are tempered with bone, the others with clay-grit or sherd. Wall thickness is in the range of 5 to 9 mm., most specimens being 6 to 7 mm. The punctations are consistently placed in fields which are outlined by single deeply incised lines; the fields are in diagonal bands, diamonds or triangles. The punctations and incised lines are bold and the 36 sherds include punctations made with a pointed or round-tipped tool in 23 instances, comma-shaped in four, square (Fig. 8, E) in five, and triangular in four.

Eleven sherds show the hybrid Pennington-Crockett design described in the Davis report (Newell and Krieger, 1949: 101). Shapes and paste characteristics are described above; two sherds are soft, chocolate brown in color. One has an incurving rim and a suspension hole (Fig. 8, I). The bordering incised line is curved (Fig. 8, G-I); otherwise these sherds do not differ from the Pennington type. Seven have rounded punctations, two are comma-shaped, one rectangular, and one square.

Another group of 19 sherds shows zone punctations which differ in certain respects from the typical Pennington described above and possibly are nearer to Rhinehart Punctated (Ford, 1951: 83-85). These 19 sherds (Fig. 8, J-O) have the same range of paste and coloration; five are of the softer chocolate brown ware. Rim and body sherds are represented and in only one instance (Fig. 8, O) is it certain that the rim is from an open carinated bowl as are the Pennington sherds. One heavy sherd (Fig. 8, J) which is 12 mm. thick, suggests a globular vessel which narrows at the neck and recurves to upright at the rim. Another sherd includes the lower rim area which is decorated with zoned punctations and incisions, and the adjoining upper body which is plain. Characteristic of this group is the alternation of punctated and incised fields, or the outlining of punctated zones by multiple incised lines. The punctations are triangular in three instances, square in one, comma-shaped in six, round or oval in five, small pits in three, and crescentic in one.

Free punctations made with tools, without zoning or incising, are present on one vessel (Fig. 4, I) and 19 sherds (Fig. 8, Q, R). Paste and color are as described above; one is bone tempered, six are soft, chocolate brown in color. Rim and body sherds are represented but shapes of vessels are uncertain. The punctations are triangular in seven instances, comma-shaped in three, square in five, round in three, and crescentic in two. The vessel (V-105) is a semiglobular bowl with plain body and scalloped, everted rim. The lower surface of the rim is covered with free punctations. The relative increase in frequency of triangular punctations in this group is significant, in view of the fact that the Rhinehart Punctated type in central Louisiana features triangular punctations (Ford, 1951: 83), whereas they are infrequent in Pennington Punctated-Incised at the Davis Site (Newell and Krieger, 1949: 106-8). The absence of ring punctations at Smithport is remarkable, in view of their frequency at both the Davis Site and in central Louisiana.

A group of six sherds has minute free or zoned punctations. The sherds are thinner walled than average, 4 to 6 mm., and five of the six have black surfaces and soft pastes. The sixth is buff colored, thin and has a strongly excurvate, narrow rim. Another (Fig. 8, P) is from an open carinated bowl and has notches along the carina. All of this group may relate to the Bossier ceramics at this site, instead of Alto. They bear some similarity to Dupree Incised of Plaquemine ceramics in central Louisiana (Quimby, 1951: 122-3).

Weches Fingernail Impressed (Suhm and Jelks, 1962: 153, Pl. 77; Newell and Krieger, 1949: 118-20, Fig. 46) is represented by 19 sherds of characteristic design (Fig. 9, A-E). Nine of these include the lip area, but all appear to be rim sherds. In three instances some of the subjacent body wall is attached; on two of these the body is plain, on the third (Fig. 9, E) the body has diagonal incised lines suggesting Dunkin-like decoration. These three have globular bodies and outward curving or slanting rims, 4 to 4.5 cm. high. Other vessels seem to be cylindrical with vertical rims, and open carinated bowls are possible. Five of the 19 sherds are chocolate brown in color with clay tempered paste; the others range from tan and buff to dark gray and reddish-brown. Wall thickness is in the range of 4 to 9 mm., the majority 5-7 mm. Typically, the decoration (Fig. 9, A, B, D, E) is with widely spaced horizontal incised lines with arcs or quarter circles between; the arcs could have been cut with the fingernail and occasionally are fingernail impressed, but in most the arc is too large, 1.8 to 4 cm. (my thumbnail is 1.6 cm. wide). Four of the sherds have the arcs without intervening lines (Fig. 9, C).

Four sherds are identical with this group except that the spaces between the horizontal lines have triangular instead of semilunar punctations (Fig. 9, F). Seven other sherds have round or oval punctations in single rows between incised lines (Fig. 9, R, S, U). I have not included these with type Pennington Punctated-Incised, as Krieger did with some reservation (Newell and Krieger, 1949: 106). Neither have I assigned them to Coles Creek Incised, Hardy Incised or Rhinehart Punctated, as Ford did, also probably with some reservation (Ford, 1951: Pls. 16, L; 17, 20, H), but have preferred to describe them separately as interesting examples of regional variations and typing difficulties in eastern Texas, and northern and central Louisiana.

One sherd (Fig. 9, T) has a single row of semilunar punctations and otherwise plain surface. It is thick, clay-grit tempered, and buff colored.

Wilkinson Fingernail Punctated type is represented by one vessel and 153 sherds. This was described as a minor type in central Louisiana (Ford and Willey, 1940: 50; Ford, 1951: 88-89) to include clay tempered vessels with fingernail punctations scattered over the vessel surface, arranged in irregular rows, or pinched in vertical rows. In that area it is rarely combined with incising and usually covers the entire vessel. Ford (1951: 88) thought it occurred at the latter part of the Coles Creek period and reached maximum popularity in the succeeding Plaquemine Period or later, but it was missing in Plaquemine context at Bayou Goula (Quimby, 1957) and Medora (Quimby, 1951) sites. In the Davis Site report (Newell and Krieger, 1949) it was not established as a type, as Krieger considered fingernail punctations to be a body treatment present in several types (Kiam, Weches, Dunkin, and Duren Neck Banded); he reported 20,000 body sherds with fingernail roughening from a total of 96,000 sherds. The difference in attitude 168 toward this type on the part of these investigators is understandable when we consider the differences in frequency and use of the decoration method in the two areas, also that Ford and his co-workers used all sherds in typing, whereas Krieger translated sherds to vessels and used rim decoration as the determinant.

In northwestern Louisiana I have found Wilkinson Punctated a useful type in sherd collection studies because of its great frequency in Alto wares, its rarity in Coles Creek, and the rapid shift from nail roughening to ridging and brushing as body treatments concurrent with the development of Bossier, Belcher, and other later Caddoan ceramics. Wilkinson Punctated is therefore a good indicator of early (Alto) Caddoan occupation at a given site. At Smithport Landing there were 153 sherds (Fig. 9, I-K, M-P) and one burial vessel, a pinched toy jar (Fig. 4, Q), of this type. The vessel is 6 cm. high, 5 cm. wide, made of thick clay-tempered paste, roughly finished and decorated with three horizontal rows of nail pinching. The sherds include only four rims (Fig. 9, I, O, P), showing how rarely this decoration, in northern Louisiana, covers the vessel. Most of the other sherds are recognizably body sherds, and in eight instances (as in Fig. 9, Q) the body-rim juncture is present. The latter sherds have Kiam Incised decoration on the rim and appear to have come from a modified globular body shape with directly or mildly everted rim. Nine of the 153 sherds are bone tempered, the remainder are clay-grit or ground sherd, rather granular and coarse. The walls are thick in many instances, the range 4 to 10 mm. with the majority 7 to 8 mm. Many of the sherds are large (Fig. 9, I, J) indicating large, heavy jar forms. Surface colors range from tan and buff to dark grays and a few reddish-browns, with more tendency to darker colors than in other types. The majority have irregular fingernail gouges (Fig. 9, I, J), but some are pinched (Fig. 9, K, M, N) and others impressed more delicately and regularly (Fig. 9, O-Q).

Eight sherds have distinctly pinched-up ridges (Fig. 9, L) which are circular or curvilinear in six instances, vertical in two. The burial vessel (Fig. 4, Q) may belong with this group, although it has been tentatively classed as Wilkinson Punctated. The group with pinched ridges bears considerable resemblance to the type Killough Pinched (Suhm and Jelks, 1962: 91, Pl. 46) of Frankston and Titus foci, but, in the absence of other types characteristic of these assemblages, will not be so assigned.

Sinner Linear Punctated is a type which so far has been confined to Bossier and Haley foci (Suhm and Jelks, 1962: 143; Webb, 1948: 114) 169 and the four sherds of this type from the Smithport Landing, although similar in paste, thickness and color to the Alto sherds, are probably referable to the subsequent (presumably) Bossier period at this site. Two are rim sherds; one of these (Fig. 9, G) has parallel, vertical linear punctating; another (Fig. 9, H) and a body sherd have horizontal lines; the fourth is uncertain. All have linear nail punctating and the more typical linear tool punctating is absent.

D. Stamped Types

One sherd of Chevalier Stamped is small (3 × 2 cm.) but has definite rocker stamping. It is of firm paste, tan exterior surface color with a black fire cloud at one edge, and black interior. Paste is homogeneous clay-grit with several bone fragments (accidental?); both surfaces are smoothed but not polished. In general appearance it resembles many of the Alto sherds from this site.

E. Ridged Types

The eleven sherds of Belcher Ridged type (Fig. 10, G, H) are generally thinner and darker than the Alto wares. Six are dark chocolate to black on both surfaces and through the cores; the other five have light buff to dark gray surfaces, four of these with black cores. One is bone tempered, all others clay-grit. No rims are represented and the body sherds are 3 to 5 mm. in wall thickness. Typically, the elevated ridges are vertical.

F. Brushed and Brushed-Incised types

There are 38 sherds of the Pease Brushed-Incised type (Fig. 10, A-F). The paste is smooth, clay-grit tempered except for one bone tempered; interiors are smoothed, exteriors roughened all over with the decoration. The color range is about as for other types; eight sherds are chocolate brown to black and slightly soft. Thickness is 4-5 mm. in 13 of the 38 sherds, 5 to 9 mm. in the remainder. The vertical panels characteristic of this type are separated by notched applique ridges in 28 (Fig. 10, B, D-F), by rows of tool or nail punctations in seven (Fig. 10, A), and by applique nodes in three (Fig. 10, C). The panels are roughened by diagonal incisions in 24 instances (Fig. 10, A, C), by vertical incising in 10 (Fig. 10, E, F), by horizontal incising in one, and by brushing in three (Fig. 10, B, D).

Karnack Brushed-Incised type (Suhm and Jelks, 1962: 85) is applied to barrel-shaped vessels with everted rims, decorated with vertical incising or brushing. Thirty-four sherds from Smithport fit this category, although it is possible that some of the vertically incised body sherds derive from Kiam Incised or Weches Fingernail Impressed vessels. There are only three rim sherds, one rolled (Fig. 10, L), the other two everted. The paste, temper, color range, and wall thickness are no different from other types; seven of the sherds are dark chocolate brown in color. Only six sherds are less than 5 mm. in thickness and the average is 6.5 mm.; brushing is used on six of the sherds, vertical incising on the others, varying from firm to sloppy and scratchy.

The other brushed sherds from this site fall into the type which we now call Bossier Brushed (formerly Maddox Brushed included these and the vertically brushed included now in Karnack Brushed-Incised). It is very similar to or identical with Plaquemine Brushed type of the Plaquemine and late Coles Creek periods in central Louisiana. Chief indicated differences are rolled or narrow everted rims in some of the Bossier type, whereas they are direct or slightly everted in Plaquemine; more frequent cross brushing in Plaquemine than in Bossier; bone temper in a few of the Bossier, absent in Plaquemine; and an occasional row of punctations below the brushed zone in Plaquemine, not found in Bossier. These are minor differences, easily attributable to regional variations, and it would probably be desirable to define a single type, with recognition of minor local variations.

There are 31 Bossier Brushed sherds (Fig. 10, I-K, M), of which seven are from rims. Temper is clay-grit or ground sherd; one is bone tempered. Surface colors include two black, four chocolate brown, the others lighter shades of tan, buff, and gray. Only five sherds are 5 mm. or less in thickness; others are 5.5-11 mm., averaging 7.3 mm. (It is thicker than most types.) The seven rim sherds have horizontal brushing on two, diagonal on four, both on one. The body sherds show a similar distribution, with diagonal brushing predominating. Cross brushing or incising is present on seven (Fig. 10, M).

G. Smithport Plain Type and Other Plain Sherds

There are nine plain vessels (Fig. 4, A, B, K-P, R) from the burials 172 and 644 plain sherds from this site which apparently relate to the earlier ceramics. The vessels, all identified as Smithport Plain, include three bottles, four simple bowls, one carinated bowl, and one recurved jar. Smithport Plain therefore runs the gamut of vessel forms common to decorated types; cylindrical jar forms are included in the sherds. The 644 plain sherds include 65 rim sherds (the only definite Smithport sherds), one-fourth as many as the total rim sherds in the decorated types and exceeded only by Kiam Incised with 82 rim sherds. The total number of plain sherds in our collection is altered by the element of selectivity in surface collecting; we were less likely to save plain sherds unless they were large or were rim sherds. The frequency of plain wares at this period contrasts with the situation in the later Bossier and Belcher ceramics, where undecorated vessels are infrequent. For example, at the Belcher Site (Webb, 1959) there were only nine plain vessels among the total of 195, and plain sherds constituted only 44 per cent of total sherds (most of these were from undecorated portions of decorated vessels).

The 65 Smithport Plain rims include 15 which are everted, 26 vertical, and 18 incurvate; additionally there are rims from two simple, shallow bowls, one rim with an exterior roll, one everted rim with interior bevel and exterior strap thickening, one bottle spout, and one shallow toy dish. The everted rims are unmodified in seven instances, and thinned in eight with rounded lips. Lip thinning of everted rims was effected by exaggerating the outward curve of the rim interior; that of incurvate bowls by exaggerating the exterior curve. The vertical rims are unmodified with rounded lips in 12 instances, thinned and rounded in eight, flat in four, and have beveled exteriors in two. The incurvate rims are thinned with rounded lips in nine, unmodified with rounded lips in five, flattened lips in two, externally beveled in one, and thickened with rounding in one.

The plain sherds include 20 recognizable as bases, nine of which are complete flat discs. These range from 6 to 13 cm. in diameter and are 6 to 12 mm. thick. One large basal sherd has a smooth central perforation, 13 mm. in diameter, and rounded edges. It possibly was used as a spindle whorl. These are frequently found at Bossier and Belcher sites, but usually are smaller and lighter.

An additional 46 plain sherds show the wall-base junction. Eight of these are from open flat bowls, one from a deeper bowl, one from a bottle, four from miniature vessels and 32 from jar, deep bowl or cylindrical vessel forms.

The plain sherds have paste characteristics similar to the decorated types already described. Nine of the 644 sherds are bone tempered.

Glendora Focus and Other Late Ceramics

A group of 37 sherds have characteristics completely alien to the ceramics described above. They are lighter feeling, often with porous surfaces or with obvious shell tempering, confirmed by tests. Eight are engraved; a shell tempered sherd, reddish in color (Fig. 10, P), with horizontal engraved lines from which triangular spurs project; four other shell tempered with red or orange color and engraved lines, untyped; two black shell tempered with indeterminate engraving, and one black polished clay tempered sherd of type Hodges Engraved (Fig. 10, R).

There are 11 sherds, shell tempered and orange to gray in color, with curvilinear incising (Fig. 10, N, S). This ware was once termed Wilkinson Negative Meander but was never formally described. Another name should be chosen, because the Wilkinson Site, like Smithport, is primarily Alto with transition to Bossier, and has a minimal late (Natchitoches) occupation.

Two sherds have linear punctations on shell tempered ware (Fig. 10, Q) and two others, untyped, have horizontal incising. There are 14 plain, 4-6 mm. thick, of which nine are shell tempered, two bone, three clay.

Other Pottery Artifacts and Negative Ceramic Traits

A fragment of perforated pottery base, presumably a spindle whorl fragment, was mentioned in the discussion of plain pottery. There were also three fragments of fired daub with grass impressions and one flattened surface. One tiny cone-shaped pottery fragment suggested a figurine or doll leg. No other clay or ceramic artifacts were found. Noticeable by their absence are pipes or pipe stem fragments, animal figurines or heads, clay labrets and ear ornaments, all of which are not unusual in this area.

Other negative ceramic traits are the absence of shell temper, except in the small group of obviously late wares; red filming; pigment impression into the lines of decoration; handles or other vessel appendages; squared bases (not unusual elsewhere in Coles Creek and Alto ceramics); squared or castellated rims (Vessel 105, Fig. 4, I is the only instance of scalloped rim); vessel effigies, either whole vessel or rim attachments; stamping (one foreign sherd), and cord marking.

Pottery Alignments and Sequences

Table 1 shows the assignment of burial vessel and sherd types to various ceramic complexes, based on the descriptions of Ford (1951), Ford and Willey (1940), and Quimby (1951) for central Louisiana; Newell and Krieger (1949), and Suhm, Krieger, and Jelks (1954) for east Texas Alto; and the author’s publications (1948; 1959) and collections from northern and central Louisiana. It becomes apparent that neat typing and alignment of sherd collections from this site, true of many other sites in northwestern Louisiana, is a phantasy. This site lies within a broad contact zone, extending into southwestern Arkansas and eastern Texas, between the expanding populations and flowering cultures of the lower Mississippi-Red River confluence in central Louisiana and Mississippi on one side and the four-state Caddoan area on the other, in post-Hopewell-Marksville times.

TABLE 1
Pottery Type or Group
	Whole Vessels	No. of Sherds	%
Distinctive Alto Types
Holly Fine Engraved		10	0.66
Hickory Fine Engraved	2	9	0.60
Holly or Hickory Engraved		6	0.40
Carmel Engraved		17	1.13
Davis Incised	1	17	1.13
Kiam Incised vessels	4
Pennington Punctated-Incised		36	2.40
Pennington-Crockett Hybrid		11	0.73
Weches Fingernail Impressed		19	1.26
Smithport Plain	9	65	4.36
Subtotal	16	190	12.67
Distinctive Coles Creek or Troyville Types
Coles Creek Incised		8	0.53
Chevalier Stamped		1	0.06
Mazique Incised		2	0.13
Subtotal		11	0.72
Types shared by Alto and Coles Creek
Wilkinson Punctated	1	153	10.20
Triangular punctations between parallel lines		4	0.26
Subtotal	1	157	10.46
Types shared by Alto, Coles Creek, Bossier and Plaquemine

Kiam-Hardy Incised		174	11.60
Dunkin-Manchac Incised		182	12.13
Harrison Bayou Incised		9	0.60
Sanson Incised		9	0.60
Free and atypical zoned punctations (Pennington-Rhinehart)	1	38	2.53
Small, zoned punctations (Dupree-like)		6	0.40
Round punctations between lines		7	0.46
Isolated, semilunar punctations		1	0.06
Subtotal	1	426	28.40
Distinctive Bossier Types
Pease Brushed-Incised		38	2.53
Belcher Ridged		11	0.73
Sinner Linear Punctated		4	0.26
Maddox Engraved		3	0.20
Glassell Engraved		2	0.13
Subtotal		58	3.86
Types Shared by Bossier and Plaquemine
Bossier-Plaquemine Brushed		31	2.06
Karnack Brushed-Incised		34	2.26
Subtotal		65	4.33
Uncertain Affiliation or Untyped
Curvilinear Incised		2	0.13
Untyped engraved	1	2	0.20
Plain body sherds		579	38.60
Fingernail pinched		8	0.53
Subtotal	1	591	39.46
Subtotal, Early Occupation	19	1498	100.00
Late Occupation, Possibly Historic
Shell tempered curvilinear incised		11
Shell tempered engraved		7
Hodges Engraved		1
Other untyped decorated		4
Late plain		14
Subtotal		37
Grand Total		1535

As a result (or as evidence) of this cultural admixture and interchange, we see large groups of sherds from this site, in the punctated and incised categories, which cannot with impunity be assigned to a previously described type in a specific cultural assemblage. They could be as easily assigned to a companion type in one, two or even three other surrounding assemblages. Only by having whole vessels available—from which details of vessel size and shape, and decoration can be determined—or by correlation of sherds with distinctive types, may one draw tentative conclusions about affiliation. I have therefore found it necessary (Table 1) to list certain types from this site as possibly deriving from Alto or Coles Creek ceramics, others from Alto, Coles Creek, Bossier or Plaquemine, and yet a third group of brushed and incised which might derive, insofar as characteristics of a given sherd or group of sherds indicate, from Bossier or Plaquemine. The absence of distinctive Plaquemine types eliminates this assemblage from consideration, but distinctive types of Alto, Coles Creek and Bossier are present and give our clues for major alignments. We should be able to work on the assumption that the indeterminate types will derive from the three complexes, Alto, Coles Creek and Bossier, in about the same proportion as these complexes are represented by distinctive types.

It appears, then, that the major complex at this site is Alto; certainly the burial pottery is of this complex. Coles Creek is present to a minor extent and it is probable that some of the uncertain punctated and incised sherds are from Hardy, Manchac, and Rhinehart types. Finally, occupation seems to have lasted into the Alto-Bossier transition to the stage when distinctive Bossier Focus types had developed, so that there is a respectable representation of this period. The brushed wares and some of the incised and punctated also probably relate to the Bossier pottery complex. It is improbable, however, that Bossier occupation lasted very long, certainly not long enough for a transition to late Glendora Focus times when the small group of shell tempered sherds would have been made. The site was probably deserted for a long time, then briefly occupied by late Natchitoches-related people, possibly in the historic period. The Yatasi village mentioned by Marcelo De Soto (D’Antoni, 1961a) is to be considered.

Stone Artifacts

Dart Points

The 61 larger projectile points which are classified as dart points 177 are, with few exceptions, comparatively small and rough. Most are made of quartzite, cherts, and petrified wood found locally. Thirty-five are of tan chert, four of petrified wood, two of red chert, six of white or light gray quartzite, and others of varying shades of brown, or mottled materials.

Gary points (Fig. 11, N-P) total 14; with most made of tan chert, two of petrified wood, and one of white quartzite. The range in length is 2.8 to 5.6 cm. with nine of the 14 in the category of Small Gary (Ford and Webb, 1956: 52). The latter are less than 4.5 cm. in length.

Ellis points (Fig. 11, Q-S) number 16, of which 12 are made of tan, gray or yellow local cherts, two of petrified wood. The length varies from 2.6 to 4.6 cm., the width 1.5 to 2.9 cm. Shoulders tend to be straight, only two having barbs. Stem bases are usually straight or mildly convex.

Carrollton points (Fig. 11, X), four in number, are made of materials different from the prevailing tan chert. One each is of granular quartzite, waxy gray chert, white chert, and black chert. They are 4.1 to 4.5 cm. long, 2.3 to 2.8 cm. wide. Stems are not smoothed.

Kent points total five (Fig. 11, T, U), and are typically crude in manufacture. They are of gray, tan, and mottled cherts. Lengths are 3.7 cm. to 4.5 cm., widths 1.6 to 2.4 cm.; they are somewhat smaller than those in eastern Texas (Suhm and Jelks, 1962).

The three Pontchartrain points (Fig. 11, EE, FF) are the largest and best made points from this site. Two are of light tan chert, the third of darker tan. Lengths are 7.7, 9.3, and 9.7 cm.; widths 2.5, 2.9, and 3.2 cm., respectively. The blades are rounded on one face, ridged on the other, have good large flake scars, and typical fine retouch at the edges. One (Fig. 11, FF) has an asymmetrically placed stem; another (Fig. 11, EE) has a rectangular stem and short barbs; the third has a contracting stem.

One projectile point (Fig. 11, Y) is hesitantly called Ensor because of the low, narrow side notches and straight stem base. It is small, 3.7 cm. long and 1.8 cm. wide, of tan chert, roughly flaked. The blade edges are convex and irregular serrated.

Two specimens have outlines like Desmuke points but are made of poor materials, petrified wood and gnarled chert, and the typing is questionable. Both are thick, with bifacial ridges. A third of similar appearance has an Almagre-like basal tip, but is much smaller than this type, 5 cm. long, 2.5 cm. wide.

Two points are classified as Elam (Fig. 11, V, W). They are short, thick and stubby, slightly asymmetrical and identical in size, 3.5 cm. long, 2.3 cm. wide. They are made of tan and brown quartzite.

Twelve projectile points are unclassified. Three of these are broken. A group of four (Fig. 11, Z) is characterized by rough manufacture, irregular wide blades with poor tips, and small, poorly formed stems. Similar specimens have been found at other sites in north Louisiana, never in large numbers. Possibly they were used as hafted knives or scrapers. One specimen (Fig. 11, AA) has long, shallow side notches which are smoothed and a stubby, poorly made blade. Possibly it is a reworked Yarbrough point or an atypical Trinity point. A small point of gray quartzite (Fig. 11, BB) has blade edge notches and expanded stem resembling Evans points, but it is much smaller than Evans. Similar small points with one to several blade edge notches have been found on sites in Bossier and De Soto parishes, they will probably be typed by another name than Evans (the name Sinner has been suggested because of their frequency at the Jim Sinner Site).

A small point of white chert (Fig. 11, CC) has a greater width than length; the base is wide and short; one shoulder is barbed, the other barely suggested. Another small point has a rectangular stem and triangular blade but is much smaller than Carrollton, or even Elam points.

The most unusual point (Fig. 11, DD) has a long rectangular stem, a small shoulder on one side only, and a short, asymmetrical blade. Blade and stem edges are beveled bilaterally on each face, with fine retouch flaking which serrates all edges. The base is mildly concave and is thinned by removal of a long, shallow channel flake on one face, a shorter channel flake on the other, terminating in a hinge fracture. The base and lower stem edges are smoothed.

Arrow Points

There are 55 small projectile points sufficiently intact for typing and 12 broken so that typing is impossible. Materials include tan, red, brown, and gray chert from local gravels; two gray-white chert; one novaculite, and two dark brown to black flint.

Alba points (Fig. 11, A, B), 20 in number, are mostly of tan or reddish-brown local cherts. They vary from slender to wide, with a range of 2 to 3.8 cm. in length. Most recurve to form widened shoulders which may be right angled or barbed; edges may be mildly serrated. I have placed in this type only points with square or rectangular stems.

There are two Hayes points (Fig. 11, C, D), of gray and red-brown chert. They are small, 2.6 and 2.8 cm. long, 1.3 and 1.9 cm. wide; the 180 first differs from the type description in having straight edges and no barbs, but the stem shape is typical.

Five points are of Friley type (Fig. 11, E, F), characterized by definite shoulders with extreme curves so that the barbs turn toward the blade tip. Stems are expanded or rectangular. Three are of red-brown chert, two of tan chert. Lengths are 1.4 to 2.5 cm., widths 1.0 to 1.5 cm.

One typical Maud point (Fig. 11, G) of tan chert, has a deeply concave base and mildly serrated edges.

Four points are included in the Cliffton type (Fig. 11, H). They are hardly more than roughly shaped small, wide flakes but have vague stems and some secondary flaking. They are uniform in size, 2 to 2.3 cm. long, 1.6 to 1.9 cm. wide and all are made of tan chert. A fifth small point (Fig. 11, I) of dark gray flint has a pointed stem, concave blade edges, and a strongly pointed tip; in essence, it is a concave-edged hexagon. It may be a variation of Cliffton, but has been left untyped.

A group of 21 points (Fig. 11, K-M) is characterized by expanded stems produced by corner notching, and blades which are much like Alba. This point has been the subject of considerable discussion because of its frequency in Louisiana and southern Arkansas; it has been included in the Alba type in some publications, in the Scallorn type in others, but has distinct and, we believe, meaningful differences from each of these types. We have therefore given it the type name Colbert. It rivals the Alba type in frequency at sites like Smithport Landing, Colbert, Greer, Swanson’s Landing, and Mounds Plantation (Fig. 1) where there are Alto and Coles Creek components in respectable amounts. It is found, along with Alba, in central Louisiana, especially in Troyville-Coles Creek context (Ford, 1951: Fig. 45, U-W). Recent excavations at the Crenshaw Site in southwestern Arkansas uncovered Coles Creek and Caddoan burials in Mound B; consistently the Coles Creek burials had points similar to Colbert (called Homan in Arkansas) and the Caddoan had Alba or Hayes. The Colbert points have triangular blades with concave or recurved edges, distinct and usually wide shoulders, barbs, and triangular or fan-shaped stems. The stem bases may be straight or more often convex, rarely concave. Specimens from Smithport are made of tan, reddish-brown, white and gray local cherts, one of novaculite, and two of white quartz. Lengths are from 1.2 to 3.2 cm., widths from 9 mm. to 2 cm.

A large flat point of tan chert (Fig. 11, J) has the flake characteristics of an arrow point despite its large size, 4.3 by 3 cm. It has the corner notching and wide barbs characteristic of Catahoula points.

A small triangular point of brown chert probably belongs to the Fresno type. The tip is broken but the original length was about 2 cm.

Miscellaneous Chipped Stone Tools

Generally, the tools from this site are made from native tan chert cores and flakes, or from petrified wood, and are rough to the point of being almost nondescript. Imagination is often required to attempt assignment to types.

A massive axe-shaped object of petrified wood is worked to a near-blade form at the expanded end (Fig. 12, K), but appears to have been used as a maul. The groove is natural. It is 15 cm. long, 9 cm. wide, and 4.5 cm. in thickness. Two smaller objects of petrified wood (Fig. 12, G, H) are partially shaped, showing some of the original surfaces. They resemble choppers or picks and are 7 × 5.1 × 2.3 cm. and 8.8 × 4.7 × 2 cm. A fourth object of petrified wood, 10.5 cm. long and 4.2 cm. wide, is more suggestive of a pick but shows little evidence of use.

Smaller core tools include two choppers or end scrapers of tan chert and quartzite. The first has much of its original surfaces, with one end pointed by bifacial beveling. It is 5.5 cm. long. The second is unifacially beveled across one end and onto one edge; it is similar in size. Two possible gouges of red and tan chert, 3.4 and 4.2 cm. long, are ovate in outline and roughly flaked bifacially at one end. Eight smaller objects are keel-shaped core scrapers or small choppers of tan and gray chert. They are irregularly ovate, triangular or elongate, from 2.5 to 4 cm. in length, 1.8 to 3.3 cm. in width. Flaking is bifacial but those with one flat face have minimal flaking on this side. Two larger, thick leaf-shaped forms (Fig. 11, GG, HH) may have served as knives or scrapers.

Other tools are made from flakes. Two might be knives: one (Fig. 11, II) is of gray chert, long and ovoid, rough at the base but well finished around the edges. It is 5.9 cm. long, 2 cm. wide. The second is made from a flat, triangular-shaped piece of petrified wood, which is unmodified at one end (the base), but has good secondary flaking around the edges. It is 5.1 cm. long, 3 cm. wide, and 6 mm. in thickness.

A thumbnail end scraper (Fig. 11, LL) is of gray quartz, 3 × 2 cm. in diameters, 6 mm. thick. Unifacial beveling on one end and one side is quite steep and the reverse face shows many tiny fractures around the cutting curve.

There are 15 small scrapers (Fig. 11, MM-PP) which are ovate or triangular in outline and made from flakes which vary from 3 to 8 mm. in thickness. They are of tan, brown and mottled gray chert, petrified wood, and gray quartzite. Most are flaked bifacially but some show a preponderance of flaking on the convex face. Sizes range from 2 to 4.5 cm. Five small broken flake objects show some flaking.

There are four drills, all made of tan chert. One flake drill (Fig. 11, KK) has an expanded base, a shaft which is triangular in cross section and a keen point which shows use polish. A second (Fig. 11, JJ) has a geniculate form, is less well made, but shows usage at the tip. The other two are tiny, 2.1 and 2.2 cm. long, have one flat and one keel-shaped face, and are worked on two of the three planes. They could have been used as gravers or drills.

Polished and Ground Stone Objects

Few objects of polished stone were found. One large celt (Fig. 12, I) is from the surface. It is symmetrically ovate, 17.5 cm. long, 7.5 cm. wide, and 3.8 cm. thick. It shows pecking marks on the faces, but is well ground at the bit and along the edges. A triangular hard sandstone pebble, 7.5 × 7 × 3.3 cm., has round pits, 3 cm. in diameter, on each face, (Fig. 12, E). There are smooth depressions on two edges. A large pitted mortar stone is of ferruginous sandstone, 22 × 16 cm. One face has an oval depression, 13 × 12 cm., in the center of which, and on the opposite face, are deep hemispherical pits, 3.5 cm. in diameter.

An oval-shaped hammerstone (Fig. 12, J) of tan chert is smoothed on two faces, roughened by pecking around all edges. A whetstone of brown sandstone (Fig. 12, F) has one deep and two shallow grooves on one face, two grooves on the opposite.

A rectangular flat tablet of mottled brown slate (Fig. 12, A) was found during the burial excavations but not in direct association. It is 6 cm. long, 4.5 cm. wide, and 3.5 mm. thick. The faces are polished and the edges ground smooth with rounded corners, but there are no decorations or perforations.

A bead of gray and brown banded slate (Fig. 12, B) was found on the surface of Hill 1. It is pear-shaped, 9 mm. long, 12 mm. wide, counter-drilled and highly polished. A small perforated sandstone concretion (Fig. 12, D) may have been used as a bead, but the perforation seems to be natural, and the surfaces are not modified.

An oval, reddish claystone concretion was found on the surface. It is 12 × 6.5 cm., and 2.7 cm. thick. The hard cortex had been removed, exposing the soft ocher, which was a probable source of paint.

Bone Object

A segment of bone, 2.6 cm. long, was found on the surface. The ends are cut squarely across and there is a small (natural?) perforation. It is probably a bead of bird bone (Fig. 12, C), is hard, very white, and the surface is polished. No other artifacts of bone or shell were found, but the test pits in dark soil exposed numerous animal bones as well as mussel and snail shells. No identifications were secured.

DISCUSSION

The Smithport Landing Site is one of a number of village and mound sites along the Red River valley and its tributaries in northwestern Louisiana (Fig. 1) at which varying amounts of Alto Focus pottery, whole vessels or sherds, have been found. The mound sites shown are within the river flood plain, with exception of Thigpen Mound and Village Site, which are on a terrace immediately overlooking the valley; Gahagan, Curtis, Mounds Plantation, and Belcher mounds are on old river channels near the present stream. The burial vessels at Gahagan were Alto types—five Holly Fine Engraved, three Hickory Engraved, one Kiam Incised—and 12% of the 76 sherds from the surface are the distinctive Alto types (Hickory, Carmel and Holly Engraved, Davis Incised, Crockett Curvilinear Incised, Weches Fingernail Impressed and Pennington Punctated-Incised). The Thigpen Site is preponderantly Bossier, but included in the scant collection of 102 sherds are one Weches, five Dunkin, and five Wilkinson. We have only a few sherds from the Curtis Mound (Sunny Point in Moore’s 1912 report) but Hickory Fine Engraved is included. At the Belcher Mound Site (Webb, 1959) the premound level had sherds and burial vessels of both Alto and Haley types.

The Mounds Plantation (Pickett Landing in Moore’s 1912 report) Site has recently been explored with some intensity (McKinney, Plants and Webb, to be reported). Twenty-six percent of the decorated sherds in the previous surface collection were of the distinctive Alto types, 4.15% Coles Creek. A trench through one of the mounds showed intrusive Belcher Focus burials but the fill, habitation, and premound level sherds were Coles Creek and Alto, with admixture at all levels but increasing amounts of Alto in the top levels. Alto types are Davis and Harrison Bayou Incised; Hickory, Holly and Carmel Engraved; Pennington, Crockett, Wilkinson, and Weches in the punctated and punctated-incised categories. Coles Creek types were Coles Creek, Chase and Beldeau Incised; Rhinehart Punctated; and the shared types 185 Hardy and Sanson Incised. Deep burials in a second mound had scant pottery but the two vessels were Holly Engraved and a bowl with Crockett and Pennington designs, both black and polished.

The non-mound village sites shown in Figure 1 are on hills fronting the valley or on tributaries and lakes. All of those shown have Alto and Bossier pottery types, most have Coles Creek-Troyville, all have a good representation of the shared types Hardy-Kiam, Dunkin-Manchac, Harrison Bayou and Sanson Incised, Wilkinson Punctated, and Rhinehart-atypical, Pennington Punctated-Incised. Omitting these shared types and using only distinctive types, the Allen Site has 7% Alto, no Coles Creek; the Wilkinson Site has 10.5% Alto, 0.3% Coles Creek; the Chamarre Site has 14% Alto, 1.5% Troyville; Williams Point has 4% Alto, no Coles Creek; East Smithport has 8% Alto, no Coles Creek; the Colbert Place has 1.6% Alto, 5.45% Coles Creek; Greer has 6.7% Alto, 1.8% Coles Creek; Pease and Sinner are strong Bossier sites but have 0.3% and 0.5% Alto, respectively; Swanson’s Landing has 4% Alto and 4% Coles Creek; and Harrison Bayou has 1% Alto.

Not all of the mound or village sites in this same area show this kind of representation of Alto or Coles Creek; there are as many or more which are well developed Bossier sites and have little or no Alto. For example, we have 230 surface sherds from the Vanceville Mound in Bossier Parish with no Alto or Coles Creek types; the 3942 sherds from the lower and premound levels of the Oden Mound include two questionable Hickory Engraved, no other Alto or Coles Creek types; 1275 surface sherds from the Marston Village Site show no Coles Creek, one Holly Fine Engraved, and three Pennington Punctated-Incised. In these same sites, as the distinctive types drop out, the shared incised and punctated types like Dunkin-Manchac, Rhinehart-Pennington variants, Wilkinson, Harrison Bayou Incised and even Hardy-Kiam Incised are almost completely replaced by Pease Brushed-Incised, Belcher Ridged, and the brushed types (Webb, 1959). Large projectile points and heavy scraper types also disappear, replaced by small arrow point types and thumbnail-size, triangular and rectangular flake scrapers (Webb, 1959: Fig. 126).

The Smithport Landing Site shares with the other hilltop or hill slope village sites of this earlier Caddoan period the carry-over of late Archaic dart points, especially types like Gary, Ellis, Kent, Carrollton, Palmillas, San Patrice, Evans, Maçon, and Pontchartrain. Large as well as small scrapers, pitted stones, manos of hand size, oval metates, small drills, large and small celts, brown and white sandstone 186 hones, hammerstones, and crude choppers are usual at these sites. Triangular and ovate knives, recurved-edge (Copena-like) knives, stone beads and polished stone problematicals (boatstones, bannerstones, gorgets) or plummets are all missing or very rare, although stone beads and problematicals occur in the late Archaic. The slate bead from Smithport, a recurved (Copena) blade fragment from the Thigpen Site, and a two-hole gorget from a small site north of Wallace Lake (Webb, 1948: Pl. 16, 9) are exceptions. Small projectile points, generally of Alba and Colbert types, about equal the number of large ones at these sites. Ear ornaments, shell and bone tools are infrequent.

In conclusion, the Smithport Landing Site is one of the larger village sites of the earlier Caddoan (Gibson Aspect, Alto Focus) period along the Red River valley in northwestern Louisiana. It shares with a number of other village sites of this period evidences of a carry over of late Archaic projectile points and stone artifact traits. It also shares with numerous village and mound sites evidences of admixture of Coles Creek ceramic types and influences with the Alto pottery types as the earliest pottery at these sites. It seems increasingly clear that the advent of Coles Creek and Alto Caddoan peoples and/or ceramics, arrow points, and riverine mound building into this area were virtually simultaneous occurrences. Out of this blending developed the subsequent Bossier Focus ceramics and other cultural manifestations over a wide portion of northwestern Louisiana, extending into eastern Texas and southern Arkansas.

It is possible that the large ceremonial mound groups, like Gahagan and Mounds Plantation, served as ceremonial centers for a number of villages, including those in the adjoining hill areas, accounting for the frequency of specialized burials, with ceremonial copper and polished stone objects, pipes and ornamentation, and highly developed burial ceramics, in the mound sites, in comparison with the paucity of these objects in the hill villages.

Considerable research is needed (1) to establish the nature of the relationships between mound sites in the valleys and the villages in the hills; (2) to trace the extent of Coles Creek and Alto contacts and the process of amalgamation of these two strong cultures over the wide area from central Louisiana into Arkansas, Oklahoma and eastern Texas (this must have been friendly, as it is inconceivable that Caddoan peoples would have supplanted Coles Creek almost overnight in hundreds of villages); (3) and the development out of this amalgamation of Bossier, Plaquemine, and other later cultures.

FOOTNOTES

REFERENCES CITED

Transcriber’s Notes

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The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Smithport Landing Site: An Alto Focus Component in De Soto Parish, Louisiana

The Smithport Landing Site: An Alto Focus Component in De Soto Parish, Louisiana

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

SITE ENVIRONMENT

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

SITE EXPLORATION AND EXCAVATION

Burial Excavations

DESCRIPTION OF ARTIFACTS

Ceramics

A. Engraved Wares

Carmel Engraved Type
(Fig. 5, I-P)

B. Incised Pottery Types

C. Punctated and Punctated-Incised Types

D. Stamped Types

E. Ridged Types

F. Brushed and Brushed-Incised types

G. Smithport Plain Type and Other Plain Sherds

Glendora Focus and Other Late Ceramics

Other Pottery Artifacts and Negative Ceramic Traits

Pottery Alignments and Sequences

Stone Artifacts

Dart Points

Arrow Points

Miscellaneous Chipped Stone Tools

Polished and Ground Stone Objects

Bone Object

DISCUSSION

FOOTNOTES

REFERENCES CITED

Transcriber’s Notes

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Smithport Landing Site: An Alto Focus Component in De Soto Parish, Louisiana

The Smithport Landing Site: An Alto Focus Component in De Soto Parish, Louisiana

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

SITE ENVIRONMENT

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

SITE EXPLORATION AND EXCAVATION

Burial Excavations

DESCRIPTION OF ARTIFACTS

Ceramics

A. Engraved Wares

Carmel Engraved Type (Fig. 5, I-P)

B. Incised Pottery Types

C. Punctated and Punctated-Incised Types

D. Stamped Types

E. Ridged Types

F. Brushed and Brushed-Incised types

G. Smithport Plain Type and Other Plain Sherds

Glendora Focus and Other Late Ceramics

Other Pottery Artifacts and Negative Ceramic Traits

Pottery Alignments and Sequences

Stone Artifacts

Dart Points

Arrow Points

Miscellaneous Chipped Stone Tools

Polished and Ground Stone Objects

Bone Object

DISCUSSION

FOOTNOTES

REFERENCES CITED

Transcriber’s Notes

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

Carmel Engraved Type
(Fig. 5, I-P)