66 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 179 



Knight's Bluff, McKiimey Plain, is a very minor type at Sherwin, 

 being represented by only four sherds. Except for the paucity of 

 McKinney Plain, the Sherwin ceramics are remarkably similar, 

 typologically and quantitatively, to those of Knight's Bluff; conse- 

 quently, assignment of the Sherwin Site to the Texarkana Focus is 

 indicated. Again, this necessitates modification of the Texarkana 

 ceramic complex to fit the Sherwin situation, that is, McKinney 

 Plain must be dropped as a major resident type. 



The nonceramic artifacts are similar in general to those of 

 Knight's Bluff, although the samples are smaller. Bogie Price, who 

 has been collecting artifacts in the Texarkana area for many years 

 and who is an unusually keen observer, has noticed that full-grooved 

 hematite axes occur principally at those sites with considerable evi- 

 dence of preceramic Archaic occupation. The absence of axes at 

 Sherwin, where there was no preceramic material, tends to substan- 

 tiate Price's observation, and suggests that the full-grooved axes at 

 the Knight's Bluff Site may have derived from the Archaic occupa- 

 tion there. The evidence, however, is not sufficient for conclusive 

 affirmation of Price's hypothesis. 



In summary, the Sherwin Site bears a close resemblance to the 

 Knight's Bluff Site in most respects and can be said to be primarily 

 a component of the Texarkana Focus, with certain aberrations from 

 what is generally considered the norm for that focus. Like the 

 Kjiight's Bluff Village, the Sherwin Site has a major resident pot- 

 tery type, Baytown-like, not previously recognized as a trait of the 

 Texarkana Focus. In addition, three pottery types usually thought 

 of as staunch Texarkana affiliates are notably scarce ; they are Avery 

 Engraved, Foster Trailed-Incised, and McKinney Plain. 



On the basis of the evidence it is difficult to determine the exact 

 chronological position of the Sherwin Site in relation to the Khight's 

 Bluff Village. However, there are indications that Sherwin may be 

 of slightly later date. These indications are partly negative in 

 character and consist of the following factors: (1) Pottery types of 

 Gibson Aspect provenience (Pennington Punctated-Incised, Crockett 

 Curvilinear Incised, and Haley Engraved) were found at Knight's 

 Bluff but were absent or extremely rare at Sherwin; (2) Simms 

 Engraved is more common at Sherwin than at Knight's Bluff, per- 

 haps reflecting a florescence of that type toward the end of the 

 Texarkana Focus as hypothecated on data from other sites; (3) the 

 scarcity of McKinney Plain at Sherwin (and the absence of Nash 

 Neck Banded in Feature 1) may be an indication that abandonment 

 of prominent Texarkana Focus types — presaging a ceramic develop- 

 mental trend toward the Glendora complex — may have begun. Al- 

 though patently tenuous, the argument for alinement of the Sherwin 

 Site with the latter stages of the Texarkana Focus can be tentatively 



