CADDO BURIAL SITE NATCHITOCHES,

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS

VOLUME

94.NUMBER14

A CADDO BURIAL SITE AT NATCHITOCHES, LOUISIANA

(With Six Plates)

BY

WINSLOW

M.

WALKER

FormerlyAssociate Anthropologist,Bureauof American Ethnology

(Publication 3345)

CITY OF

WASHINGTON

PUBLISHED BY

THE

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

DECEMBER

17, 1935

BALTIMORE,MD.,U.8.A.

A CADDO BURIAL SITE AT NATCHITOCHES, LOUISIANA

By WINSLOW

^M.

WALKER

Formerly Associate Anthropologist, Bureau of American Ethnology (With SixPlates)

INTRODUCTION

One

of the most important phases of current

work

in southern archeology consists of the locationandexcavation ofsitesthatcanbe definitelyprovedto have beeninhabitedby

known

historic tribes. It is always possible that stratigraphic evidence of earUer occupations

may

be detectedin definiterelationshipwith such

known

sites. Until

more

is discovered concerning the nature of archeological remains that

may

be attributed to the Caddo, Natches, Tunica, Arkansas, Chickasaw, Choctaw,

and

the severalCreektribes,

we

shallbe unable to

draw

conclusions astotheparttheirvarious ancestors playedinthe building of the

mounds

inthe

Lower

MississippiValley

known

tobe ofpre-Columbianorigin.

New

evidence recentlybroughtto light

may now

perform this service for the

Caddo

of northwestern Louisiana.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The

writer wishestoexpresshisappreciationtothe

many

^persons

who

renderedassistancewhilethisinvestigation

was

being carriedon at the Natchitoches site.

W.

^{A. Casler,} superintendent at the Fish Hatchery, generously granted permissionto investigate the scene of the discovery even while the

work

of preparing the ground for a

new

hatchery

was

stillinprogress.

To

Prof.George Williamson and

Edward

Payne,of Natchitoches,thanksaredueforthe readiness with whichthey placed their collections atthe writer's disposal for study, and acknowledgmentis here

made

for the sketchesand photographs furnished by them. IMrs.

Cammie

G.

Henry

kindly permitted the writer to examine her valuable library of Louisiana historical

ma-

terialatherhome, MelrosePlantation.

During

thesurveyofarcheo- logical sites inthat section of thestate,headquarters

was

establishedat Briarwood,near Chestnut, the

home

ofMissCaroline

Dormon

andher sister, Mrs. Miller, andthese

women

renderedvaluable assistancein

many

ways. Miss

Dormon

contributed generously of her time, and Smithsonian MiscellaneousCollections, Vol. 94, No. 14

2

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. 94

herknowledge of the country and her contacts with local collectors wereespecially helpful.

THE FISH-HATCHERY ^SITE

During

the

summer

^of 1931, while the United States

Bureau

of Fisheries

was

engagedinpreparingthe land for a

new

fishhatchery at a place on

Cane

River

Lake

abouta mile south of the

town

of Natchitoches, an ancient Indian burial

ground was

accidentally dis- covered. This bodyof water,formerlyabendof

Red

River,

was

cut

'\\

NO. 14 CADDO BURIAL SITE

WALKER

₃ Accordingtotheaccounts of theoldest inhabitantsinterviewed,no

mounds

ever existed at thisparticular site, butabout the year 1916

human

boneswere found protruding

from

thebankat this point,

and two

skeletonswere dugoutbyProf.George Williamson,ofthe Louisi- anaState

Normal

SchoolatNatchitoches (fig. i.a).

With

the burials were

some

potteryvesselsandartifacts,which weresenttotheLouisi- ana State

Museum

in the Cabildo at

New

Orleans.

One

skeleton lying at full length on the ])ack

was

remarkable for its extremely flattened head.

The

pottery

was

found lying near the head. Robert Glenk, curator of the Louisiana

Museum,

has kindly furnished the photograph ofthisburial

shown

inplate I,figure 2.

When

the laborers working atthe fish-hatchery site

dug

a trench leadingsouth

from

theroadat the top of the bank, they discovered another burial ata depth ofabout 6^ feet inthe light-redsandy silt deposited by

many

overflows.

As

these bones were unfortunately crushed

and

thrownout of thetrench beforeany thought

was

given to their importance,^itisimpossibleto stateanything abouttheorigi- nal appearance of the burial.

West

of this trench, 450 to 500 feet south of the riverbank, a greater

number

of burialswere found^

—

•

fully 100,accordingtothe account givenby

W.

A.Casler,the superin- tendent in charge of the work.

He

says they were all shallow in- terments,none deeperthan 3 feet belowthe original

ground

surface, andall lying extended ontheirbacks.

Near

theheadsof

many

were pottery vessels in the form of bowls and pots, both decorated

and

plain,

and

in

some

cases glass and shell beads and metal objects as well.

Mr.

Casler noticed that

many

of the skeletons had curiously flattened skulls. Alost surprising ofall

was

the finding of

two

horse skeletons, each with a large earthen bowl placed near the head.

The

bowls wereof plainware aboutafootanda half indiameter

and

half an inchthick.

Very

fewstone orflintartifactswere found withany of theburials.

Through

the cooperation of the superintendent andhis assistants, it

was

possible tovisitthe scene of thediscovery before all thepre- liminary

work

of scraping and plowing

was

completed,

and

thus to uncover oneburialvirtuallyuntouched. Thisskeleton (fig. i,b)

was

found 100feetsouth of theriverbank,justbeyondtheroadand175 feetwestof the central trenchmentionedabove. Covered byredsandy

silt itlay2 feetbelowthesurfaceon whitesandinwhichafewfrag- ments of charcoalwerepresent.

The

skeleton

was

that ofa

woman,

lying onthe back,head northeast, and

arms

and handsatthe sides.

The

only objects associated with theburialwere two vesselsof plain

4 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. 94

ware, heavily tempered with shell andpoorly fired

—

a small potin- sideof a conical bowl. These had beenplacedattheright sideofthe head.

The

head^itself

was

aremarkable exampleof extreme fronto- occipital deformation.

Measurements

takenonthe skeleton as ^itlay gave a length of 5 feet7^inches,and^it

was

thenphotographedin situ beforeanyof thebones were

removed

(pi. i, fig. i).

Subsequently the skull and

some

of the long bones were sent for study to Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, of the U. S. National

Museum. The

report on them, kindly furnished by Dr. T. Dale Stewart, is as follows

:

U. S. N. M. NO. 362447. FEMALE OF ADVANCED AGE. NATCHITOCHES,LA.

Skull.

—

^{Complete. Excessive} fronto-occipitalflattening. Generalized oblitera- tion of the sutures. Whole face broadened to conform with thedeformation (pis. 2 and _3). Upper left first premolar lost post mortem; upper second premolars andfirst andsecond molars lostantemortem; remainingteethshow extremewear; alveolar resorptionis advanced.

Skeleton.

—

^{Only right humerus, left tibia, first} 5 cervical vertebrae, and hyoid. Apparentlythe suturewas medium.

Nothingcan besaid ofthe physical typeof no.362447 because^oftheextreme degreeofflattening. Sucha typeofdeformitywasprobablyproduced by^pres- sureboardsand wasnotuncommon amongtheIndians oftheGulfStates.

Inthe

Luxembourg

Memoire,written evidently before 1718, a de- scriptionof thisprocess ofartificialhead flatteningisgiven

:

Theyhave ^{** *}theheadpointedandalmostof theshape of amiter. They are notborn so; it is a charm which is given themin earlyyears.

What

a motherdoes tothe headof herinfant inordertoforceitstenderbonestoas- sumethis shapeis almostbeyondbelief. Shelaystheinfantona cradlewhich

is nothingmorethan theendofaboardonwhichisspread apieceof the skin of an animal; one extremityof thisboardhas a holewheretheheadisplaced andit is lowerthan the rest. The infantbeing laiddown entirelynaked she pushesbackitsheadinto this holeandapplies toit ontheforehead and under theheadamassofclaywhich she binds withallher strengthbetweentwolittle boards. The infant cries, turns completely black, and the strain which it is

madetosuffer issuchthat awhite, slimy fluid is seentocomeoutofits nose andearsatthetimewhenthemotherpressesonitsforehead. Itsleepsthusevery nightuntilitsskullhastakenontheshapewhich customwishesitto receive.^

This particular description

was

probably based on observations

among

the Natchez, but it undoubtedly applies to all the southern tribes

who

practiced head deformation.

*Swanton, J.R., IndiantribesoftheLowerMississippi Valleyandadjacent coast of the GulfofMexico. Bur. Amer.Ethnol. _{Bull. 43,} p. 54, 1911.

NO. 14 CADDO BURIAL SITE-

— WALKER HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Inallprobabilitythis burialgroundoccupies thesiteorverynearly the siteof the ancient Natchitoches village visited first by Henri de Tontiin 1690. This

was

thesouthern village of atribe of the

same name

mentioned possibly under the

form Nacacahos

in the Elvas narrative of

De

Soto's expedition/and found fartherup

Red

River westof the great bend.

On

February 17, 1690,Tonti arrived after a 5 days' trip, principally overland

from

the Taensavillages on

Lake

St.Joseph.

He

says: "

They made

us stayat theplace, whichisin the midst of the three villages called Nachitoches, Ouasita, and Capiche.

The

chiefs of the three nations assembled, andbefore they begantospeak, the30 Taencas

who

werewith

me

got up,andleaving their

arms

wentto the temple,to

show how

sincerelytheywishedto

make

asolidpeace ^* * * _I

made them some

presentsinthe

name

of the Taencas."^*

Further on he speaks of the^"Cadadoquis ^{* *} * united with

two

other villages called Natchitoches and Nasoui, situated on the

Red

River. All the nations of thistribe speak the

same

language."

The

Natchitochesvillage here referredto is this time theupper one, but

itserves to

show

theclose relationship existingbetween thisandthe othertribes alliedwith the Caddo.

The

next mention of Natchitoches is by Bienville, who, with St.

Denis,inApril 1700 ascended

Red

RiverValley as far as the Yatasi village.

He

did not actually visit Natchitoches but stopped at the village of the Souchitionysabouta leaguedistant.

The

Natchitoches,

who

were settled in cabins along

Red

River,

came

withtheir chief to theFrench

camp

to "sing the calumet",andBienvillegave

him

a peace pipeanda smallpresent."

A few

years later, according to Penicaut, this tribe

came

to St.

Denis, then

commandant

of thefirstFrench fortonthe Mississippi, and askedto be allowed tosettle elsewhere, as theircornhad been ruined by frequent overflows of

Red

River.

They

were permitted to locate near the Acolapissa, at that time living on the north side of

Lake

Pontchartrain, and remained with

them

until about 1712.

St. Denis hadreceived an order

from Lamothe

de Cadillacto

make

atripover into

Mexico

toopen

up

traderelationswiththe Spaniards, and the Natchitoches conceived the desire of returning to theirold

^French,B. F., HistoricalcollectionsofLouisiana, vol. 2,p. lyy, 1850.

*French, B. F.,Ibid.,vol.i, pt. i,p.72, 1846.

°Margry, P., Decouvertes et etablissements des Frangais dans I'Amerique septentrionale, pt.4, p.437, Paris, 1880.

6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS \"0L. 94

landson

Red

River. But they reckoned without theassent of their hosts, the Acolapissa. These Indians were loath to see

them

go, especially asthe Natchitocheswishedtotake with

them

their

women-

folk,

many

of

whom had

intermarried with the Acolapissa,

and

a massacretook placeinwhich a great

many

ofthe Natchitocheswere killedor captured.

The

^survivors, however, escapedintothewoods, andlater joined St. Denis' party^.°

Red

Riveratthattime

formed many

large

swampy

lakes,nolonger in existence,'and St. Denis and his party, after traversing

some

of theselakes,

came

tohighland,whichhecalls "theBlufifoftheCross."

This

must

have been in the neighborhood of the present

town

of Colfax, since a league higher

up

the river they

came

to a branch

coming

in

from

the left, which corresponds to the location of the lower endof

Cane

River.

At

thispoint theywere

met

bya party of the Natchitoches,

who

hadtraveled overland and with

whom was

a friendlytribe calledby Penicaut the Doustiany. This tribe had for- merly livednear the Natchitoches, but instead of

moving

with

them

to the Acolapissa, had remained in the

same

region, wandering

up

and

down

^first one side of the river, then the other, living on the products of the chase,fruit,and^potatoes.'

St.Denisdescribes the oldvillageoftheNatchitoches as beingon an island,

formed

bythe separationoftheriver intotwobranches,which reunited farther downstream.

He

assembled the chiefs of the

two

tribesanddistributed grain to

them

inorder that theymightreplant their devastatedfields.

He

alsogave

them

axesandmattocks, which theyusedtocut thetimbertobuild

two

houses for theFrenchinthe midst ofthe Indian village. This

was

the beginningof Natchitoches Postin1714,^towhichin 1717 afortandgarrisonwereadded,under

command

of

M.

de Tissenet, and thus the foundations were laid for theoldestpermanentsettlementinLouisiana, the present

town

of Natchitoches."

*Margry,P., Ibid., pt. 5,pp. 459, 496, 1883.

'Margry,P., Ibid., p.498, 1883.

*Swantonconsiders Penicaut's narrativesas givenbyMargryand Frenchto be inaccurate inregard tothechronological orderofevents,being2 years too early in the description of St. Denis' trip which resulted in thefounding of Natchitoches. Thedatesheregiven are thoseof thehistorianLa Harpe (fitab- lissementdes Fran^ais a Louisiane,pp. 116,129, 131,editedbyA. L. Boimare

;

New

OrleansandParis,1831). Accordingto thisaccount St.DenisleftMobile with a party of 30Canadians on August 23, 1714, for thetrip totheSpanish settlements. After stopping longenough to rehabilitatetheIndiansin theirold locationontheisland oftheNatchitoches, as hasbeen recounted,he pushed on into Texas, visited the Hasinai tribes, was carried to Mexico City toappear

NO. 14 CADDO BURIAL SITE

WALKER

₇

The

post

was

visited by

Benard

de

La Harpe

on his trip

up Red

Riverin 1719; he foundthere the Yatasi alsoHving withthe Natchi- toches and Oulchionis (Doustiony).

The

Yatasi had been induced bySt.Denis onhisreturn

from Mexico

to settlewiththe Natchitoches about 1716, and yet the three tribes together only

numbered

about 150 persons.

They

wereall, however, very friendlyto St. Denis, a circumstance

much

inhisfavorinthe courseof subsequentevents.

The

next event of major importance in the history of this site

occurred in 1731,

when

a band of Natchez under the Flour Chief, driven

from

their stronghold onthe headwaters of Black River by Perier,

came

to attack St. Denis in his fort. That officer

was

still

abletoget

word

out for reinforcements, but before they could arrive

from New

Orleans, he sallied out with his Indian allies

and

a few Spaniards

from

theneighboringpresidio of

Los Adaes

and foughta battlewith the Natchez, which resultedinthedefeatandalmosttotal annihilation of thelatter ata lake afewmilestothe south. Charlevoix gives theaccountofthis fight,as toldbySieurFontaineto

De

Loubois, the leader of the party senttosuccorSt.Denis,inthefollowingwords

:

** * thatthe Natchez hadbeen defeated; thattheNatchitoches hadatthe outset wishedtoattack them, but being only40 against200,theyhadbeencom- pelledto retire, and even abandon their village after losing 4 of their men;

thatthe Natchez hadseizedthe village, andintrenchedthemselves there; that thenDeSt.Denys,havingreceiveda reenforcementofAssinaisandAttacapas, whowere joinedby some Spaniards, had attacked the enemy's intrenchments and killed 82,including^all their chiefs;that allthesurvivors hadtakenflight,

andthat the Natchitocheswere inclose pursuit.''

Their pursuers caught

up

withtheNatchezatthe lakeabout3miles westofCloutierville,andthesanguinaryconflictthattook place there

issaidby Dr.

Dunn

tohave beenthe originof the

name

Sang-pour-

Sang

(Blood-for-Blood), by which^it islocally

known. A

hillin this vicinityis calledbythe

same

name, corruptedinwritingto "

Sampu-

sanc Hill^",

and

this

may

be the source of Sibley's information that before the viceroy in June 1715, returned to the Spanish settlements north of the Rio Grande, where he acquired a wife in 1716, pushed onto the Hasinai village inJune ^{of that year,} andon August 25, 1716, foundhimself back at Alobile. ThefollowingJanuary^theGovernor,Cadillac, sent a sergeantandsix

men ^totake possessionoftheisland ofNatchitochesandestablisha fortthere inorderto keepout the Spaniards, whohad already set upa presidioat Los Adaes,some9 leagues to^thewest, near the modern townof Robeline,La.,and weresuspectedofhavingcastgreedy eyes ontheRedRiversite. Theprompt move of the French forestalled the Spaniardsin this attempt.

'Swanton, Op.cit.,p.^.'250.

8

^•

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. 94

the Natchez erected a

mound

by the side of the lake/"

The

hill is,

however, entirely a natural formation, an eastern outcrop of the region of western Louisiana

known

as the ^"Kisatchie

Wold."

But the

memory

ofthiseventstill survivesinthe

name

of Natchez

Lake

andthe

town

ofNatchez,justsouth of Natchitoches.

During

theperiod of Spanish occupation

from

1763 to 1803, the village of the Natchitochescontinuedto increasein importance as a frontier trading post for the

Caddo

and Hasinaitribes tothe north- west. Dr. John Sibley,

making

thefirst trip of exploration forthe United States

up Red

Riverin 1805, reports finding theremnantof the Natchitoches still at its ancient village near the

modern town named

for them."

Soon

afterthis, however, incteased pressure by

American

settlers induced the Indians to

move

over into Texas, wherethey joinedtheir kindredof the

Caddo

confederacy and thus ceasedto existasa distinct tribe.

POTTERY

The

pottery

from

the

Cane

River

Lake

burialsshows a range of forms including simple conical bowls, cuplikebowls with flaring col- lars,small jugs, andsubglobularbottleswith short necks.

The

bowl of aclay pipe

was

found with an opening in one side for a stem probablyofhollowcane. Unfortunately, veryfewof thesespecimens were savedintact, sothatitisimpossibleto statethe

number

that

may

originally have beenpresent,or the ratio ofbowls,pots, andbottles.

The

wareisveryhomogeneous,consisting of a grayishpaste,which has a reddishtint on firing and is heavily shell-tempered.

No

sand orgrithasbeenfoundinthetemperingofanyof thepottery. Crude, poorly surfaced, undecoratedvessels as well asthoseshowinga high degree of polishingand incised or engraved design are present, the

two

types often occurringinthe

same

burial.

A

pebbleseemstohave been used for thepurpose ofsmoothingthe surface, asslightridges andscratchescan bedetected, indicating theuse of

some

such agent.

This smoothingor burnishinghasbeencarriedtovarious degrees of perfectionondifferent vessels;an exampleof the high,shining polish achieved on ])oth the interior and exterior of a bowl is

shown

in plate_{5, a.}

"*Sibley, John,Report ofexplorationof RedRiver, included with accountof

Lewis andClarke'sexpedition. Indian Affairs, American State Papers, vol. i, p. 724, 1832.

"_Sibley,Op.cit.

NO. 14 CADDO

BURIAL

SITE

WALKER ₉ One method

of producing the shiny-black appearance

was

to dip the vessel in bear oil after firing. Bushnell observed this process

among

the

Choctaw

anddescribesitthus:

When

thoroughlyburned it [thepottery] turns ratherdarkin color,where- uponit isremoved fromthefireandimmediatelyimmersedinabowlofgrease, whichisabsorbedbythe clayandcarbonizedbytheintense heat. Thisprocess causes the potterytoturn blackandalsoadds a certainluster tothe surface."

The

Chickasaw had a slightly different

method

of achieving the

same

result.

They

placed the pottery over a large fire of

smoky

pitchpine,which impartedasmooth,black,firm surfacetothevessels.

They

werethen rubbed to produce the desired luster.

The smoke from

burning corn-meal bran

was

employed by the Cherokee for a similar purpose."

a h

Fig.2.

—

Undecoratedshell-temperedvessels.

In theundecorated ware the shell particles are large

and

give a noticeablyspeckledappearanceto the vessels (pi. 4, h, d). Further- more, thelightand darkareas,whichgivesucha pleasing effect,are probablynotintentional,but areduetounevenessoffiring. Thisware

is often poorly fired, with the result that

when

first exposed to the air, itbecomes very crumbly.

Edward

Payne, of Natchitoches, has in his collection

two

suchvessels,abottleanda smalljugorpitcher, the identification of the latterbeing uncertain because a portion of therim is missing atthe point where a spout

would

occur ifithad

formed

a part of the vessel (fig. 2). It is 6 inches in height, the

"Bushnell, D.I., Jr.,The ChoctawofBayou Lacomb, St.

Tammany

Parish, Louisiana. Bur.Amer.Ethnol.Bull. 48, pp. 12-13, IQOQ-

"_Williams,S.C,Adair's history of theAmericanIndians,p.456, 1930.

lO

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. 94

bottle 10inches. Neithervesselbearsany kindof decoration, except for the shell speckling in the tempering.

They

were found on a plantation5 miles eastof Natchitoches,

when

the plow turned

them up from

a

few

inchesbelowthe surface.

Mr.

Williamsonalsohasin his collectiona

few

similar pots

from

the

same

vicinity.

Decoration on the Natchitoches pottery consists of incised and engraveddesigns.

The

simplesttechniqueseemstohave beenthatof merely scratching or incising parallel straight and curved lines in various combinationsof the scroll. In

some

instancesthis

was

done after the vessel had dried but had not been fired; in others, after firinghadtakenplace,and inthefinestpottery ofall, aftereventhe polishing had been completed. Thesescratches werethen goneover with

more

care, and elaborate designs, through the use of double

Fig.3.

—

^Smallbowlpolishedand engravedwithscroll-likedesigns.

andreversedscrolls,spots,andreticulatedspacesbetween them,were produced.

The

finaltouch

was

givenby rubbingbright redpigment over the engraved designs, particularly those occurring on a band aboutthe neck, asinthesmallbowlillustrated in plate 4, a.

Four

elements are

commonly worked

intothepattern of the design, as forexample fourspiral

arms

radiating

from

a diskonthebottom of

many

of the bowls.

On

the highly polished bowl shown, these spiralelementsextendover thebody uptotheneck,whereadifferent motif of a zigzaglineandlarge spotsisfound.

But

intheless finely finishedbottle,

shown

on the

same

plate,the area of decoration ex- tends

from

the neck

downward

onlyto slightly belowthe shoulder.

A

bowl having five radiating spiral

arms

in its design is

shown

in figure3.

Here

therim ornamentationislimitedtoa

narrow

bandof saw-toothed elements. Thisbowlis

owned

by

Mr.

Casler

and came

from

a shallowgravewherethere

was

a flat-headedskeleton.

NO. 14 CADDO BURIAL SITE

WALKER

II Merely as a record of negative characteristics, the fact

may

be mentionedthatnopottery

was

foundwithanyof the following types of ornamentation:

Cord

markings; punctate, stamped, or rouletted patterns;orpainted designs otherthanthecolor-filled linesnoted.

The

only otherceramic objectreported

from

thissite

was

the pipe bowl

shown

in plate 4, ^c. It measures if inches ⁱⁿ height and is

made

of the

same

kind of shell-tempered clay except that theparticles of shell are

more

minute thanin the pots. In the illustration

some

scratchingsappearonthesideof thebowlthatmightbemistaken for a design, but theyappear oncloserinspectiontobe onlyaccidental.

As

has been mentionedtheware

from

Natchitochesis very

homo-

geneous, and no suggestion of stratification has been found at the

Cane

Riversitethatwouldindicateanearlieroccupationbypeople of a different culture, but the presence of

European

objects in the

same

graves leads to the conclusion that the potteryis seemingly of late origin

and

probablyrepresents the climaxinceramicartreached by the potters ofthat particulartribe.

ASSOCIATED OBJECTS

A few

stoneaxesandflintpointswere found bythe

workmen,

but nothingdefinitecould be learnedabout them. Undoubtedly, however, they differed butlittle

from

thoseinthecollectionsof

Mr.

Williamson and

Mr.

Payne,as the specimens thereexhibited

came

mostly from theimmediate vicinity of Natchitoches.

The

axes aregrooved near the butt

and show

various gradations of

ground

and polished sur- faces.

The

celtsare ofboth thelong, pestleliketypeandtheflat,broad type. Notched

and stemmed

forms predominate

among

the chipped

flintarrow

and

spearpoints.

They

are

made

of severalkinds of col- oredflint,including novaculite

from

southwestern Arkansas, although

much

of theflintcouldhave

come from

thesmall bouldersandpebbles carried

down

bythe river. In shapetheseartifactsrange

from

tiny, serrated, sharp points to large, broad, leaf-shaped blades or spear- points with short stems.

Some

rather unusual types also occur, such as notched and

stemmed

points with a second pairof notches ontheblade,anda

few

small delicateforms withonly asinglebarb, or with distinctly recurved barbs.

Some

of these have a slight re- semblance tocertainfish scales,particularlyto those of the gar-pike.

A number

ofwritershave spokenof theLouisianaIndians usingfish scales for arrowpoints," and it is just possible thatthey

may

have

" Swanton, Op.cit.,p.58.

T2

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. 94

tried toimitatethesescales inflint.

What

the specificuse

may

have been of such points remains a matter of conjecture.

Some

^{of these} unusual formsareillustratedin plate6.

Beads were plentiful in the graves.

Some

of

them

were

made

of shell, evidently

from

the columella of a marine gastropod, cut in a roundor cylindrical shape. Others were ^{of glass} or porcelain con- sisting of akind of white paste,apparentlyin imitation of the shell beads. Blueglass beads werealso found, theselastbeing,of course,

European

inoriginand probablygiven or tradedtothe Indiansbythe French. ^•

Metalobjectsfoundincludedapairof scissors,a few hawkbellsof brass,

some

bracelets ofthe

same

material,andadouble-pointed iron spike6^incheslong.

The

presence of thesearticlessuggestsa reason for not finding

more

cutting and piercing instruments of flintand bone

—

^{their place had probably already been taken by the}

^more

efficient metal products of the whiteman.

DISTRIBUTION OF POTTERY TYPES

The

most interesting thing about the Natchitoches pottery is its striking resemblance to the beautiful vessels found by

Moore

at GlendoraPlantationand

Keno

Placeon OuachitaRiver. Comparison of the elaborately decoratedbowl

shown

in plate 5with

some

of those illustrated by

Moore from

the Glendora ^site brings outthis unmis- takablesimilarity.

The

designonthebodyofthisbowlisalmostdupli- cated in several of theGlendora specimens, but the motif employed ontheneckof the vesselshows slight variations.

A

bowlinthe pos- session of

Mr.

Caslerisverynearly identicalwiththeone

shown

by Moore.'' Likewise, thebottles

from

Natchitoches are similarinshape tothose

from

theOuachitaregion,andthesametype of incisedscroll design occurs.

Professor Beyer, ofTulane University,found ina

mound

on

Red

River near the

town

of Campti an earthenware bottleof this

same

Glendora type.

He

states that the

mound formed

part of an old levee,which had beenpartlyeaten

away

by theriver until fullytwo- thirdsof the original

mound

had beenengulfed. It

was

estimatedto havehada diameter of 50feet

and was

6feethighatthetime Beyer investigatedit. Beforehisvisitthesite had been

dug

intobya party of

young men who

hadseen

some

bonesandpotsherds protrudingfrom thesideof thebank. Beyer's description of the structure of the

mound

^^Moore, C. B., Antiquities of theOuachita Valley. Journ.Acad. Nat. Sci.

Philadelphia, vol. 14,no. i, fig.47, 1909.

NO. 14 CADDO BURIAL SITE

WALKER

13 States thatthebottom consists of a layer ofhard dark

brown

clay4 feet thick. Resting onthisstratum and

embedded

in redsandy clay were several skeletons, near the heads of which were

some

pottery vessels.

Most

of these burials had been disturbed by the previous diggers,and inconsequence

much

of the associated potteryhad been destroyed.

Only

one additional burial

was

found by Beyer,

from

which came, presumably,thebottlefiguredby

him

inhisreport."

The

layerof red clay enclosing the bodies

was

18 inchesthick,

and

above

it

was

anash bed,in which

some

of the

wood

had been reducedonly tocharcoal.

Over

this

was

another 10 inches of red clay overlain

by

still another ash bed. There

was

very little charcoal in this upper

bed.

The

topmost layer

was

again red sandyclay, which coveredthe entire

mound,

clearlyoutlinedbya blackline

formed

bythedecaying vegetation whichhad been growing onthe surface

when

ithad been enclosedinthelevee.

The

finding of avessel of this typein a

mound

isinterestingbe- cause neither the specimens

from

Natchitoches nor those

from

the Ouachita were foundin mounds, yet

Campti

isonly a

few

miles

up Red

River

from

thefirst-mentionedsite. It

would

appear,

from

the descriptiongiven of the

mound

at Campti,thatnoneofthe burialsin itwereintrusive, butpositiveevidenceonthispointislackingbecause of the previous disturbance of its contents and because of the fact thatfullytwo-thirds ofithad caved intotheriver.

Another instance of the

same

kind of pottery

from Red

River Valleyis furnishedbyJones,

who

figurestwobottlesof theGlendora type

from

a reported burial

ground

near Shreveport.

One

of

them

is a bottle with the characteristic short, bulging neck

and

squat, sub- globular bodydecoratedwithscrolldesigns;theother looks

from

the illustrationasif thebulgeon theneckhad beenpresent buthadbeen brokenoff, probablyatthetime ofitsdiscovery.^'

Moore

has found itagain farther

up Red

Riveratthe Battle Place in Arkansas.

Here many

of the bowls

and

bottles found bear the typical engravedscroll andspot design, andthe bottleslikewisehave the characteristic Glendora shape, which

Moore

says represents a conventionalizedcupplacedontheneckofabottle."

The

northernmost distribution of thistype of pottery seemstobe along theArkansas River inthevicinity ofPine Bluff,Ark.

Moore

"Beyer,G.E.,ThemoundsofLouisiana,II. LouisianaHist. Soc.Publ., vol.

2,no.I,pi. 10,1897.

"Jones, C. C,Antiquities ofthesouthern Indians,pi. 28, figs.3,4,1873.

" Moore, C. B., Someaboriginal sitesonRedRiver. Journ.Acad.Nat. Sci.

Philadelphia,vol.14,no.4,p.569,1912.

14

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. 94

found, at sites nearGreer and Douglas,Ark., vessels that

show

the

same

unmistakable design elements and technique as the Ouachita specimens.

The

Douglasvessels

came from

a

mound,

but]Moore

makes

it quite plain that the

mound was

originally built for domiciliary purposes and later used as a cemetery

—

^hence the presence of sup- posedly

Caddo

burials, which were probablyintrusiveatalater date.

Most

of the pottery

from

these

two

sites

was

of the brightly painted kind found

more commonly

in the lower Arkansas Valley

and

the eastern part of the state. Thistype

may

have beenthe

work

of the historicArkansas

(Quapaw)

tribes,asis suggestedbythe finding of

European

objectsinburialswherethepaintedwareisalsopresent.'"

The

pottery found by Harrington in the southwestern corner of Arkansas andbelievedby

him

tobe

Caddo

inoriginshowsonlyslight resemblance tothatfoundatthe Natchitochessite.

The

technique of decorationinthe use ofengraved figures onthe ^"

Red

River

ware

^"

is the same, but there are difi^erences of detail in the shape of the vesselsandincertainelements of design, thescroll,forinstance,being less frequently employed.

But

there is a

much

greater range of variationintheArkansasvesselsinbothshapeand ornamentation

and

a greater elaboration of design,whichis just

what

mightbe expected if

we

are here dealingwiththe

Grand Caddo

tribe,the leader of the confederation of which the Natchitoches and Ouachita were

more

outlyingmembers.'"

When

the sites farther to the west on

Red

River have been ex- amined,asis beingdone byProf. _J.E. Pearce, of the University of Texas, andalso those

somewhat more

tothe south of the river,

we may

expectto find further similarities tothe general

Caddo

ceramic pattern, inasmuch as the Hasinai were

known

to have been closely afifiliated with the

Caddo

in historic times. Likewise,

when more

materialisavailable

from known

^sitesof the other

Caddo

tribes,such asthe Adai, Yatasi,andPetitCaddo,

we may

be abletodiscover other subtypes ofthiswarehereidentifiedasCaddoan.

CONCLUSIONS

The

mostsignificantresultof the Natchitoches discoveryseemsto be that

we

havehere asite

known from

documentarysourcestohave been occupied by the Natchitoches tribe as early as the end of the

" Moore, C. B., Certain mounds ofArkansas and Mississippi. Journ.Acad.

Nat.Sci.Philadelphia,vol.13,no._{4, p.}543, 1908.

^Harrington, M. R., Certain Caddo sites in Arkansas. Indian Notes and Monogr., Mus. Amer. Indian, Heye Foundation,illus., 1920.

NO. 14 CADDO

BURIAL

SITE

WALKER

1 5

seventeenth century, wherepottery of a high degree of excellencein manufactureisfound associatedwith objects of unmistakable Euro- peanorigin. This wouldindicatefor the burials a periodprobablyin theearly half of the eighteenth century, at the epoch

when

French influence

was

atits heightin Louisiana.

By

the time ofthe Spanish occupation after 1763, itis unlikely that the Indians

who

had been longin contactwith

European

traderswould stillhavepursuedtheir ancient potter's art with the same skill and craftsmanshipthat pro- ducedthebeautifulspecimensofpotteryfoundatthe

Cane

Riversite.

Furthermore,noneof the vessels

from

thisor the sitesat Glendora and

Keno

Place

was

foundinmounds,andincaseswherethistype of pottery has been reported

from

mounds, ithas been proved almost without exception that such burials were intrusive in nature.

Ap-

parently,therefore, thetribes thathad reachedthisheight ofceramic perfection were no longer builders of mounds, if indeed they had everbeen such.

The

close similarity in typebetweenthe

Red

River

and

Ouachita specimens isexplained historically by Tonti's account of finding the ^"Ouasita^"and^"Nachitoches^"togetheratthelatter's village,andalsoby LaFon's

map

of theTerritory ofOrleansin1806, onwhichthe old trading path fromNatchitochestothevillagesonthe Ouachitaisplainlyshown.

These significantchronological data ofifera clue thatshould assist considerably in the interpretation of

many

of the archeological re- mainsinnorthwesternLouisiana,southernArkansas,andnortheastern Texas.

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL.94, NO.14, PL.1

Burial discoveredin ig.^i

2. Burial discoveredin1916.

Two

Burials at

the Cane

RiverSite

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS ^{VOL. 94, NO.14, PL.2}

Artificially

Deformed Skull

of

Skeleton shown

in Plate1

Figure 1.

Front and

SideViews

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS ^{VOL. 94,NO. 14, PL.3}

Top and Bottom

Views of

Deformed Skull Shown

in Plate2

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 94, NO.14, PL.

Ci

Undecorated and Crudeuy

IncisedWare, Heavily

Shell-Tempered

a,Bowlwithred-filled linesoncollar;h.small undecorated pot foundinsidebowl

r, pottery pipebowl; d,undecorated bowl.

SMITHSONIANMISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL.94, NO.14, PL.5

POLISHED

AND ENGRAVED

VESSELSOF

OUACHITA TYPE

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS ^{VOL. 94, NO.14, PL.6}