The George C. Davis Site (41CE19) in central East Texas holds a prominent position in American archaeology. Fifty prehistoric ceramic specimens from early Caddoan contexts (A.D. 800–1200) were analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) at the Missouri University of Missouri Research Reactor Center (MURR). The chemical compositions of the Davis ceramics were compared with previously identified Caddoan ceramic compositional groups. Early Caddoan ceramics from the Davis site likely originate from local alluvial clays in the Neches River Basin. Investigating issues of ceramic production, we conclude that clays from multiple sources and/or different ceramic recipes were used to make various Caddoan pottery types.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BieberAlan M.Jr.BrooksDorthea W.HarbottleGarman, and SayreEdward V.1976Application of multivariate techniques to analytical data on Aegean ceramics, Archaeometry, 18, pp. 59–74.
2.
BishopRonald L. and NeffHector1989Multivariate Analysis of Compositional Data in Archaeology, in Archaeological Chemistry IV: Developed from a Symposium Sponsored by the Division of History of Chemistry at the 193rd meeting of the American Chemical Society, Denver, Colorado, April 5-10, 1987, AllenRalph O. (ed.), Advances in Chemistry series 220. American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., pp. 57–86.
3.
BishopRonald L.RandsRobert L., and HolleyGeorge R.1982Ceramic Compositional Analysis in Archaeological Perspective, Advances in Archaeoloaical Method and Theory, 5, pp. 275–330.
4.
CogswellJamesNeffHector, and GlascockMichael D.1996Compositional Analysis of Caddoan Ceramics from Northeast Texas, report on file, University of Missouri Research Reactor, Columbia, April 1, 1996.
5.
CogswellJamesNeffHector, and GlascockMichael D.1998Analysis of Shell-Tempered Pottery Replicates: Implications for Provenance Studies, American Antiquity, 63:1, pp. 63–72.
6.
CogswellJamesNeffHector, and GlascockMichael D.2000Continued Investigations of Ceramic Exchange among the Prehistoric Caddoan: Compositional Evidence, report on file, University of Missouri Research Reactor, Columbia, January 2000.
7.
CreelDarrell1979Archeological Investigations at the George C. Davis Site, Cherokee County, Texas, Summer, 1978, Texas Antiquities Permit Series, Report No. 1, Texas A&M University and Texas Antiquities Committee, College Station, Texas.
8.
DavisMichaelEarlsAmy C., and TomkaMarybeth S. F.19921987 Archeological Excavations at the George C. Davis Site (41CE19), Caddoan Mounds State Historical Park, Cherokee County, Texas, Technical Report No. 1, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Public Lands Division Cultural Resources Program, Austin, Texas.
9.
DescantesChristopheSpeakmanRobert J., and GlascockMichael D.2003aLetter Report to Timothy K. Perttula, report on file, University of Missouri Research Reactor, Columbia, September 3, 2003.
10.
DescantesChristopheSpeakmanRobert J., and GlascockMichael D.2003bAddendum to September 3, 2003 Letter Report to Timothy K. Perttula, report on file, University of Missouri Research Reactor, Columbia, November 17, 2003.
11.
FerringC. Reid and PerttulaTimothy K.1987Defining the Provenance of Red Slipped Pottery from Texas and Oklahoma by Petrographic Methods, Journal of Archaeological Science, 14, pp. 437–456.
12.
GlascockMichael D.1992Characterization of Archaeological Ceramics at MURR by Neutron Activation Analysis and Multivariate Statistics, in Chemical Characterization of Ceramic Pastes in Archaeology, NeffHector (ed.), Monographs in World Archaeology No. 7, Prehistory Press, Madison, Wisconsin, pp. 11–26.
13.
HarbottleGarman1976Activation Analysis in Archaeology, Radiochemistry, 3, The Chemical Society, London, pp. 33–72.
14.
NeffHector2000aCompositional Variation in Caddoan and Other Ceramics from Northeastern Texas: Update on Results of Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis, report on file, University of Missouri Research Reactor, Columbia, September 20, 2000.
15.
NeffHector2000bNeutron Activation Analysis for Provenance Determination in Archaeology, in Modern Analytical Methods in Art and Archaeology, CilibertoEnrico and SpotoGiuseppe (eds.), Chemical Analysis, Vol. 155, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, pp. 81–134.
16.
NeffHector2001Letter Report to Timothy K. Perttula, report on file, University of Missouri Research Reactor, Columbia, December 19, 2001.
17.
NeffHector2002Quantitative Techniques for Analyzing Ceramic Compositional Data, in Ceramic Production and Circulation in the Greater Southwest: Source Determination by INAA and Complementary Mineralogical Investigations, GlowackiDonna M. and NeffHector (eds.), Monograph 44, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at University of California, Los Angeles, pp. 15–36.
18.
NeffNectorCogswellJames W., and GlascockMichael D.1996Compositional Analysis of Caddoan Ceramics from Northeast Texas, report on file, University of Missouri Research Reactor, Columbia, April 1, 1996.
19.
NeffHector and GlascockMichael D.2000Compositional Variation in Caddoan and Other Ceramics from Northeastern Texas: Update on Results of Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis, report on file, University of Missouri Research Reactor, Columbia, September 20, 2000.
20.
NewellH. Perry and KriegerAlex D.1949The George C. Davis Site, Cherokee County, Texas, Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology, No. 5, Wis. Pub. jointly by the Society for American Archaeology and the University of Texas, Menasha.
21.
PerttulaTimothy K.2002Archaeological Evidence for the Long-Distance Exchange of Caddo Indian Ceramics in the Southern Plains, Midwest, and Southeastern United States, in Geochemical Evidence for Long-Distance Exchange, GlascockMichael D. (ed.), Scientific Archaeology for the Third Millennium, Vol. 3, Bergin and Garvey, Westport, Connecticut and London, pp. 229–256.
22.
RenfrewColin1975Trade as Action at a Distance: Questions of Integration and Communication, in Ancient Civilization and Trade, SabloffJeremy A. and Lamberg-KarlovskyC. C., University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, pp. 3–59.
23.
SteponaitisVincas P.BlackmanM. James, and NeffHector1996Large-Scale Patterns in the Chemical Composition of Mississippian Pottery, American Antiquity, 61:3, pp. 555–572.
24.
StoryDee A.1981Archeological Investigations at the George C. Davis Site, Cherokee County, Texas: Summers of 1979 and 1980, Occasional Papers/Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, No. 1, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas.
25.
WeigandPhil C.HarbottleGarman, and SayreEdward V.1977Turquoise Sources and Source Analysis: Mesoamerica and the Southwestern U.S.A., in Exchange Systems in Prehistory, EarleTimothy K. and EricsonJonathon E. (eds.), Academic Press, New York and London, pp. 15–34.
