2 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 179 



SUMMARY OF CADDOAN AREA ARCHEOLOGY* 



Before describing the three sites excavated at Texarkana Reservoir, 

 a brief summary of archeology in the Caddoan Area, including 

 definition of terms, history of previous research, discussion of recog- 

 nized complexes, chronology, and examination of the outstanding 

 problems, is deemed desirable. This summary is in no sense a com- 

 plete coverage, but is intended rather as an extremely simplified out- 

 line which, it is hoped, will help orient the reader in a segment of 

 North American archeology that is clouded by much uncertainty. 



In an area embracing northeastern Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, 

 northwestern Louisiana, and southwestern Arkansas occur arche- 

 ological manifestations generally attributed to the Caddoan Indians 

 of the early historic period and their forebears. Although the term 

 "Caddoan" originally referred to a cultural group, it has, in recent 

 years, been applied in a geographical sense to the territory in which 

 are found remains presumed to be of Caddoan Indians. As used 

 herein, the term "Caddoan Area" refers to the geographical area, and 

 Caddoan Area archeology is therefore concerned not only with those 

 remains that can be linked more or less certainly to Caddoan Indian 

 groups, but to all indigenous archeological manifestations of the 

 area. 



HISTORY OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH 



The first systematic investigation of Caddoan Area archeology 

 was made by Clarence B. Moore in the first decade of the 20th cen- 

 tury. Moore cruised the Red River in a steamboat, stopping at sites 

 previously located by advance agents and excavating extensively with 

 large crews of laborers. His published site reports (Moore, 1912) 

 contain excellent site descriptions and illustrations, but do not at- 

 tempt much in the way of interpretation. A few years later M. R. 

 Harrington conducted surveys and excavations in the same region 

 (Harrington, 1920). 



Most interpretative research has taken place in the last 25 years, 

 largely through the efforts of Clarence Webb, Monroe Dodd, Harry 

 J. Lemley, Dr. and Mrs. T. L. Hodges, S. D. Dickenson, and others. 

 The present classification of archeological complexes and much of 

 the basic interpretation are to be credited to Alex Krieger, Perry 

 Newell, and Kenneth Orr, and were founded largely on material ex- 

 cavated by the Works Progress Administration (under supervision 

 of the Universities of Texas and Oklahoma). Recent contributions 

 by Robert L. Stephenson (1952) and Donald J. Lehmer (1952), 

 definitive of the Wiley and Turkey Bluff Foci respectively, have 

 greatly clarified marginal complexes. 



•Author's note. This summary Is partly duplicated in Suhm et al., 1954, pp. 144-150, 

 151-161, 216-219. 



