SIXTY-FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT 13 



Texas, — ^The Eiver Basin Surveys in Texas continued to operate 

 throughout the year from the base and headquarters supplied by the 

 Department of Anthropology at the University of Texas, Austin. 

 Excavations were completed at one project, the survey of another res- 

 ervoir basin was brought to conclusion, and two others were started 

 and finished. 



At the beginning of the year Joe Ben Wheat, archeologist, was en- 

 gaged in excavations at the Addicks Eeservoir. This work was termi- 

 nated on July 15. Mr. Wheat then proceeded to Austin where he 

 studied the material he had collected and prepared a preliminary 

 report covering both the results of his survey of the Addicks Basin 

 and his excavations in two of the sites located there. He also 

 wrote a paper "Archeological Survey of the Addicks Basin : A Pre- 

 liminary Report" which was published in volume 18 of the Bulletin 

 of the Texas Archeological and Paleontological Society. He resigned 

 from the Surveys on August 15 in order to return to the university 

 and complete his graduate work. 



The excavations at the Addicks Eeservoir proved interesting because 

 they revealed a sequence of cultural stages extending from the era 

 before pottery making and agriculture were introduced through suc- 

 ceeding centuries until the beginning of contact with European cul- 

 ture. The period covered is from about A. D. 900 to 1700. Wlio the 

 people were is not known, but certain postulations may be made. At 

 the time of the first French and Spanish explorations of the region 

 the Akokisa band of the Atakapan occupied the area. Although little 

 is known of the specific culture of this group, it is generally considered 

 to have shared the general Atakapan culture extending into the lower 

 Mississippi Valley. The archeological culture is of the same south- 

 eastern pattern, which may point to the Akokisa as being the pre- 

 Columbian inhabitants of the Addicks district. 



At the beginning of the fiscal year Eobert L. Stephenson, arche- 

 ologist, was making a reconnaissance of the Whitney Eeservoir basin 

 on the Brazos Eiver north of Waco. This work continued until Oc- 

 tober 1, although August 2-4 he returned to Austin for the purpose of 

 depositing material collected and of conferring with members of the 

 Department of Anthropology at the University of Texas; August 

 30 to September 1 he visited the Spanish Fort and other sites in the 

 central Eed Eiver area ; and September 13-14 he went to a number of 

 archeological locations near Waco, but outside the reservoir basin, for 

 the purpose of gathering comparative data. On August 23 he made a 

 1%-hour flight over the entire Whitney area, successfully locating 

 archeological sites from the air and obtaining a comprehensive under- 

 standing of the district as a whole. He returned to Austin on October 

 1 and spent most of the following 2 months studying the material col- 

 lected and writing the preliminary report. He also prepared an ar- 



