Archaeological Investigations at the Henry M. Site (41NA60): An Early Historic Caddo Farmstead in Nacogdoches County, Texas

Abstract

The Henry M. site (41NA60) is an early historic (post-A.D. 1680) Allen phase farmstead on a natural rise in the Bayou Loco floodplain in western Nacogdoches County in East Texas. Bayou Loco, a relatively small stream, flows south a few miles to its confluence with the Angelina River. The dam for Lake Nacogdoches on the bayou is about 1.7 miles to the north. Construction of Lake Nacogdoches inundated a number of contemporaneous Allen phase farmsteads- some of which were the scene of 1970s excavations-including 41NA18. The Henry M. site in the mid-1980s. (41NA21), Iron Rock (41NA22), Loco Bottoms (41NA23), and Deshazo (41NA27). The Bayou Loco valley has a high density of historic Caddo settlements. The natural rise that the Henry M. site is located on was in an 8 acre pasture. This rise is about 50 min diameter, ca. 1 min height, and south a short distance from an eastward-flowing spring-fed tributary to Bayou Loco. The rise has loamy alluvial Marietta soils. The main part of the Henry M. site has a ca. 10 m diameter midden deposit near the center of the natural rise. The midden deposit contains extensive amounts of Caddo ceramic sherds and many well-preserved animal bones, some mussel shell, and other artifactual debris.