pip. K'2^lT' TEXARKANA RESERVOIR — JELKS 41 



Village occupation. Barring some highly improbable set of circum- 

 stances by which a few vessels of that type might have survived for 

 a considerable period of time as isolated heirlooms or museum pieces, 

 there come to mind only two possibilities: (1) that the later phases 

 of the Alto Focus were contemporaneous with the earliest part of 

 the Texarkana Focus or (2) that Pennington outlived the Alto 

 Focus, continuing as a minor type in subsequent complexes. The 

 present writer, not having sufficient data at hand for accurate inter- 

 pretation of the problem, is unable to give any sort of indication as 

 to which of the two possibilities is more likely. 



Of particular interest, in view of long-standing differences of 

 opinion regarding temporal alinement of Caddoan and Lower Mis- 

 sissippi complexes, is the occurrence at Knight's Bluff, in some quan- 

 tity, of what appears to be a characteristically Lower Mississippi 

 ware, termed Baytown-like. Since the Snipes and Sherwin Sites, 

 described later in tliis report, yielded significant data concerning 

 this problem, further discussion will be postponed until the final 

 section. 



THE SNIPES SITE (41-20D4r-3) 



The Snipes Site lies on the long northern slope of a low hill, 

 approximately a mile south of the Sulphur River and 100 yards east 

 of State Highway 8 between Maud and Douglassville. It is well 

 known to local collectors who have picked up hundreds of artifacts 

 from the surface. During his preliminary survey of the Texarkana 

 area, Stephenson was guided to the Snipes Site by Bogie Price. 

 They found surface indications consisting of flint chips, mussel 

 shells, bone scraps, flecks of charcoal, potsherds, and other artifacts 

 scattered over an area of 6 or 7 acres. The hillside on which the 

 site is located is at the edge of the upland overlooking the Sulphur 

 River bottom to the north. 



The excavations at Snipes were begun May 27, 1952, and continued 

 through June 5. A grid type reference system similar to the one 

 employed at Knight's Bluff was established, and test squares were 

 sunk at 50-foot intervals. Trenches or rows of alternate 5-foot squares 

 were then excavated across the most promising areas, and, in some 

 cases, additional squares were opened adjacent to the most productive 

 test squares. Figure 5 indicates the squares that were excavated. 



The basal geological formation was a reddish, compact clay (stra- 

 tum 1) lying 8 to 15 inches below the surface and extending to 

 unknown depth. Overlying stratum 1 was the surface member of 

 gray sand (stratum 2) in which were found all of the cultural re- 

 mains. The cultural material was dispersed throughout the upper 

 portion of stratum 2, extending almost down to stratum 1 in the 

 central part of the site and lensing out gradually toward the edges. 



