Chapter II: Part 2

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.”

Mound D

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.

HARROUN SITE:
41 UR 10
MOUND D AREA
CYPRESS CREEK]

STRUCTURE OF MOUND D

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 upward from 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.

OCCUPATIONAL FEATURES

House No. 4 was the only occupational feature discovered at Mound D.

_House No. 4_

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.

DISCUSSION

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.

HARROUN SITE
41 UR 10
PLAN OF HOUSE NO. 4
MOUND D
post mold
unexcavated
burned area
pothole]

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.

Description of the Artifacts

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.

CERAMICS

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.

_Brushed Pottery_

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 (Suhm _et al._, 1954: 252 and Pl. 9) and Pease Brushed-Incised of the Bossier Focus (Webb, 1948: 110-113 and Pls. 11 & 12; Suhm _et 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 other Bullard 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 plain or 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 (Suhm _et al._, 1954: 324 and Pl. 46) described later.

_Incised Pottery_

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 interesting feature 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.

_Appliquéd Pottery_

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.

_Punctated Pottery_

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.

_Engraved Pottery_

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 well smoothed, 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 Suhm _et 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 (Suhm _et 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 (Suhm _et 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; Suhm _et 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.

_Plain Pottery_

A total of 260 plain potsherds was recovered from the four mounds and the trenches in the floodplain. Paste of the plain pottery contains varying amounts of sand, and all or most of the sherds are tempered with ground potsherds. Bone tempering is present in 31 plain sherds. Wall thickness varies from 3 mm. for the thinnest body sherds to 13 mm. for some basal sherds.

The surfaces are smoothed and some are highly polished. Sixteen plain sherds are red filmed, seven of them on the exterior surface only and the others on both the inner and outer surfaces. Paste colors are mostly browns and grays, with shades ranging from very light to quite dark.

Carinated bowls, bottles, and probably other vessel shapes are represented. Many of the plain sherds undoubtedly came from vessels which were partially decorated; others probably are from entirely plain vessels. Of the 14 rimsherds, seven are large enough to show that the rims of some vessels were not decorated. No definite types were recognized.

_Miscellaneous Ceramic Objects_

A perforated pottery disc (Fig. 14, Q) made from a sherd was found at Mound C. It is 32 mm. in diameter, 8 mm. thick, and has a biconically drilled hole 10 mm. in diameter in the center. The outer edge has been partially ground smooth and the two flat sides are fairly well polished. The sherd from which this artifact was made is buff in color, clay tempered, and the paste is fine textured and compact.

A small, conical, ceramic object (Fig. 14, R) was unearthed at Mound B. It appears to be the tip of an appendage that has broken off an effigy vessel or a pipe bowl. It is oval in cross section, and the distal end contracts to a blunt point. The buff-colored paste is fine grained and compact; the surface is poorly smoothed. This object measures 18 mm. long and its maximum diameter at the proximal end is 8 mm.

STONE ARTIFACTS

The 46 lithic artifacts include dart points, arrow points, bifacial blades, worked nodules, pitted stones, and other objects. All the chipped stone implements are made of local quartzites and cherts which occur as very small nodules in the older stream terraces near the Harroun Site. The sandstone and hematite employed for the other stone artifacts were most likely collected from local sources also.

_Dart Points_

Of the 19 dart points recovered, 15 have contracting stems, 3 have expanding stems, and one has a rectangular stem. Eight of the contracting stem series (Fig. 15, A-D) fall within the shape range of the Gary type (Newell and Krieger, 1949: 164-166 and Fig. 57; Suhm _et al._, 1954: 430 and Pl. 94), but are smaller (3 to 4 cm. long) than most Gary points reported from other sites. The Gary type has been used as an inclusive group embracing most of the contracting stem dart points of the eastern United States. Several investigators (Ford and Webb, 1956: 52-54 and Fig. 17; Baerreis _et al._, 1958: 65-69 and Pls. 14-18; Bell, 1958: 28 and Fig. 14) have recognized variants within the broad Gary group, but only a bare beginning toward the definition of the different varieties of Gary has been made.

Three of the Gary points from the Harroun Site (Fig. 15, B-D) are quite similar to a small variety of Gary which seems to be restricted to northeastern Texas. The shoulders are slight and project laterally; the stem and blade are of approximately equal length. Similar points from the Hogge Bridge Site, Wylie Focus, have been illustrated by Stephenson (1952, Fig. 95, A). Many specimens of this variety were also recovered from the Yarbrough Site on the upper Sabine River by The University of Texas in 1940, and others have been reported from sites in the Iron Bridge Reservoir area on the upper Sabine (Johnson, 1957: 7 and Pl. 3, H-L).

Two of the contracting stem points from the Harroun Site (Fig. 15, F) have been assigned to the Wells type (Newell and Krieger, 1949: 167 and Fig. 58; Suhm _et al._, 1954: 488 and Pl. 123). They feature long, narrow stems which are rounded off at the base and the stem edges are ground smooth. One specimen is virtually complete except for a small portion of the tip. This point has narrow shoulders and a blade with slightly convex edges. The second Wells point is represented only by the stem, but it was probably attached to a blade similar to that of the more complete specimen.

Four of the contracting stem dart points (Fig. 15, J-M) are not assignable with certainty to any recognized type. All are relatively small for dart points. One (Fig. 15, J) is slender and shoulderless; the stem area is somewhat reminiscent of the Wells type. The other three are vaguely suggestive of the Gary type, but are too aberrant to be identified affirmatively with that or any other type.

The other contracting stem point (Fig. 15, N) has a concave base, basal thinning, and ground stem edges. At first glance it reminds one of the Plainview type (Krieger, 1947; Suhm _et al._, 1954: 472 and Pl. 116). However, a drastic expansion just above the base is characteristic of the San Patrice type (Webb, 1946: 13-15 and Pl. 1) and we are confident that this specimen is a San Patrice point.

One of the expanding stem dart points (Fig. 15, H) has a triangular blade, slight shoulders, and a fairly large stem with smoothed edges. This point is similar to the Trinity type (Suhm _et al._, 1954: 484-486 and Pl. 82) but is also somewhat reminiscent of type Yarbrough (_Ibid._: 492 and Pl. 125).

Another point (Fig. 15, E) of the expanding stem series has been assigned to the Ellis type (Newell and Krieger, 1949: 166-167 and Fig. 58; Suhm _et al._, 1954: 420-422 and Pl. 89).

The third expanding stem dart point (Fig. 15, I) is the crudest of the series. The stem is relatively small and the basal portion is missing. It falls in the general range of the Palmillas type (Suhm _et al._, 1954: 462 and Pl. 110).

The dart point with a rectangular stem (Fig. 15, G) is easily the largest projectile point found at the site. The triangular blade has mildly convex edges, and the moderate sized shoulders are slightly barbed. We are reluctant to identify this specimen with any specific type, but in general style it is suggestive of the Bulverde type (Suhm _et al._, 1954: 404 and Pl. 81). Extreme varieties of the Yarbrough and Morrill types also approach the form of this specimen.

_Arrow Points_

Only six arrow points were found, including the one associated with Burial No. 1. The burial point (Fig. 15, O) is of the Perdiz type (Suhm _et al._, 1954: 504 and Pl. 131). It has a relatively short pointed stem and sharp barbs.

Of the remaining five arrow points, three (Fig. 15, P-R) have contracting stems and are of the Perdiz type; the other two (Fig. 15, S-T) have expanding stems and could not be identified with any known type. The three Perdiz points are almost identical in form and are remarkably uniform in size, all falling between 18 and 19 mm. long by 11 to 12 mm. wide at the shoulder. One of the expanding stem arrow points (Fig. 15, S) is in the same size range as these three Perdiz points, the other is somewhat larger. All of the arrow points except the one from the burial have serrated blade edges.

_Bifacial Blades_

The two bifacial blades could have been used as small knives, scrapers, or even projectile points. One (Fig. 16, E), represented by the basal portion, is a triangular blade with a straight base. It is 3.6 cm. wide at the base and is estimated to have been approximately 7 cm. long when complete. It is fairly thin and of reasonably good workmanship. The second bifacial blade (Fig. 16, F) is smaller than the other, measuring 4.2 cm. long by 2.8 cm. wide at the base. It is crudely pointed at the distal end and has a convex base. The blade edges are sinuous and show little evidence of wear.

_Worked Nodules_

Six small nodules of chert have been worked and show signs of wear along the worked edges (Fig. 16, A-D). All were fashioned from small elongated nodules by chipping a sharp edge at one end of the nodule, leaving the basal end smooth and unworked. They are from 4 to 6.5 cm. long. Two of them (Fig. 16, A-B) are chipped only across one end of the nodule; the others are chipped across one end and down both sides, only the basal end of the nodule being unaltered. Similar artifacts are quite common in sites over most or all of East Texas, but their purpose is unknown.

_Drills_

An elongated, pointed implement (Fig. 16, G) with the basal portion missing appears to be the shank of a drill. It has been chipped from gray chert. This fragment is 4.3 cm. long and is from 5 to 13 mm. wide. It is triangular in cross section and the distal end is slightly worn along the edges as though from use.

_Fragmentary Chipped Stone Artifacts_

Four fragments of chipped stone implements are too incomplete for accurate description. Some or all of them are probably blade fragments from projectile points or bifacial blades.

_Milling Stones_

One incomplete milling stone is made of light gray quartzite (Fig. 16, J). It has been pecked around the edges into a broad oval shape and it is smooth from use on both faces. It is 9.8 cm. long, 8.2 cm. wide, and 3.6 cm. thick.

Three small stone fragments smoothed on one face are probably pieces of milling stones, but all are too fragmentary for their original shapes to be determined.

_Grooved Stones_

An irregular shaped piece of hematite (Fig. 16, I) has several narrow, intersecting grooves running across one face. The grooves are set at apparently random angles. On the opposite face of this fragment is part of a deep, gouged out pit where the red pigment was evidently scraped away for use as paint.

A piece of fine grained sandstone (Fig. 16, H) has a broad U-shaped groove across one face. The groove is 20 mm. wide and 6 mm. deep.

Several small pieces of hematite bearing faint scratches were probably used as sources of pigment.

_Pitted Stones_

There are four pieces of sandstone and hematite with more or less flat sides that have small, circular pits pecked into them (Fig. 16, K). Three have one pit each, the other has two pits on opposite sides of the stone. The pits are all between 2.5 and 3.0 cm. wide and they vary from 4 to 8 mm. deep.

_Miscellaneous Ground Stone Artifacts_

Three small pieces of stone are smoothed on one face. One is a cobble measuring 17.7 cm. long, 5.8 cm. wide, and 3.3 cm. thick. The others are too fragmentary for reconstruction, but seem to be pieces of small grinding slabs.

PROVENIENCE OF THE ARTIFACTS

The provenience of the artifacts at the Harroun Site is summarized in Table 1. It is clear that the artifacts associated with each house, with the fill of each mound, and with the upper part of the floodplain deposits are quite similar, in the main, throughout the site. Or put another way, each major type or category of artifacts is more or less evenly distributed over the site. This supports the conclusion that the burial, the four houses, the four mounds, and most of the artifacts in the upper part of the floodplain are associated with a single occupation of the site by one cultural group. Architectural and structural data from the mounds point toward the same conclusion.

The only apparent variation from the general provenience pattern is the occurrence of all 17 of the Bullard Brushed sherds at Mound C. However, only two vessels are represented by the Bullard sherds, and because of the small sample it is probably of no particular significance that they all were found at one mound.

Some of the projectile point types may have derived exclusively from a light pre-mound occupation of Archaic affiliation. But the Gary and Perdiz types are unquestionably associated with the mounds and the houses. The Coles Creek Incised (?) and Beldeau Incised (?) sherds may pre-date the mounds.

Table 1
_Provenience of the Artifacts_

Column Headings
Mound A
A1—Sub-Mound (Zone IIb)
A2—Intermediate Zone
A3—Mound Fill
A4—Bur. 1 Assoc.
A5—Grave Fill, Bur. 1
A6—Feature 1
A7—Disturbed Areas Etc.
Mound B
B1—Sub-Mound
B2—Mound Fill
B3—House No. 3
B4—Disturbed Areas Etc.
Mound C
C1—Sub-Mound
C2—Mound Fill
C3—House No. 1
C4—House No. 2
C5—Disturbed Areas Etc.
Mound D
D1—Sub-Mound
D2—Mound Fill
D3—House No. 4
D4—Disturbed Areas Etc.
Floodplain Trenches
F1—Zone IIa
F2—Intermediate Zone
F3—Zone IIb
T—Totals

A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 B1 B2 B3 B4 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 D1 D2 D3 D4 F1 F2 F3 T

Ripley Engraved Vessels 2 2
Potsherds:
Miscellaneous Brushed 11 10 24 4 1 4 5 4 2 8 — 3 14 10 12 2 1 3 118
Miscellaneous Incised 4 2 5 2 1 4 — 1 1 — 1 1 22
Miscellaneous Appliquéd — — 1 1 1 1 1 — 5
Miscellaneous Punctated 2 — 3 — — — 1 1 — 1 — — — — 8
Miscellaneous Engraved 9 4 16 5 1 2 2 4 3 5 5 12 8 6 3 5 — — 2 92
Plain 27 31 64 6 1 10 3 16 6 32 19 14 2 8 4 3 3 6 5 260
Bullard Brushed — — — 1 1 1 14 — — 17
Pease Brushed—Incised 2 3 5 — 2 2 1 1 1 17
Crockett Curv.—Incised 1 — 1
Coles Cr. or Chase Incised — — 1 1
Maydelle Incised (?) 1 1 1 3
Ripley Engraved 2 1 2 — — — 1 1 1 — — — — — 8
Taylor Engraved — — 1 — 1 1 — — — — 3
Gibson Aspect, Engraved — — 2 2 — — — — — — — — 4
Beldeau Incised (?) — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1 — 1
Perforated Ceramic Disc — — — — — — — — — — — — 1 — — — — — — — 1
Conical Ceramic Object — 1 — — — 1
Dart Points:
Gary 2 — — 1 — 1 1 1 1 1 — 8
Wells — 1 — — 1 2
San Patrice — — 1 — — 1
Trinity (?) 1 — — — — 1
Ellis — — 1 — — 1
Palmillas (?) — — — — — — — — 1 — — — 1
Unident. Contract. stem 1 — 1 1 1 4
Rectangular Stem — 1 — — — 1
Arrow Points:
Perdiz 1 — 1 — — 1 1 4
Unident. expanding stem 1 — 1 — — 2
Bifacial Blades — — — — — 1 — — 1 — — 2
Worked Nodules — — 1 1 2 — 1 1 6
Chipped Stone Drills — — 1 1
Fragmentary chipped
St. Arts. 1 — — 1 — — — — 1 3
Milling Stones — — — — — — 1 1
Pitted Stones — — 1 — — — — — 2 3
Grooved Stones — — — — — — — — 1 — 1 — 2
Ground Stone Fragments — — — — — — — — — — 1 1 — — — — — — — — — 1 3
TOTALS 62 50 119 3 17 4 16 14 34 21 55 3 36 47 27 42 11 13 2 3 1 10 20 610

Summary and Discussion

Excavations at the Harroun Site in Upshur County, Texas, revealed abundant evidence of a Fulton Aspect occupation related to four small mounds on the floodplain of Cypress Creek. An earlier pre-mound occupation was indicated by the presence of a few scattered artifacts and stone chips buried as deeply as four feet below the surface of the floodplain. Remains of the pre-mound occupation are very sparse, however, and it is not possible to make an accurate statement of its character. The predominance of stone chips and crude stone artifacts suggests Archaic affiliation, but Fulton Aspect sherds also occurred well down in the floodplain and no pure Archaic zones were found.

The internal structure of each of the four mounds was determined in some detail. Beneath Mound A, the smallest one, was an extended burial of an adolescent male. Offerings associated with the burial were a Perdiz arrow point, a small carinated bowl, and a bottle with an expanding neck. Both vessels are of the Ripley Engraved type. The grave had been dug from the bottom of a broad, shallow pit excavated in the surface of the floodplain; the mound had then been erected over the grave.

A prepared clay hearth in the middle of the mound fill indicated that Mound A had been built in two stages. However, the uneroded condition of the hearth and the absence of a discernible break between the upper and lower portions of the mound disallow the possibility of an appreciable lapse of time between the two construction stages. Since the mound fill contained a quantity of cultural refuse, it must have been taken from a nearby area of fairly heavy occupation. The floodplain near Mound A was tested by means of trenches and small pits, but the assumed occupation area was not discovered.

Mounds B, C, and D each contained evidence of at least one circular house structure which had been burned and then mounded over with sand. Because of the consistent pattern of burning, paucity of domestic artifacts, and burial of the house ruins beneath mounds, it is believed that the structures were ceremonial in function and that the burning was intentional. The few artifacts associated with the house structures indicate that they all were built by a single group of people related to the Titus Focus of the Fulton Aspect.

The house at Mound B was 17 feet in diameter. It had an extended entranceway on the southeast side, a centrally located hearth prepared of clay, and several interior roof supports. This house had been built directly on the surface of the floodplain.

There were two houses at Mound C, the smaller one (14 feet in diameter) superimposed over the larger one (18 feet in diameter). Each apparently had a centrally located hearth and one, or possibly both, had an extended entranceway on the west side. Two interior roof support molds were related to the earlier house, but none were found for the later one.

Beneath Mound D was a single house with traces of an interior hearth situated near the center and an extended entranceway on the west side. Instead of being built directly on the surface of the floodplain as were the houses at Mounds B and C, the house at Mound D had been built in a shallow excavated pit.

Underneath each of the interior hearths associated with the houses at Mounds B and C was a relatively large post mold. It is uncertain whether there was a similar post mold at Mound D because the large pothole there had removed the central portion of the house floor, including the hearth. These molds at Mounds B and C apparently mark the locations of center posts which were used as work platforms during construction of the houses and then removed after the houses were completed. Ridges of sand around the perimeters of all the houses seem to have been banked against the exterior walls while the houses were standing. The floodplain between and around the mounds was tested by pitting and trenching, but no occupational features or concentrations of cultural material were found away from the mounds.

Circular houses of the same general architecture as those at the Harroun Site are typical of the Caddoan Area, especially during the Fulton Aspect period (Webb, 1940; Harrington, 1920; Newell and Krieger, 1949; Goldschmidt, 1935; Davis, 1958). Harrington (1920) reported several circular houses with extended entranceways found beneath sand mounds one to three feet high in southwestern Arkansas. Some of these houses had been built on the surface of the ground, some had been built in shallow pits, and others had been placed on low mounds. Most of them had been burned, and all were associated with typically Caddoan artifacts and with burned clay daub. Harrington thought the houses were earth lodges which had burned and collapsed, the earth from the walls and roofs falling over the house floors so as to form mounds. Webb (1940) reported architecturally similar houses at the Belcher Site in northwestern Louisiana, but presented a strong argument that they were wattle-and-daub houses and not earth lodges.

It appears certain that the Harroun houses were also wattle-and-daub structures without any covering of earth. This conclusion is based on the following points:

1. The bodies of the mounds were composed of soft sand entirely unsuited for covering the sides and roofs of houses. It is doubtful if sand of this consistency would stick to a vertical or steeply sloping wall at all; but even if it did, it would surely be washed away with the first heavy rain.

2. The central portions of the Harroun mounds stood from two to three feet above the floors of the houses. If all this sand had fallen in from the tops of earth lodges, then the lodges must originally have had sand piled at least two or three feet thick on the middle of their roofs. This does not seem probable.

3. Fragments of burned, wattle-impressed, clay daub at all the Harroun houses indicate that the houses were plastered with clay, presumably on the outside. Burned clay daub apparently does not occur archeologically in association with true earth lodges in the plains.

4. Remains of true earth lodges in the Plains area show superficially as depressions, often with a low ring-shaped mound around the perimeter (Wedel, 1936: 24; Lehmer, 1954). Sometimes the depressions result in part from the shallow pits in which the lodges were built. But even when an earth lodge was built directly on a flat surface rather than in a pit, the mound left behind when the lodge collapsed has a concavity in the center instead of being convex as were the mounds at the Harroun Site. It is significant that Mound D was prominent and convex in shape even though the house it covered had been built in a pit. Certainly it is difficult to visualize an earth lodge—whether built in a pit or not—collapsing in such a manner as to produce a smoothly convex mound like those at the Harroun Site.

In view of the foregoing factors, it is concluded that Mounds B, C, and D at the Harroun Site were purposely erected over the ruins of the burned houses.

It appears certain that the four houses at the Harroun Site were typical Caddoan houses. Perhaps they were of the traditional “beehive” shape, or possibly they had wattle-and-daub walls and thatched roofs like those photographed by Soule about 1870 and pictured in Webb (1940: Pl. 8, 1).

Historical descriptions and sketches of Caddoan houses indicate that they did not usually have extended, covered entranceways as do a majority of the prehistoric houses that have been excavated in the Caddoan Area. This suggests that the extended entranceway was used at a relatively early period but was abandoned prior to the 17th century. However, Caddoan houses of the early historic period will have to be excavated before a definite statement can be made in this regard.

Ceramics at the Harroun Site consisted mainly of brushed, incised, engraved, and appliquéd styles, including types Ripley Engraved, Taylor Engraved, Bullard Brushed, Pease Brushed-Incised, and Maydelle Incised. One sherd of Crockett Curvilinear Incised was also found, and two other sherds are similar to the types Coles Creek Incised (or Chase Incised) and Beldeau Incised. Ripley, Taylor, Bullard, and Maydelle are all indigenous types of the Titus Focus (Suhm _et al._, 1954: 192), Ripley in particular being considered diagnostic of the focus. Beldeau Incised and Coles Creek Incised are Lower Mississippi types and they are surely intrusive in the site. Both were buried between 2.5 and 4.0 feet deep in the floodplain (but at different locations) and they may pre-date the mounds. The sherd of Crockett Curvilinear Incised came from a disturbed area at Mound B, but four sherds from a Gibson Aspect engraved bottle are anomalies that are apparently associated with the mound period at Harroun.

The most common type in the small sample of arrow points is Perdiz, generally considered to equate in time (in East Texas) with the Fulton Aspect, but usually thought of as a trait of the Frankston Focus—not the Titus Focus. Dart point types Cary, Ellis, and Wells—all found at the Harroun Site—are widely distributed in East Texas, and any or all of these types could be affiliates of the Titus Focus or related complexes, although such associations have not been previously demonstrated. The few miscellaneous stone artifacts are relatively non-distinctive in form.

The Titus Focus has been defined on the basis of data derived almost entirely from burials (Suhm _et al._, 1954: 191). As pointed out by Davis (1958: 67) there is a possibility that mortuary offerings of pottery, arrow points, and other objects may represent selected items and do not necessarily provide a complete catalog of traits actually used by the Titus Focus people. Trait lists compiled from burial data include the arrow point type Talco and the pottery types Ripley Engraved and Harleton Appliquéd as focus diagnostics. Other types listed as Titus Focus traits are shared with other foci.

Davis (1958: 67-68) has noted that Talco points are reported by local collectors to occur only in burials. If this is so, the absence of Talco points in the occupation zones at Harroun does not necessarily negate Titus Focus affiliation for the site. The Perdiz arrow point associated with the burial, however, does seem out of character for Titus Focus as it has been defined.