There are available for study of pottery from this site 19 whole vessels
from the burials, of which 10 are decorated and nine plain; 1533 sherds
from surface collections and the several test pits, of which 875 are
decorated and 658 plain. Among the sherds there is a group of 37 which
have paste and decoration characteristics of late wares, historic or
protohistoric, which will be described in a separate section.
Consequently there are 19 whole vessels and 1496 sherds which relate to
the earlier occupation. Most of these are assignable to existing types
which have been described elsewhere and type descriptions will not be
repeated, although local or regional variations will be indicated.
Reference should be made to the Davis Site report (Newell and Krieger,
1949) and T. A. S. handbooks (Suhm, _et al._, 1954; Suhm and Jelks,
1962) for descriptions of Alto types; to the Bossier Focus report (Webb,
1948) and the handbooks for the Bossier types; and to the Crooks (Ford
and Willey, 1940), Greenhouse (Ford, 1951), and Medora (Quimby, 1951)
Site reports for Coles Creek and Plaquemine types. One new type of the
Alto period, _Carmel Engraved_, will be described herein.
Certain characteristics of paste, temper, surface and core colors, and
sherd thickness extend throughout the earlier wares from this site. The
paste is generally uniform and compact, rarely lumpy or porous. The
range of hardness is 2 to 3 (Moh’s Scale), the sherds are broken with
difficulty and seldom can be scored with a fingernail; the majority of
the sherds give a metallic ring when dropped on a hard surface (except
for the dark chocolate to black wares). Tempering is clay-grit in most
instances, sometimes with finely ground sherds, and a few with enough
grit to feel slightly sandy (none is fully sand tempered). Bone temper
occurs in 31 of the 1496 sherds (2%) and shell is totally missing.
Surface colors are predominantly light, showing oxidizing firing
conditions, and fire clouds are frequent (Fig. 4, A-C), indicating
incomplete control of firing. The majority of sherds have light
interiors and cores, but some of the interiors are darker gray or
smudged and some of the cores are dark brown to black, even though the
surfaces are light. Surface colors are varying shades of gray, some buff
or tan, a few orange or reddish-brown; in every type there will be
varying percentages of dark brown (often chocolate or reddish-brown) to
black, although these are never as numerous as in the Alto wares of the
Davis Site, even in the engraved types. The sherds with chocolate brown
to black exteriors usually have uniform darkness through the core and on
interior surfaces; the paste is usually softer and the sherds seldom
give a metallic ring when dropped. Their surfaces tend to be smoothed
but rarely polished.
[Illustration: Fig. 4. Pottery From Burials. A, B, _Smithport Plain_
bottles, V-104, 95. C, _Hickory Fine Engraved_, V-96. D-G, _Kiam
Incised_ jars, V-106, 133, 94, 134 (note plain body on D, vertical
incising on E, fingernail punctating of F, G). H, _Davis Incised_,
V-130. I, Untyped, V-105 (plain body, scalloped rim with free
punctations on lower surface). J, _Smithport Plain_ bowl from Allen
Site. K-N, _Smithport Plain_ bowls, V-99, 667, 668, 100. O-P,
_Smithport Plain_ miniatures, V-97, 152. Q, _Wilkinson Punctated_
(pinched miniature), V-669. R, _Smithport Plain_ carinated bowl,
V-101.]
Sherd thickness varies from 4 to 10 mm., averaging 6 to 7 mm. in most
types. Variations will be noted.
In general, this early ware is thicker and lighter in color than the
later Caddoan wares of the Belcher and late Bossier periods. It is about
the same thickness as the Alto wares of the Davis Site and the Coles
Creek-Early Plaquemine of central Louisiana, but differs from Davis Alto
in having less of the reddish and chocolate to black polished pottery
and more buff to light gray. It shares bone tempering with Texas (Davis)
Alto. In other respects of hardness and coloration, it more nearly
approaches Coles Creek ceramics, although seldom having the orange tints
and never the greenish tints of Coles Creek. It tends to be thicker,
harder, and lighter in color than Plaquemine pottery, although some of
the shapes and designs are similar to Plaquemine types.