pip. No^" 2^lT TEXARKANA RESERVOIR — ^JELKS 55 



vival has been well documented and may have been operative in this 

 particular case. 



THE SHERWIN SITE (41-20D5-15) 



Credit for discovery of the Sherwin Site is due Ernie Hill, one 

 of the local workmen on the Texarkana excavation crew. The Sul- 

 phur River was in flood during most of the time the excavations 

 were in progress, so when limited time and funds made it imperative 

 to move on from Snipes to some other site, it was necessary to pick 

 a site lying on high ground, many of the sites located by Stephenson 

 being inundated at that time. Mr. Hill had collected artifacts from 

 the Sherwin Site some years previously, and he recalled it as being 

 on a relatively high ridge near the river. He guided the writer to 

 the site, and after cursory inspection it was decided to move the field 

 crew there and make test excavations. Work on the Sherwin Site 

 was begun on June 9, 1952, and continued through June 25. 



The Sherwin Site is located approximately a mile west of Knight's 

 Bluff on a long, high ridge parallel to, and about one-half mile 

 south of, the Sulphur River. Surface indications, consisting of 

 artifacts, bone scraps, flint chips, and flecks of charcoal were scat- 

 tered over an area of some 4 or 5 acres. 



A grid with the same kind of numbering system employed at 

 Knight's Bluff and Snipes was established; that is, 5-foot squares 

 were used as excavation units, with square designations derived from 

 distance in feet of the coordinates from an arbitrary datum point 

 (see fig. 8). Two rows of test pits, crossing each other at right 

 angles, were dug across the area showing the greatest surface con- 

 centration of cultural refuse. Spaced at 25-foot intervals, the test 

 pits were along the north-south line and the east-west line S125. 

 Results of the tests indicated that the northwestern part of the tested 

 area was likely to be most productive; consequently the entire area 

 lying between lines WO and W175 and between lines NO and N125 

 was tested systematically by sinking 5-foot test pits at 25-foot inter- 

 vals. Areas around the most productive test pits were excavated as 

 indicated in figure 8, a. Designations for the 5-foot squares were 

 derived from the coordinates at their southwestern comers, and each 

 square was carried down by arbitrary 6-inch levels, the artifacts 

 from each such level being sacked and labeled separately. Elevation 

 of the southwestern comer of each square was taken as surface ele- 

 vation in measuring the 6-inch levels. 



After excavations were well under way, it was discovered that a 

 promising midden, masked by dense vegetation along an old fence 

 row, lay about 1,000 feet south and 175 feet east of datum (fig. 8, &). 

 A 5-foot trench, 105 feet long, was dug across this midden in a 



