Fig. 4HARROUN SITE41 UR 10MOUND B AREAcontour interval = 0.5 feetshading indicates excavated area
Fig. 4
HARROUN SITE41 UR 10MOUND B AREAcontour interval = 0.5 feetshading indicates excavated area
Resting directly on the old floodplain surface was the basal structural component of the mound, a rather compact, circular lens of dark brown sand up to a foot or more thick and averaging about 17 feet in diameter. This lens, which contained abundant charcoal, burned clay daub, bone, shell, and a few artifacts, represented the floor level of a house, designated House No. 3. In and above the floor level were the remains of several charred poles, presumably derived from the burned framework of the house. A burned area approximately four feet in diameter in the center of the lens proved to be the remains of a central fire hearth. It was filled with complex lenses of various shades and textures. A large post mold was found beneath the hearth in the approximate center of the house.
Completely encircling the house outline was a poorly defined zone of yellow-brown sand which lay directly on the buried surface of the floodplain and extended upward a foot or two where it gradually blended into the upper component of the mound fill. This light-colored sand may have been banked against the outside of the house while it was still standing; or it may have resulted from uneven, subsurface staining by charcoal and other organic material of that portion of the mound lying directly above the house. In any event, it was virtually devoid of cultural material, only a very few stone chips, widely scattered, being found in it.
A well defined humic zone, resulting from organic staining after the mound was built, appeared at the surface of the mound. It averaged about 0.5 feet in thickness.
Except for the clay in the hearth and in the house floor, the entire mound was constructed of sandy soil like that of the surrounding floodplain, whence it undoubtedly was derived. The depressions on the northwest and southeast sides of the mound are probably the borrow sources for the sandy soil. The clay could have easily been obtained from exposures in the cut banks at the edge of the creek channel.
Besides the two possible borrow pits mentioned above, the only occupational feature found at Mound B was House No. 3.
This house was erected on the surface of the floodplain before the mound was built. The purpose of the mound apparently was to bury the remains of the house after it had burned.
Beneath the house floor zone, which was described in the preceding section, were found 59 post molds measuring from 0.25 to 1.3 feet in diameter and extending from 0.3 to 2.5 feet below the floor (Fig. 5). The faint gray stain of the post molds was quite dim and difficult to distinguish. They were located by cutting a vertical face completely around the house area, then carefully cutting the face inward from all sides. As the post molds were located, they were plotted on a horizontal plan and a measured profile drawing of each was prepared.
Twenty-three of the post molds formed a circular outline representing the perimeter of a house approximately 17 feet in diameter (Fig. 5). The peripheral molds averaged 0.5 feet in diameter and were spaced, as a rule, about two feet apart. At the southeast edge of the house were two parallel lines of three molds each which defined an extended entranceway. Because of disturbance in the entranceway area by tree roots, only the bottom portions of the entrance molds were preserved. Their arrangement suggests that some of the post molds related to the original entranceway were not discovered.
Within the external ring of post molds were 30 irregularly spaced molds, including four very large ones which probably held the bases of relatively heavy roof supports. Two concentrations of smaller post molds (one on the northeast side of the house, the other on the southwest side) possibly mark the location of interior structures such as sleeping or storage platforms. In the center of the house was a relatively large post mold, over which the fire hearth had been built. This probably represented a center post used in construction of the house and then removed when the house was completed.
The hearth was located in a shallow depression at the center of the house. It was in the form of a basin about four feet in diameter and one foot deep. The sandy soil underlying the hearth had been burned to a deep reddish color.
Fig. 5HARROUN SITE41 UR 10PLAN OF HOUSE NO. 3MOUND Bpost mold, exterior wallpost mold, interiorpost mold, entrancecentral hearthstump disturbance
Fig. 5
HARROUN SITE41 UR 10PLAN OF HOUSE NO. 3MOUND Bpost mold, exterior wallpost mold, interiorpost mold, entrancecentral hearthstump disturbance
From all indications this house was constructed in a manner similar to that described by early Spanish and French explorers in the Caddoan Area (Swanton, 1942: 148-154). A ring of poles, each with its base end set in a deep hole, was placed in upright position around a tall centerpost used as a work platform. The tops of the poles were drawn together at the center and bound. Small tree branches were then woven, horizontally, between the upright poles, grass thatching was applied, and, in some cases, the exterior was plastered with a coat of clay mud. (Many pieces of burned clay daub, some bearing impressions of sticks and grass, were found on and above the floors of all the houses at the Harroun Site.) After the house was completed, the center post, used only to facilitate construction, was removed. Interior support posts may have been added, and platforms for sleeping or storage were built inside the house.
House No. 3, a circular, wattle-and-daub structure with a southeastern entranceway, was built on the surface of the Cypress Creek floodplain. There were probably four interior roof support posts, two or more interior platforms for sleeping or storage, and a centrally located, prepared hearth with a clay base. Possibly, a low embankment of sand was thrown against the wall around the exterior of the house.
The period of occupation at the house is unknown, but the scarcity of artifacts suggests that it was of short duration, or else that it was used for specialized—perhaps ceremonial—purposes. A domiciliary structure ordinarily would have much more cultural refuse about it than did House No. 3, unless it was occupied for only a very brief period of time. Stone chips and a few artifacts in the floodplain beneath the house floor indicate that the spot had been lightly occupied prior to the construction of the house.
That House No. 3 burned is evident from the charred poles and bits of heavily burned, wattle-impressed, clay daub lying on and above the house floor. Shortly after the burning, a mound of sandy soil, undoubtedly derived from the adjacent surface of the floodplain, was heaped over the house ruins.
Burial of the house remains beneath a mound implies that the house had a special significance, possibly of a ceremonial nature. Consequently it may be conjectured that perhaps House No. 3 was a small temple or chapel which was ceremonially burned and buried.
Mound C was situated on the west bank of the lake, 350 feet northwest of Mound B (Fig. 1). This mound was in the shape of a broad oval with its long axis oriented in an east-west direction. It measured 62 by 52 feet at the base and reached a maximum elevation of 102.6 feet, or slightly more than three feet above the modern surface of the floodplain (Figs.6and11, B).
There was a circular depression approximately nine feet in diameter in the top of the mound where pothunters had been at work. Excavation revealed that the pothole had been dug to a depth of 4.8 feet and had later been partially filled by natural agencies. Unfortunately, the pothole had destroyed most of the central hearths associated with the two house floors found at the base of the mound.
After the trees and bushes had been cleared from Mound C the standard grid of 5-foot squares was established with a base stake set 125 feet south and 100 feet west of the approximate center point of the mound. The initial step in excavating the mound was to dig the southwest quadrant down to elevation 100.0 feet. Next, the southeast quadrant was excavated to the same level so that an east-west profile remained standing completely across the mound. After the profile had been studied and recorded, the other two quadrants were removed and the entire mound was levelled at elevation 100.0 feet, where a circular zone of dark soil containing a large amount of charcoal marked the outline of what later proved to be the remains of two houses, one superimposed on the other.
A narrow east-west trench was next dug across the house area, the north edge of the trench being on the N125 line so that it matched the bottom of the major east-west profile which had already been removed. This trench revealed two thin layers of dark midden soil, each of which represented the floor level of a house (Fig. 7). The two floor levels were separated by a layer of clean, yellow sand. The lower floor rested on undisturbed soil at the base of the mound. Numerous charred segments of poles lay in a jumble on and just above the upper floor as though the house walls had burned and collapsed.
Fig. 6HARROUN SITE41 UR 10MOUND C AREAcontour interval = 0.5 feetshading indicates excavated area
Fig. 6
HARROUN SITE41 UR 10MOUND C AREAcontour interval = 0.5 feetshading indicates excavated area
The house floors were completely excavated, the artifacts and other material associated with each floor being collected and sacked separately wherever possible. Two concentric rings of post molds at the periphery of the house area were exposed and recorded, as were several interior post molds (Fig. 8). An entrance passageway was delineated at the west side of the house area.
In order to determine the relationship of the mound to the floodplain several short trenches were carried from the edge of the mound out into the floodplain formation (Fig. 6). A depressed area in the surface of the floodplain between the mound and the lake was also trenched in an effort to determine whether it may have been a borrow pit. Several other trenches were dug south and west of the mound in an unfruitful search for any middens, houses, burials, or other occupational features that might have been located near the mound.
Throughout the excavation of Mound C, major profiles, horizontal plans at ½-foot intervals, and occupational features were described in the field notes and drawn to scale. Major profiles and features were photographed. Most of the digging was done with shovels, but trowels were used in part for excavating the two thin floor zones and for several other situations where close attention to detail was desirable. Because of time limitations only representative, spot screening was attempted.
Profiles of Mound C revealed remnants of an old stabilized surface with a well developed soil profile (including a superficial humic zone) lying immediately beneath the mound fill (Fig. 7). The elevation of the old surface averaged approximately 99.4 feet which is also the average elevation of the modern floodplain surface around the mound: therefore it appears certain that the first of the two houses was built directly on the floodplain surface and that there has been no appreciable change in the surface elevation of the floodplain since the mound was built. The first house burned, after which the second house was built over its remains; then the second house burned and the mound was erected over the ruins of the houses.
Fig. 7HARROUN SITE41 UR 10PROFILE OF MOUND C(IDEALIZED SECTION THROUGH CENTER OF MOUND)potholefloor of House No. 2floor of House No. 1sterile zone between house floorspost moldhumus (note buried humus zone between N130 and N140)gray, sandy mound fillwhitish, sandy mound fillundisturbed sub-mound soilHARROUN SITE41 UR 10PROFILE OF MOUND D(IDEALIZED SECTION THROUGH CENTER OF MOUND)potholefloor of House No. 4dark brown sandgray-brown sandpost moldhumusgray, sandy mound fillwhitish, sandy mound fillundisturbed sub-mound soil
Fig. 7
HARROUN SITE41 UR 10PROFILE OF MOUND C(IDEALIZED SECTION THROUGH CENTER OF MOUND)potholefloor of House No. 2floor of House No. 1sterile zone between house floorspost moldhumus (note buried humus zone between N130 and N140)gray, sandy mound fillwhitish, sandy mound fillundisturbed sub-mound soil
HARROUN SITE41 UR 10PROFILE OF MOUND D(IDEALIZED SECTION THROUGH CENTER OF MOUND)potholefloor of House No. 4dark brown sandgray-brown sandpost moldhumusgray, sandy mound fillwhitish, sandy mound fillundisturbed sub-mound soil
A low embankment of sand similar to that at Mound B encircled the house area just outside the peripheral ring of house post molds (Fig. 7). Apparently this embankment was built while one of the houses was still standing since its inner edge is almost vertical in places as though it had been banked against the outside wall of the house. After the later house burned, the mound was heaped over both this embankment and the house ruins.
The geologic structure of the floodplain at Mound C was apparently the same as previously described although none of the excavations were carried deep enough to expose Zone I, the basal member of reddish clay. The mound structure rested on the surface of Zone IIc (Fig. 7) and was composed of four distinct structural units as follows (in order from bottom to top):
1.The lower house floor zone(House No. 1). This zone was composed of blackish sand containing a large amount of charcoal and had an average thickness of about 0.3 feet. It yielded some artifacts. This lower house floor lay just above the surface of Zone IIc (the floodplain surface) from which it was separated by a thin (approximately 0.1-foot thick) lens of compact sandy clay. The thin clay lens was apparently a subsurface formation resulting from the deposition of clay by percolating water along the buried surface of the floodplain.2.The upper house floor(House No. 2). This zone consisted of a slightly compacted, brownish sand containing a large amount of charcoal and a few artifacts. It lay above the floor of House No. 1, and was separated from it by a layer of clean, sterile, yellowish sand 0.1 to 0.3 feet thick which probably was placed over the burned ruins of the first house to provide a clean floor for the second one.3.The embankment of yellow-brown sand encircling the house area.As was previously pointed out, this member had the appearance of having been banked against the exterior wall of the house while it was still standing. Perhaps this provided extra protection from the winter winds, or its primary purpose may have been to serve as a dike to protect the house when Cypress Creek overflowed its banks. The maximum height of this zone was 2.0 feet above the surface of Zone IIc, upon which it rested.4.The final addition to the mound.This was the sand member whichhad been mounded over the house ruins. It was virtually sterile of cultural material.
1.The lower house floor zone(House No. 1). This zone was composed of blackish sand containing a large amount of charcoal and had an average thickness of about 0.3 feet. It yielded some artifacts. This lower house floor lay just above the surface of Zone IIc (the floodplain surface) from which it was separated by a thin (approximately 0.1-foot thick) lens of compact sandy clay. The thin clay lens was apparently a subsurface formation resulting from the deposition of clay by percolating water along the buried surface of the floodplain.
2.The upper house floor(House No. 2). This zone consisted of a slightly compacted, brownish sand containing a large amount of charcoal and a few artifacts. It lay above the floor of House No. 1, and was separated from it by a layer of clean, sterile, yellowish sand 0.1 to 0.3 feet thick which probably was placed over the burned ruins of the first house to provide a clean floor for the second one.
3.The embankment of yellow-brown sand encircling the house area.As was previously pointed out, this member had the appearance of having been banked against the exterior wall of the house while it was still standing. Perhaps this provided extra protection from the winter winds, or its primary purpose may have been to serve as a dike to protect the house when Cypress Creek overflowed its banks. The maximum height of this zone was 2.0 feet above the surface of Zone IIc, upon which it rested.
4.The final addition to the mound.This was the sand member whichhad been mounded over the house ruins. It was virtually sterile of cultural material.
The only occupational features discovered at Mound C were the two house patterns.
The lower house floor at Mound C, designated House No. 1, rested directly on the old surface of the floodplain (Fig. 7). The floor zone was a circular lens of dark gray—almost black—sand with a greasy texture. It averaged 0.4 feet in thickness and measured some 18 feet across. This floor zone contained numerous bits of charcoal and burned clay daub, a few stone chips, mussel shells and garbage bones, and a small number of artifacts.
Around the perimeter of the floor was a ring of post molds representing the exterior house wall (Fig. 8). Average diameter of the ring was 18 feet. Each post mold extended downward below the floor level into the sub-mound floodplain. The individual molds ranged from 0.35 to 0.75 feet in diameter, the bottoms being from 1.3 to 2.0 feet below the floor level. There was a total of 29 definite molds plus one probable mold in the peripheral ring, and disturbances on the west and south sides of the house appeared to have obliterated at least five others. The posts had been set about 1.5 to 2.0 feet apart on an average. Time did not permit vertical sectioning of all the molds, but several were carefully sectioned and studied to determine the level from which they had been dug. All began at the floor of House No. 1, none extending above that level.
The large pothole observed in the top of the mound continued downward entirely through the floor of House No. 1, although it had narrowed to a diameter of less than four feet where it intercepted the floor (Fig. 8). Unfortunately the pothole had destroyed the major portion of a centrally located hearth that must have been associated either with House No. 1 or the overlying House No. 2. Actually, there was probably a hearth for each house, the later one constructed directly above the earlier one. But since only a narrow segment of burned soil remained to mark the eastern margin of the hearth (or hearths), the structural details could not be ascertained. As nearly as could be estimated by the surviving portion of the hearth, it must have been approximately three feet in diameter.
Fig. 8HARROUN SITE41 UR 10PLAN OF HOUSES NO. 1 & 2MOUND Cpost mold, House No. 1post mold, House No. 2post mold, House No. 1 or House No. 2probable post moldremnant of central fire pitash lensdisturbancedisturbancepothole
Fig. 8
HARROUN SITE41 UR 10PLAN OF HOUSES NO. 1 & 2MOUND Cpost mold, House No. 1post mold, House No. 2post mold, House No. 1 or House No. 2probable post moldremnant of central fire pitash lensdisturbancedisturbancepothole
Beneath the pothole—which luckily terminated a foot or so below the floor of House No. 1—were the bottom portions of two post molds (Fig. 7). These were undoubtedly from the center posts used during construction of Houses No. 1 and 2. Although the exact circumstances could not be reconstructed because of disturbance, the center posts presumably were removed when the houses were completed and the hearths placed over the molds.
In addition to the two center molds, there were two other post molds within the interior of the houses at Mound C. One was just east of the hearth area, the other was northwest of the hearth (Fig. 8). Both were exposed in the excavation floor at the level of House No. 1, and since they were not encountered above that level both probably relate to the earlier house.
An extended entranceway on the west side of the houses was delineated by an elongated area of organically stained soil and by two parallel rows of post molds (Fig. 8). The stained area was clearly discernible in the mound fill above both house floors. Despite extremely careful excavation of this stained area, however, only the bottom portions of the post molds—well below the floor level of House No. 1—could be seen. Consequently the level from which the entranceway post holes were dug could not be determined and it is uncertain to which of the two houses they belonged. House No. 2 must have had its entranceway on the west side because the organically stained outline showed clearly in the mound fill well above the House 2 floor level. Possibly both houses had their entranceways in this same area.
House No. 2 was represented by a distinct floor zone and by a circle of post molds. The floor zone (Fig. 8) consisted of a lens of brownish sand averaging about 15.5 feet in diameter, with a maximum thickness near the center of almost a foot. It lay directly above the floor of House No. 1, but was separated from it by a thin layer of clean, sterile sand 0.1 to 0.3 feet thick. The sterile sand layer was possibly placed over the burned ruins of House No. 1 in order to provide a clean floor for House No. 2.
The peripheral ring of post molds (Fig. 8) averaged a little less than 14 feet in diameter (or almost four feet less than that of the underlying House No. 1) and lay entirely inside the exterior wall of House No. 1. The two rings were not quite concentric, however, the center point of House No. 2 being slightly to the west of the center point of House No. 1. The post molds of House No. 2 were from 0.45 to 0.85 feet in diameter, and they extended from 1.6 to 2.0 feet below the level of the related house floor. Several of the molds were sectioned vertically to determine the level from which they had been dug. They could be clearly traced from the floor of House No. 2 down through the floor of House No. 1 into the sub-mound floodplain.
As was pointed out above in the description of House No. 1, there was probably a circular, centrally located hearth associated with House No. 2, and one of the two center posts whose molds were found beneath the hearth area must have been used in the construction of the later house. There appeared to be no other interior post molds associated with House No. 2. The entranceway was probably on the west side.
Excavation of Mound C revealed that a circular house (House No. 1) was built on the south bank of the Harroun Site lake, was occupied for an unknown period of time, then was burned—perhaps intentionally. After a thin layer of sand had been strewn over the burned ruins, a second, smaller house (House No. 2) was erected on the remains of the earlier house. House No. 2 was likewise destroyed by fire, after which the remains of both houses were buried under a mound of sand.
Both houses probably had centrally located hearths, and one or both of them had an entranceway opening to the west. As at Mound B, a low pile of sandy soil may have been banked around the outside of one or both houses before they were destroyed. Architecturally the houses at Mound C were quite similar to the one at Mound B.
The sparse occurrence of artifacts and other cultural refuse suggests that neither House No. 1 nor House No. 2 was an ordinary domicile. It appears likely, rather, that both were ceremonial structures of some sort. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that the houses were considered important enough to be afforded burial beneath a mound, probably after having been ceremonially “cremated.”
This low circular mound was located on the south bank of Cypress Creek about 150 feet east of Mound A (Fig. 1). It was perched at the very edge of the floodplain overlooking the creek channel. In recent years the channel had been migrating laterally and had begun to encroach on the north edge of the mound. The average diameter of Mound D at the base was about 60 feet, and its highest point was at a relative elevation of 100.6 feet, or about 2.5 feet above the surface of the surrounding floodplain (Fig. 9). A shallow depression about 12 feet across in the top of the mound marked the location of the usual pothole. This pothole had originally been only 5 to 6 feet in diameter, but had been considerably enlarged at the surface of the mound by recent erosion.
Excavation of Mound D was begun shortly before the end of the 1958 field season. It was dug, like the other mounds, by the quadrant method; but, because there was not enough time for thorough excavation, only the southwest quadrant was carried down to the sub-mound level in 1958. The other three quadrants were taken down to the 98-foot level, however, where a circular zone of dark, organically stained soil, 19.8 feet in diameter, clearly outlined the location of a house structure (House No. 4) similar to those at Mounds B and C. During the final work at Harroun in February, 1959, the entire northwest quadrant was exposed, excavated, and recorded. Only the peripheral ring of post molds was exposed in the other two quadrants.
The southwest quadrant of the mound was excavated in 0.5-foot levels; all other portions were taken down in 1.0-foot levels. Horizontal plans were recorded at all levels and photographs were taken. Vertical walls 1.5 feet thick were preserved across the mound along the W100 and N100 lines (Fig. 9), and trenches three feet wide were extended north, south, and west of the mound in order to obtain complete vertical profiles. Excavation and recording methods were generally the same as previously described for the other mounds.
Fig. 9HARROUN SITE:41 UR 10MOUND D AREACYPRESS CREEK
Fig. 9
HARROUN SITE:41 UR 10MOUND D AREACYPRESS CREEK
The structure of Mound D was clearly indicated by the vertical cross sections (Fig. 7). An old humus-stained surface underlying the marginal portions of the mound was sharply defined at an average elevation of 98.0 feet. No artifacts or cultural refuse were found in the floodplain below this surface. Prior to construction of the mound a shallow, circular pit had been excavated in the surface of the floodplain to an average depth of 1.5 feet. The sides of the pit sloped sharply downward, and the floor was approximately level. An embankment of yellow-brown sand, possibly composed of back-dirt from the pit, was mounded up about 1.5 feet high and four to six feet wide around the perimeter of the pit. This light sand zone contained a few artifacts but little or no charcoal.
A hard-packed house floor about 0.2 feet thick lay on the bottom of the pit. This floor zone was composed of compact sandy clay which contrasted sharply with the overlying mound fill. Charcoal, ash, and burned clay daub were found in quantity in the floor zone, but only a few artifacts were recovered. Just above the house floor was a 1-foot thick layer of dark gray-brown sand containing several charred poles and a large amount of charcoal, ash, and burned clay daub. Above that was the sandy fill making up the bulk of the mound. A mantle of surface humus from 0.2 to 0.8 feet thick covered the mound.
A ring of post molds was discovered around the edge of the floor, and other molds on the west side of the house marked the position of an extended entranceway (Fig. 10). No interior post molds were discovered.
The pothole, which extended downward through the center of the floor, had apparently removed a centrally located hearth, only slight evidence of burning at the edge of the pothole remaining to show that the hearth had been there.
The entire mound fill, including the embankment around the house, was composed of various shades and textures of sand. All of this material was probably derived from the sandy floodplain surrounding the mound. Small quantities of clay around the hearth and on the house floor could have been acquired at nearby outcrops in the stream channel.
As at Mounds B and C, the circular shape of the house at Mound D was outlined by an area of organically stained soil which extended upwardfrom the house floor almost to the surface of the mound. The flanks of all three mounds were of light colored sand which contrasted sharply with the dark, circular house outlines. The only reasonable conjecture thus far advanced to explain this circumstance is that a low embankment of relatively clean sand had been piled against the exterior wall of each house. Thus when a house burned the embankment would remain standing, well above the house floor, as a sort of mold of the lower portion of the house. Then when a mound was erected over the burned house remains and the standing embankment, the outline of the house might appear in the mound fill as a cast of the house, delineated by the circular embankment.
House No. 4 was the only occupational feature discovered at Mound D.
This house was circular in shape, with an exterior wall formed of upright poles, wattle, and clay daub. Post molds indicated that there were at least 27 of the upright poles in the exterior wall (Fig. 10). They were 0.3 to 0.6 feet in diameter at the base and were set about two feet apart on an average. An interior hearth near the center of the house was probably circular in shape and an estimated three to four feet in diameter. Its exact dimensions could not be determined because of disturbance by the pothole. No interior post molds were found.
Remains of an extended entranceway on the west side of the house consisted in five post molds which outlined the two parallel sides of the entranceway. The entranceway was slightly less than three feet wide, and it sloped downward from the surface of the floodplain into the house pit.
Burned poles and burned clay daub with wattle impressions showed that House No. 4 had been destroyed by fire.
Investigation of Mound D revealed that the following sequence of events had taken place. A round, Caddoan type of house (House No. 4) with an extended entranceway on the west side was built in a shallow, excavated pit on the south bank of Cypress Creek. Architecturally the house was quite similar to those at Mounds B and C. Sand was probably banked against the outside wall of the house to a height of somewhat more than a foot. After an unknown period of time the house was destroyed by fire, and then the house remains and the surrounding embankment of sand were buried beneath a mound of sandy soil. This duplicates essentially the events reconstructed for Mounds B and C, the only unique feature at Mound D being the pit in which the house was built.
Fig. 10HARROUN SITE41 UR 10PLAN OF HOUSE NO. 4MOUND Dpost moldunexcavatedburned areapothole
Fig. 10
HARROUN SITE41 UR 10PLAN OF HOUSE NO. 4MOUND Dpost moldunexcavatedburned areapothole
Probable ceremonial burning, burial beneath a mound, and a scarcity of domestic artifacts and refuse suggest that House No. 4 was not an ordinary residence, but a small temple, chapel, or similar structure used for ceremonial purposes.
A total of 610 artifacts was recovered from the Harroun Site, consisting of ceramics, chipped stone implements, and a few milling stones and pitted stones. The first step in ordering the artifacts was to lump them all together in one heap. Then they were separated into general groups such as pottery, dart points, arrow points, scrapers, pitted stones, etc. Next, each group was further divided and subdivided into as many categories as seemed warranted until a number of small groups resulted, each containing a series of individual specimens with similar basic characteristics.[1]Finally, each of the small groups was compared to similar material from other sites and identified with specific types wherever possible.
The artifacts are described below by groups. Provenience of the groups and types within the site is discussed in the succeeding section.
In addition to the two vessels from the burial at Mound A, ceramic specimens comprise a total of 562 sherds. The paste of these sherds is characteristically sherd tempered, occasionally with the addition of small quantities of sand and/or bone particles. There is no shell tempering. Study of the sherds indicates that bottles, jars with outcurved rims, carinated bowls, and possibly other forms are represented. Exterior surface treatment includes brushing, smoothing, polishing, and red filming; smoothing and red filming also occur as interior surface treatments. Techniques used in applying decorations are incising, engraving, appliquéing, and punctating.
The small quantity of sherds did not permit reconstruction of any vessels nor of any complete design elements: consequently correlations between techniques of decorating, design elements, vessel shapes and surface treatment were impossible as a rule, and a comprehensive typological analysis of the ceramics could not be made.
The ceramics were separated on the basis of decorative technique into six groups: brushed, incised, appliquéd, punctated, engraved, and plain. Each group is described separately below.
Of the 141 brushed sherds, 13 are rimsherds and 128 are from body areas. The brushing is always on the exterior surface, the interior surfaces being poorly to fairly well smoothed. Wall thickness ranges from 5 to 9 mm. Lips are rounded and slightly everted.
Clay lumps of varying sizes—evidently ground up sherds are visible in the paste of most sherds, and 39 of the 141 brushed sherds also contain bone tempering. There are particles of sand in all the sherds, a few having so much that their surfaces have a distinctly sandy feel when rubbed between the fingers. Paste colors range from creams and buffs to fairly dark grays, with most sherds falling into the lighter shades of buff, brown, and gray—indicative of oxidation during firing. Some sherds have light exterior surfaces and dark interior surfaces, suggesting that the vessels stood upside down during firing.
Most of the brushed sherds could not be definitely identified with any specific pottery types; however, several sherds were assigned to the types Bullard Brushed of the Frankston Focus (Suhmet al., 1954: 252 and Pl. 9) and Pease Brushed-Incised of the Bossier Focus (Webb, 1948: 110-113 and Pls. 11 & 12; Suhmet al., 1954: 338 and Pl. 53).
There are 17 Bullard Brushed sherds, 13 of them from the body of a single vessel, the other four from the rim of another vessel (Fig. 13, A-B). All were found at Mound C. Both vessels were barrel-shaped with a slight, evenly curved constriction in the neck area. There were one or more horizontal rows of punctations made with a blunt stick separating the body area from the rim area on both vessels, but there was no angle at the juncture of the body and the rim. On the vessel represented only by body sherds, the brushing consisted of short, overlapping strokes in random directions, creating a roughened exterior of uneven appearance. The rim treatment of this vessel could not be determined. The otherBullard Brushed vessel was represented by four rimsherds which fitted together. The rim of this vessel curved outwardly and was evenly brushed in a diagonal direction. A horizontal row of punctations appeared at the bottom of the rim. Both Bullard vessels were relatively large with wide mouths.
Six of the brushed body sherds (Fig. 13, C, D, G) were identified as type Pease Brushed-Incised because they have vertically brushed sections separated by vertical appliqué strips. Five are from Mound D, the other from Mound A. Five of the six have closely spaced punctations or indentations pressed into the strips. One of the Pease body sherds (Fig. 13, D) is attached to a portion of the rim which is brushed horizontally. On this sherd there is a marked angle at the juncture of the body and the rim, and a horizontal row of small punctations made with the blunt end of a stick is impressed along the line of the angle. Other Pease sherds with incising instead of brushing are described later.
The other 118 brushed sherds were not assigned to definite types, but will be described here as a group. In all or most of the vessels represented by the miscellaneous brushed sherds the coiling method was employed. Fractures along coil lines, and vessel curvature on some of the larger sherds, made it possible to orient 30 of the brushed body sherds with respect to the vessels from which they came. The brushing on all 30 is in an approximately vertical direction (Fig. 14, C-D). The nine rimsherds, in contrast, are all brushed horizontally (Fig. 14, A-B) except for one which is brushed diagonally. On one sherd containing portions of both body and rim, the body is brushed vertically and the rim horizontally. The body and rim areas are separated on this sherd by a horizontal row of small, closely spaced punctations made with a pointed instrument. On three of the nine rimsherds there are similar single rows of punctations just below the lip.
The miscellaneous brushed sherds appear to have come, by and large, from jars with outcurved rims, the bodies brushed vertically and the rims brushed horizontally. The body and rim areas were probably separated in most cases by a horizontal row of closely spaced punctations made with the end of a stick, and similar rows of punctations were placed on some rims just below the lip at the top of the brushed zone. The juncture of the body and the rim usually formed a distinct angle. There is the possibility that some vessels with brushed bodies had plainor incised rims, or, conversely, that some with brushed rims had plain or incised bodies. The horizontally brushed rims, some with punctations, are quite similar to the rims of type Pease Brushed-Incised, and it is quite likely that some of the brushed sherds came from Pease vessels. It is also possible that some of the brushed body sherds are from vessels with incised rims of the Maydelle Incised type (Suhmet al., 1954: 324 and Pl. 46) described later.
Thirty-nine sherds with incised lines were found at the Harroun Site, 31 of them body sherds and the other eight from rims. The incised sherds are all sherd tempered with varying amounts of sand included in the paste. Bone tempering is also present in eight. Surface colors are predominantly light browns and grays, indicating an oxidizing atmosphere during firing. The characteristic surface treatment of the exteriors is smoothing (done before incising), and all the interiors are smoothed. Wall thickness varies from 4 to 8 mm. Two sherds have red slips.
Eleven of the incised sherds have vertical or diagonal appliqué strips marking off the vessel body into panels, each panel being decorated with parallel incised lines (Fig. 13, E-F). These have all the characteristics of Pease Brushed-Incised body sherds, and they have all been assigned to that type.
One sherd (Fig. 14, E) with punctation-filled incised panels is unmistakably from a bowl of type Crockett Curvilinear Incised of the Alto Focus, Gibson Aspect (Newell and Krieger, 1949: 98-101 and Fig. 36). This sherd has a straight rim with a squarish lip; the exterior was smoothed before decorating and the interior is poorly smoothed. Decoration consists of a portion of one curvilinear panel outlined with incised lines and filled with small, crescentic punctations. Part of a crack-lacing hole is retained on one edge of the sherd. This specimen was found in a disturbed area at Mound B.
A sharply incurving rimsherd (Fig. 13, H) with four parallel incised lines in the broad, flat lip is from a vessel which was not of traditional Caddoan shape or decoration. It was found over four feet deep in Zone IIb of the floodplain near Mound A. The incurving rim, the flat lip, and the position of the incised lines are all quite similar to styles of the Lower Mississippi Area—especially as exemplified by the types Coles Creek Incised and Chase Incised (Ford, 1951: 74-77). Another interestingfeature of this sherd is a bright red slip which covers both the interior and the exterior surfaces.
A second sherd (Fig. 13, I) with characteristically Lower Mississippi design is also from Zone IIb of the floodplain. This sherd came from the neck area of a jar and has portions of a decorated rim and a plain body. The decoration consists of two sets of parallel lines crossing each other at an angle so as to form a series of diamond-shaped elements. Inside each diamond is a triangular punctation made with the corner of an angular instrument. There is an abrupt decrease in wall thickness at the bottom of the rim so that a typically Lower Mississippian “overhanging line” effect is produced. In design and general execution this sherd is similar to the type Beldeau Incised (Ford, 1951: 81-83) of the Coles Creek period in the Lower Mississippi Area, but its paste appears to be more in the Caddoan than in the Baytown tradition.
The 25 incised sherds not assignable to any specific type comprise five rimsherds and 20 body sherds. Fifteen of the body sherds bear thin lines sliced into the plastic clay with a sharp instrument; the other 10 were incised with a blunt-tipped implement which gouged out, rather than sliced, the lines. Two sherds (Fig. 14, G) have a horizontal row of closely spaced punctations in the neck area. Of the five rimsherds, one has three widely spaced, horizontal, incised lines; three (Fig. 14, F) have a design of widely spaced, cross hatched incised lines; the fifth bears traces of two horizontal incised lines on the lower part of the rim above a plain body. Some of the smaller body sherds could have come from Pease Brushed-Incised vessels and the three rimsherds with cross hatched design could well be from Maydelle Incised vessels.
Thus the 39 incised sherds include at least 11 from vessels of type Pease Brushed-Incised, one is type Crockett Curvilinear Incised, and two appear to be intrusions from the late Coles Creek period of the Lower Mississippi Area. The unidentified sherds are all typically Caddoan in their general characteristics, and three of them may represent type Maydelle Incised of the Frankston Focus.
The decorative technique of appliquéing occurs commonly at the Harroun Site, principally in combination with brushing and incising on the type Pease Brushed-Incised described above. However, there are five sherds with appliqué strips but with no traces of brushing or incising(Fig. 14, J). Paste characteristics of these sherds are the same as for the previously described appliquéd sherds of the Pease type, and it is believed that they are from vessels similar to Pease Brushed-Incised except that the panels on the body were left plain instead of being filled with brushing or incised lines.
As stated in previous sections, horizontal rows of punctations occur commonly in combination with brushing on the rims of jars, and punctations also appear in vertical rows on appliqué strips applied to the bodies of Pease Brushed-Incised jars. Thus punctations seem to occur most commonly in association with incising, brushing, and appliquéing. However, eight sherds have punctations as the only decorative technique. Four of them have sections of single rows of closely spaced punctations, all made with the ends of sticks or similar implements (Fig. 14, H). The other four sherds (Fig. 14, I) are covered with small, free punctations. On one of the latter the punctations were made with a blunt stick; the other three have paired fingernail impressions.
The punctated sherds are all similar in paste characteristics. All are sherd tempered and one also has a small amount of bone temper. Exterior colors are light to medium brown and gray, while the interiors tend toward darker shades of the same colors. The exterior surfaces were smoothed before the punctations were applied; the interiors are also smoothed.
The punctated sherds are not distinctive enough for typological identification.
Only two complete pottery vessels were found at the Harroun Site, a carinated bowl and a bottle, both engraved and both associated with the burial beneath Mound A.
The carinated bowl (Fig. 12, B) has a flat, round base and a compound rim which turns sharply inward at the shoulder to form a narrow, almost vertical panel approximately 1.5 cm. high. Above this panel the rim turns sharply outward to form a second panel extending to the lip. Four equally spaced peaks rise from the upper panel of the rim. The bowl stands 9.5 cm. high and measures 21.0 cm. wide between opposing rim peaks. Both the exterior and the interior surfaces have been wellsmoothed, and marks of the smoothing tool are clearly visible both inside and outside the vessel.
The lower rim panel of the carinated bowl bears a stylized version of the interlocking scroll design, featuring broad, deep, engraved lines with small excised zones. The upper rim panel has elongated triangular designs on the rim peak areas with broad, parallel, vertical, engraved lines within the triangles. An almost identical bowl is pictured by Suhmet al., (1954: Pl. 57, I) as an example of the type Ripley Engraved.
The engraved bottle (Fig. 12, C) has a broad, squat body and a tall neck with expanded rim. Total height is 23.1 cm. The body is 12.8 cm. high by 18.3 cm. wide; the height of the neck is 10.3 cm., its minimal diameter is 4.5 cm., and the oral diameter is 5.5 cm. An interlocking scroll design is repeated twice (slightly asymmetrically) on the body, and some of the engraved lines have small, pendant triangles which are hachured or excised. There are also several cross hatched, triangular elements. The exterior surface is dark gray in color and has been well smoothed. The bottle has been identified as an example of type Ripley Engraved (Suhmet al., 1954: 346 and Pl. 59).
In addition to the two vessels from Burial No. 1, examples of the engraving technique appear on 107 sherds from the Harroun Site. The paste of these sherds is fairly consistent in being fine grained and relatively hard, and all appear to have sherd temper. The paste of the engraved sherds also contains moderate amounts of sand, and 23 of them have bone particles added as a supplementary tempering agent. Surfaces are smoothed, both on the interior and exterior, and the exterior surfaces of several sherds are highly polished. Fractures along coil lines indicate that manufacture was by the coiling method. Wall thickness ranges from 3 to 7 mm.
A big majority of the engraved sherds are from the rims of carinated bowls with rounded, out-turned lips, but several are from the bodies of bottles and one is from the rim of a jar. Most of the sherds are small, having sections of from one to four engraved lines which are too incomplete to reveal any distinctive design elements: consequently no typological affiliations can be determined for them. There are some, however, which can definitely be assigned to previously recognized typological categories.
On four sherds (Fig. 14, L) are small, excised, diamond-shaped elements enclosed by concentric diamond-shaped lines, and two sherds(Fig. 14, K, M) are decorated with swastikas enclosed by circles. Both of these designs are known only on the type Ripley Engraved; therefore there is no hesitation in identifying these six sherds as Ripley. Two other sherds with portions of Ripley-like designs were assigned to the same type.
One sherd (Fig. 14, O) from a small carinated bowl is decorated with a curvilinear interlocking scroll design characteristic of the type Taylor Engraved (Suhmet al., 1954: 360-362 and Pl. 65). Another sherd (Fig. 14, N) from an engraved bottle appears also to be of the Taylor type, as does an engraved rimsherd (Fig. 14, P) from a jar.
Four sherds came from the lower neck region of a bottle. A single, fairly heavy, engraved line filled with red pigment encircled the base of the neck, and the neck contracted sharply toward the top in typically Gibson Aspect style. The paste is fine grained in texture and almost black in color. The exterior is well smoothed and polished, but the interior is very poorly smoothed, as is usual for Caddoan Area bottles. The wall of the neck is 6 mm. thick. This bottle is almost certainly a Gibson Aspect form, possibly type Hickory Fine Engraved of the Alto Focus (Newell and Krieger, 1949: 90-91 and Fig. 33; Suhmet al., 1954: 294 and Pl. 31). It was associated with the floor of House No. 3 at Mound B.
The other 92 engraved sherds could not be identified with any specific types. However, they all are from carinated bowls and bottles characteristic of the Fulton Aspect, the forcefully engraved lines of many suggesting Titus Focus in particular. An interesting note is the occasional widening of an engraved line by a series of closely spaced, gouged out lines, creating small zones which are not quite completely excised (Fig. 14, K). The identical technique was noted by E. Mott Davis (1958: 61) at the Whelan Site, located on Cypress Creek about 15 miles below the Harroun Site. This treatment is similar in a general way to that of the type Poynor Engraved of the Frankston Focus, but the design elements on which it occurs, both at Harroun and Whelan, are characteristic of Titus Focus (types Ripley, Taylor, and Wilder Engraved) and not of Frankston Focus.
In general, the engraved pottery at the Harroun Site indicates Titus Focus affiliation, the only exception being the one Gibson Aspect bottle fragment. Ripley Engraved is the most common type, but type Taylor Engraved and probably type Wilder Engraved are also present.