Document Type
Report
Source Publication Title
Publications in Archaeology No. 22
Abstract
Test excavations of the Tankersley Creek Site, 41TT108, in Titus County, Texas, uncovered a multi-component campsite ranging in time from the Early La Harpe Aspect to Caddo IV times. Component I was the earliest recognized occupation and was characterized by slightly expanding stem dart points. Component II followed Component I and was recognized by a dominance of Large Gary dart points. Component III appeared to represent an early Caddo I occupation and contained Small Gary points and decorated pottery that is usually affiliated with the Caddo I Period. Interestingly, this component lacked the Alba arrowpoints normally found in sites of this period. Component IV appeared to represent a minor occupation of Caddo III/IV peoples. The major significance of this site has been in increasing the data base on Archaic components; the site represents one of the few pre-Gary point Archaic sites in northeast Texas. The Caddo I component represents one of the few nonceremonial sites of this period to be examined and appears to indicate that the Caddo I Period started before the introduction of the bow and arrow.
Disciplines
Anthropology | Archaeological Anthropology | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Publication Date
7-1-1981
Language
English
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Young, Wayne C., "Test Excavations at the Tankersley Creek Site, A Multicomponent Campsite in Titus County, Texas" (1981). Documents from the Texas State Department of Highways. 2.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/utalibraries_digitalprojects_highways/2
Comments
The following report details the archaeological testing of the Tankersley Creek Site, 41TT108, by the State Department of Highways and Public Transportation's archaeological staff during April and May of 1980. Testing was conducted in accordance with the Procedures for the Protection of Historic and Cultural Properties (36 C.F.R., Part 800) and the Department's Memorandum of Understanding with the Texas Antiquities Code under Antiquities Permit No. 248. The site was discovered by a member of the SDHPT Archaeology Section during a routine cultural resources survey of the proposed right-of-way for F.M. 3417 (Fig. 1) and was recommended for testing due to its geographical setting and a small amount of prehistoric cultural debris visible on the surface. The site occupied the toe of a low terrace extending into the Tankersley Creek bottoms and represented the first major change in elevation from a wide floodplain. Such a location appeared favorable for prehistoric occupations. The results of the testing indicated that Site 41TT108 was a multicomponent site with Archaic and Early Ceramic occupations. The Archaic components appeared to contain at least two temporally distinct occupations similar to those at the Yarbrough and Miller Sites (Johnson 1962). The Early Ceramic occupation was a mixture of Marksville, Early Caddoan (I and II), and Caddo III/IV material.