This is a belated description of the Smithport Landing Site, one of
several known Alto Focus components in northwestern Louisiana. This
large village site, on the western margin of the Red River flood plain,
covers portions of several low hills which front on a former lake.
Nineteen pottery vessels, all but two identifiable as Alto Focus types,
were found with fourteen burials. Included are _Hickory Fine Engraved_,
_Davis Incised_, _Kiam Incised_, _Wilkinson Punctated_, and _Smithport
Plain_ (virtually identical with _Bowles Creek Plain_) types.
Surface materials comprise 1553 sherds, 61 dart and 55 arrow points, and
a modest number of chipped and polished stone tools or ornaments. The
stone tool assemblage seems to be basically late Archaic with the
addition of small arrow points.
Although the sherds as well as whole vessels are predominantly derived
from Alto Focus ceramics, a small percentage of Coles Creek, a somewhat
larger representation of Bossier Focus, and a few late Caddoan pottery
types are identified. Similarities and differences between the ceramics
of this site, the Davis (Alto) Site in eastern Texas, and the central
Louisiana sequence of pottery, are pointed out. Possible relationships
between Coles Creek, Alto, Bossier, and Plaquemine ceramics are
developed. It is postulated that Caddoan (Alto) and Coles Creek peoples
or influences entered northwestern Louisiana almost simultaneously, and
that Bossier Focus developed out of the amalgamation of these two
previous cultures. A few very late Caddoan sherds indicate a late
occupation at Smithport Landing, possibly during historic times.