The Troyville-Coles Creek Period lasted from approximately A.D. 400 to
A.D. 1100. By the beginning of this period, influence from the
Ohio-Illinois Hopewell people had ceased, and pottery styles, mound
building, and ceremonial life had gradually changed.
The Troyville-Coles Creek people continued building ceremonial centers
with mounds, but these mounds differed from earlier ones. They were
larger, shaped differently, and more numerous. They also served a new
purpose. Instead of being primarily for burials, these mounds were
constructed to support temples or civic buildings. Pyramidal mounds with
flat tops, and sometimes with stepped ramps leading up one side, came
into style. They were constructed over hundreds of years, and usually
were enlarged one or more times. Although the total height might reach
only 20 feet, the base might eventually be enlarged to more than 200
feet on each side. At certain sites, three to nine mounds eventually
were built, all around an open, central plaza.
A temple and one or more other buildings were usually built on a mound
summit. These buildings were either circular or rectangular with walls
of wattle and daub. Wattle is a construction technique whereby branches,
twigs, cane, or vines are interlaced around upright posts that have been
sunk in the ground. These are then plastered with mud or clay daub. The
Troyville-Coles Creek people probably used grass thatch or palmetto
fronds for the roof.
[Illustration: Greenhouse Site]
The Greenhouse Site, in Avoyelles Parish, is the most extensively
excavated site that is typical of the Troyville-Coles Creek Period.
Seven earthen mounds there surround an open plaza that measures 200 feet
by 350 feet. No village or campsite remains were found in the plaza or
outside the mound area. This leads archaeologists to conclude that the
mound group was used for ceremonial activities only, and that villagers
lived elsewhere.
Some people were buried in the mounds, but in contrast to Marksville
burials, the bodies were not accompanied by a rich assortment of
objects. One or more bodies were buried in pits, or simply laid upon the
mound summit and covered with dirt. People were also buried in village
areas away from the mounds. Why some were buried in the mounds and some
were not, remains a mystery. It may be that people associated with mound
construction, with temple activities, or those of significant social
status were buried in the mounds. Alternatively, if many people died
from illness, famine, or disaster, that might have signaled a time for
special ceremonies and mound enlargement. Those victims might have been
buried in a mound.
Villages and campsites were often a mile or more from these ceremonial
centers. There, daily life was more focused on maintaining a stable food
supply than on ceremonial activities. During the Troyville-Coles Creek
Period, important changes in hunting techniques and garden crops helped
guarantee this food supply.
It was during this period that the bow and arrow came into use in
Louisiana. First invented in Europe thousands of years before, bows and
arrows were gradually adopted by people in Asia and eventually by people
in North America. The introduction of the bow and arrow meant hunters
could shoot further, more accurately, and with more firepower than
before. The arrow points were generally smaller than those used on
spears. These then, were the first true arrowheads made in Louisiana.
[Illustration: (¾ actual size)]
Troyville-Coles Creek people also continued using the atlatl, as well as
the traditional butchering and hideworking tools that had been made
since Meso-Indian times. There was no dramatic change in the types of
animals hunted during this time. The Indians killed game such as deer,
bear, small mammals, and game birds. They also ate fish and mollusks as
had their ancestors.
The Troyville-Coles Creek people continued collecting wild seeds,
fruits, roots, and other plant foods. They cultivated squash, gourds,
and native plants such as sunflowers and lamb’s quarters, but a most
important addition to these garden crops was corn, which had been
domesticated earlier in Mexico. The Indians no doubt experimented with
it for many generations, developing strains and cultivation techniques
best suited to Louisiana conditions. Certain plant foods were still
ground with mealing stones and probably stored in pottery vessels.
[Illustration: Tending corn]
In this period, pottery styles changed, producing more durable pots with
more diversified uses. The Troyville-Coles Creek Indians tempered their
clay with particles of dried clay before coiling it to shape the pot.
They specialized in rounded or barrel-shaped jars and in deep or shallow
bowls. The potters removed coil marks by patting the surface with a
smooth wooden paddle.
Sometimes they used a carved wooden paddle to stamp designs onto the
entire outer surface of the vessel. At other times they decorated only
the top half of the pot with designs formed by incising lines or
pressing tools into the damp clay. The colors of the clay were usually
tan, brown, gray or black. On rare occasions vessels were colored red on
the outside or shaped into human effigies.
[Illustration: Troyville-Coles Creek: a-e, Vessel Rim Sherds; f-h,
Stone Points (½ actual size)]
Late in the Troyville-Coles Creek Period, changes began to occur.
Indians in the northwestern part of the state developed close ties with
people living north and west of them, while those in the east became
more closely aligned with people to their east. Descendants of the
Troyville-Coles Creek people were Indians of the Caddo and of the
Plaquemine-Mississipian cultures.