36 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 179 



Table 1. — All artifacts from the Knight's Bluff Site — Continued 



Polished stone aetifacts: Number 



Celts, oval in cross section 1 



Celts, rectangular in cross section 2 



Hematite axes, full-grooved 3 



Boatstones (?) 1 



Miscellaneous stone specimens: 



Pitted stones 7 



Hammerstones 1 



Quartz crystals 1 



Hematite pigment 9 



Bone and antles aetifacts : 



Bone awls . 2 



Tubular bone beads 1 



Deer ulna flakers 2 



Worked antler, indeterminate 1 



Shell abtifacts : 



Perforated mussel shells 17 



Pendant, plain, mussel shell 1 



Total 6,564 



DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 



The principal occupation at the Knight's Bluff Site was evidently 

 by a small village of people over a period of several decades. Light 

 prior occupation by nonceramic peoples is indicated, and there is the 

 possibility that campers stopped over at the site from time to time 

 after abandonment of the village. 



Although evidence is scanty, the earlier occupation can be rather 

 certainly related to that somewhat vague archeological manifestation 

 termed the Southeastern Archaic, the East Texas equivalent of which 

 has been briefly described under the name East Texas Aspect (Suhm 

 et al., 1954, pp. 148-151). This preagricultural, preceramic culture is 

 thought to have had an economy of hunting and gathering that re- 

 sulted in seasonal nomadism. Consequently, the early Knight's Bluff 

 occupation is not likely to have been a continuous residence by one 

 group of people, but can be attributed, rather, to small groups of 

 nomads who camped at the site intermittently, perhaps over a span 

 of some centuries. 



The Knight's Bluff Village (this term will henceforth be used in 

 reference to the principal occupation of the site), on the other hand, 

 was sedentary in character. This view is supported by the discovery 

 of one permanent type house (and there are undoubtedly others not 

 encountered during the excavations) and the relatively large quantity 

 of ceramics. No direct evidence of agriculture was found, but, be- 

 cause the village seems to have been permanent in nature and because 

 remains of agricultural products have been discovered in closely 

 related sites, it can be safely assumed that agriculture was practiced. 



