Chapter I: Part 1

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

CLARENCE H. WEBB

_Reprint from_ Bulletin of the Texas Archeological Society, Vol. 34,
1963.

ABSTRACT

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

Nineteen pottery vessels, all but two identifiable as Alto Focus types, were found with fourteen burials. Included are _Hickory Fine Engraved_, _Davis Incised_, _Kiam Incised_, _Wilkinson Punctated_, and _Smithport Plain_ (virtually identical with _Bowles Creek Plain_) types.

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

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

INTRODUCTION

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

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

SITE ENVIRONMENT

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

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

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

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

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

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

Don Marcelo de Soto, acting justice of Bayupier, Jurisdiction of
Nacogdoches, together with Jose Lafitte, Silvestre Poissot, Pedro
Robleau and Miguel Rambin, all of aforesaid community, who have come
to this capital together, has the honor of appealing with all respect
to your lordship’s equity, conjointly with and in the name of all the
other residents of the specified Bayupier. [These] consist of thirty
Spanish families gathered together and long established in the
aforesaid place, with no large number of educated persons at their
service; besides, there is next to them the village of the Yatasi
Indians. They are all in need of the church and of an ecclesiastic to
minister the Holy Sacraments....

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

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

SITE EXPLORATION AND EXCAVATION

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

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

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

Burial Excavations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DESCRIPTION OF ARTIFACTS

Ceramics

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

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

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

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

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

A. Engraved Wares

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

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

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

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

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

METHOD OF MANUFACTURE: Coiled.
PASTE
_Temper_: Clay-grit or ground sherd; bone in 2 of 17 sherds.
_Texture_: Compact, generally fine, occasionally coarse.
_Color_: Shades of gray from light to almost black, often on same
sherd (fire clouds); buff, tan and reddish-brown. Nearly half
of the Smithport sample has reddish-brown exteriors and
interiors. Cores may be same color as exterior, sometimes
darker.
_Surface Finish_: Smoothed exteriors and interiors, a few with fair
polish, none highly polished.

FORM
_Wall Thickness_: 5 to 7 mm., uniform.
_Lip_: Rounded, usually unmodified; occasional thinning.
_Base_: Uncertain, probably mildly convex, circular.
_Vessel Shape and Size_: So far as presently known, open and
carinated bowls only. Rims are 3 to 7 cm. in height, about
equally divided between 3-5 and 5-7 cm. range, from an obtuse
angle at the junction of base and rim. The bases appear to be
shallow; the rims mildly excurvate, or direct and slanted
outward. A few appear to be vertical. Curvatures suggest
diameters of 20-30 cm.

DECORATION
_Treatment_: Engraving.
_Designs_: Effected with heavy engraving on exteriors of rims only.
Curving, wide bands outlined by parallel single engraved
lines, with transverse, widely spaced lines producing a ladder
effect. Usually two of such bands form arcs or meanders, with
undecorated bands of similar width between them (Fig. 5, I-K).
Occasionally one or more engraved lines flank the engraved
bands or bisect the intervening plain band. Some sherds (Fig.
5, M, N, P) have straight instead of curving bands, but
otherwise seem to fit into the type.

CULTURAL AFFILIATIONS

This type has occurred only in sites which have Alto Focus pottery; it
has not been found in Bossier Focus sites which lack established Alto
types. In the Bossier Focus, the related engraved type seems to be
_Maddox Engraved_, which in northwestern Louisiana has cross-hatched
engraved bands, generally not curving and most often vertical, as the
major element. In central Louisiana _Maddox Engraved_ type has been
extended to include curvilinear bands of cross-hatched engraving (Suhm
and Jelks, 1962: Pl. 50). The decoration on Plate 50, _F_ of this
handbook is very much like _Carmel Engraved_ and this vessel probably
should be included in this type instead of _Maddox_.

DISTRIBUTION

In addition to the Smithport Site, _Carmel Engraved_ has been found at
one mound and four village sites in northwestern Louisiana.

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

B. Incised Pottery Types

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

C. Punctated and Punctated-Incised Types

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

D. Stamped Types

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

E. Ridged Types

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

F. Brushed and Brushed-Incised types

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

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

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

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

G. Smithport Plain Type and Other Plain Sherds

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