The Lawhorn Site

by John Moselage

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AREA CHRONOLOGY

Historic (Shawnee and Delaware)
Late Mississippi (Nodena)
Middle Mississippi (Cairo Lowland)	Lawhorn Mississippian Component
Early Mississippi (Malden Plain)
Late Baytown (Black Bayou)
Middle Baytown (Barnes Ridge)	Lawhorn Sand Tempered Component
Early Baytown (Hoecake)
Tchula (Burkett and Pascola)
Pre-Ceramic (O’Bryan Ridge)	Dalton
Early Hunters (Fluted Points)

It was not expected that the information contained here is the final answer to the story of the Lawhorn site or more than a start to finding out about the people who lived in the Malden Plain area of the St. Francis valley. It is hoped that this information will be at least a base from which others can work and that it adds enough new information that it will stimulate more people to do similar jobs within this area and surrounding areas.

During the final stages of editing, three radio-carbon dates were received from the University of Michigan Memorial—Phoenix Project Radio Carbon Laboratory, H. R. Crane, Director. As these are of interest with regard to Lawhorn and, no doubt, to persons with commitments in that area, the dates are given below.

M-1156 Lawhorn site General Midden 625±150 Charred log (F. S. 78). General Midden west of drainage ditch. Collected by John Moselage, March, 1957. M-1157 Lawhorn Site House 3 375±150 Charred Pole, possibly oak (F. S. 408) from floor of house 3. Collected March, 1960, by John Moselage. M-1158 Lawhorn Site House 1 750±150 Charred pole, possibly oak (F. S. 518) from floor of House 1. Collected December, 1957, by John Moselage.

APPENDIX A
IDENTIFICATION OF THE FAUNAL REMAINS FROM THE LAWHORN SITE

by
Paul W. Parmalee
Curator of Zoology
Illinois State Museum, Springfield

Bone Mammals White-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus 393 Raccoon, Procyon lotor 42 Cottontail, Sylvilagus floridanus 15 Canid, probably dog, Canis familiaris 14 Man, Homo sapiens 10 Beaver, Cantor canadensis 10 Mink, Mustela vison 7 Muskrat, Ondatra zibethicus 9 Swamp Rabbit, Sylvilagus aquaticus 4 Gray squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis 5 Opossum, Didelphis marsupialis 3 Bobcat, Lynx rufus 1 Striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis 1 Fox Squirrel, Sciurus niger 1 Gray Fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus 1 Marsh Rice Rat, Oryzomys palustris 1 Birds Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo 14 Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos and/or Black Duck Anas rubripes 6 Duck, spp; 5 Prairie Chicken, Tympanuchus cupido (probably) 5 Canada Goose, Branta canadensis (probably) 3 King Rail, Rallus elegans 1 Wood Duck, Aix sponsa 1 Ring-necked Duck, Aythya collaris, or lesser Scaup, Aythya affinis 1 Turtles Box Turtle, Terrapene sp. 50 Turtle, Pseudemys, Chrysesemys, Graptemys group 34 Turtle spp. 14 Pond Terrapin, Pseudemys sp. 24 Soft-shelled Turtle, Trionyx sp. 4 Snapping Turtle, Chelydra serpentina 4 Fishes Bowfin, Amia calva 25 Gar, Lepisosteus sp. 6 Fresh-water Drum, Aplodinotus grunniens 3 Northern Pike, Esox lucius 2 Catfish, Ictalurus sp. 6 Sunfish, Bluegill group, Centrarchidae 2

Unidentifiable large mammal bone fragments, most probably deer 1,126 Unidentifiable bird bone fragments 30 Unidentifiable fish bone fragments 14 Shell Mussels Amblema cf. costata, Three ridge 80 Actinonaias carinata, Mucket 8 Elliptio dilatatus, Spike 4 Plectomerus dombryanum, Bank crawler 4 Lampsilis ventricosa (or l. ovata) Pocketbook 3 Ligumia recta, Black sand shell 2 Pleurobema cordatum, Small Niggerhead 1 Plagiola lineolata, Butterfly 1 Obliquaria reflexa, Three-horned Warty-back 1 Tritogonia verrucosa, Buckhorn 1 Elliptio crassidens, Elephant’s Ear 1 Quadrula quadrula, Maple-leaf 1 Snails Campeloma sp. 2

APPENDIX B
ANALYSIS OF VEGETAL REMAINS FROM LAWHORN SITE

by
Leonard W. Blake
St. Louis, Missouri

There is always a possibility that any sample, particularly a small one, may not be fully representative. The collection from the Lawhorn site consists of fragments of seven cobs, all either 10 or 12 rowed. Three of the cobs have cupule widths ranging from 7.7 to 8.6 mm. It differs from a larger sample from the Banks site, which is in nearby Crittenden County and which may have been occupied at about the same time ([Table 6]), in having a higher mean row number and greater median cupule width. Corn from both these sites shows evidence of a mixture with low rowed varieties to a lesser extent than that from the other sites shown in [Table 6], except that from Mound 34 at Cahokia, which is presumably earlier ([Table 7]).

Previous work on corn from the Northern Mississippi Valley indicates that row number tended to decrease and cupule width to increase in that area in time in the protohistoric and historic periods. This has been interpreted as being the result of an increasing mixture of predominantly 8 rowed Northern Flint with wide cupules with earlier 14 rowed Tropical Flints slightly modified by possible traces of Mexican Pyramidal Dent. It is reasonable to expect that the proportion of the hardier Northern Flints would increase more rapidly in the Northern part of the valley than in the Southern, particularly, if there was a minor climatic cooling trend in the period of about 1200-1700 A.D., as Griffin (1960, p. 27) has suggested.

Northern Flint was present in the Southeast as well as in the North before European settlement. Brown and Anderson (1947, pp. 8-13) found Northern Flint in collections of corn from archaeological sites in Northeastern Alabama, Eastern Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia as well as in greater concentrations in Western New York and the Upper Ohio Valley. Actually, a lot of corn at the Missouri Botanical Garden from a Georgia site poses some of the same problems as that from Lawhorn. Mean row number is just under 11 and there are no 14 rowed ears. Cupule width of all but a few of the cobs ranges from 7 to 11 mm. with a median of 9 mm. It is suspected that the wide cupules on the three Lawhorn cobs might be attributed to diffusion of Northern Flint from the Southeast as readily as from the North, possibly in diluted form. In the case of the Banks site, Cutler and Blake (1961) suggested that the influence of Northern Flint may have reached there in the form of a mixture rather than directly or, alternatively, that low row numbered corn may have entered from the Southwest where 8 and 10 rowed corn was dominant after 700 A.D.

TABLE 6—COMPARATIVE ANALYSES OF CORN FROM LAWHORN AND FOUR AREA SITES
		Row No. % total Cobs						Median (in mm.)
Site	No. Cobs	8	10	12	14	16	Mean Row No.	K. Th.	C.W.[1]
Lawhorn	7	—	28.6	71.4	—	—	11.4	3.3	6.8
Banks	51	3.9	47.1	43.1	5.9	—	11.0	3.3	5.4
Mound 34	27	7.4	18.5	48.2	22.2	3.7	11.9	3.6	6.4
Crosno	16	31.3	43.7	25.0	—	—	9.9	3.4	7.0
Plum Island	17	35.3	29.4	35.3	—	—	10.0	3.8	7.4

[1]K. Th. = Kernel Thickness
C.W. = Cupule Width, a measure of the cob cavity in which a pair of grains is borne.

TABLE 7—COMPARATIVE DATES FROM LAWHORN AND FOUR AREA SITES
Site	Location	Estimated Date
Lawhorn	Craighead Co., Ark.	On Channel B, 1550 A.D. Plus. (Phillips et al., 1951, p. 304)
Banks	Crittenden Co., Ark.	C14, 1535 A.D. ± 150 years. (Letter G. Perino, Oct. 27, 1959)
Crosno	Mississippi Co., Mo.	Middle Mississippi. (Date?)
Mound 34	Madison Co., Ill.	Submound pit, C14, 700-900 B.P. ± 300 years. (Griffin, 1952, p. 367)
Plum Island	LaSalle Co., Ill.	Protohistoric
(11LS2)		Circa 1600-1650 A.D.

APPENDIX C
BURIALS AT THE LAWHORN SITE

by
Charles H. Nash
Memphis, Tennessee

The 35 burials from which we can get some data concerning sex and age groups seem to represent a relatively homogeneous group. Over half of the 26 adult burials were either too fragmentary for any further determination or the bone was not recovered during the course of excavation. In such instances, age group associations were made in the field. Burial determinations in Tables [8-11] were made in the laboratory.

Of the 35 burials, twelve, or 34% had grave goods which included, in all cases, pottery vessels. Two burials had single beads with them but these were probably items of dress and not mortuary offerings. The only other object found was a questionable association of a flint drill. There were only three burials, 9%, which had more than one vessel in association and, of these, one had two bowls, another had a bottle and a bowl and the third had a bottle, a bowl and a small jar. Twenty three, or 66%, of the burials had no grave goods with them. The pottery vessels were divided about evenly between bottles and bowls.

There were fourteen adult burials from which closer age criteria were available.

The two females in their early twenties were not representative of the burial customs of these people, being in fact depositions of scattered bone showing little or no orientation and obviously not articulated. The crushing of the bone was probably due to earth moving machinery of recent years, but the general broken nature of the bones may more likely be the work of the Indians themselves. These bones appeared to have been laid on the ground and then covered over and it would seem that both had been interred at the same time. Both individuals show heavy charring of the bone; in one instance the feet were intensely charred with the rest of the bone showing progressively less toward the skull and the skull showing none. The most intense heat was obviously at the feet. The hands and lower arms also show heavy charring. The other individual was more generally charred but once again little or no burning appeared around the skull. These burials were not cremated at the spot at which they were found since there was no evidence of a heavy fire there. It must be assumed that the burning occurred elsewhere and that after further mutilation the bones were finally interred at this place. It is difficult not to conclude that these young ladies were victims of tribal displeasure.

Insufficient skeletal material has been recovered and is in too fragmentary condition to yield a great deal of information. It might be well to mention at this point that ‘week end’ archaeology is hard put to produce a satisfactory record of this type of material. The days’ activities of locating and staking a square, preliminary excavation and organization take up so much time that once a skeleton is located there is insufficient time to uncover it properly, record it and remove the bones with minimum damage. Even if the material is in good condition it is hard to do an adequate job in one day; if the bone is in a poor state of preservation the job becomes much more complicated. The specimens come easy but to clean, photograph, record and remove skeletal material will almost always require a second day. The thought comes to mind that with proper preparation much could be removed encased in protective materials for further processing at home thereby speeding up the process in the field. There are a number of ways this can be done, from using plaster impregnated burlap over the entire burial to wrapping bones in crumpled newspaper with much of the surrounding earth still in place and carefully placing in cartons large enough to hold them freely. Transportation must be handled with equal care. Much important information concerning the people themselves, their diet and health can be learned from skeletal material and no amateur “week end” archaeologist should feel free to ignore this class of data or throw it away.

This sampling of skeletons is perhaps ample to give a general picture of the burial customs of these people. The universal position was supine and apparently laid out on top of the ground or in a shallow scooped out grave no deeper than the body itself. This then was presumably covered with a mound of earth and possibly marked by logs until decay had once again leveled the ground. There was no evidence of the use of pits. Grave goods, when present, were always pottery vessels presumably containing food and water for the departed. These were placed at the head. There was little or no evidence of clothing or decoration other than the two beads mentioned before.

This burial complex is more like the extended burials of the Walls focus to the south than other comparable groups. Even the use of bottles and bowls together is suggestive. The almost total absence of grave goods other than pottery and the positioning around the head is again a Walls trait, as is the complete absence of other grave goods with many burials. This is the major evidence of Walls focus traits among the Lawhorn folk and even here the bottle form is at quite some variance.

TABLE 8—BURIAL DATA
Burial Number	Age	Sex	Position	Condition and Completeness	Grave Goods
6	adult	?	?	frag. and poor	none
7	9-12 yr	child	ext. on back	poor—legs missing	small bowl, bone bead
8	35-40	male	ext. on back	lower legs missing	none
9	8-9 yr	child	ext. on back	lower legs missing—poor	none
10	25-30 yr	female	ext. on back	disturbed but complete	none
11	-6 yr	child	ext. on back	hands and feet missing—poor	none
12	25-30 yr	female	ext. on back	both legs missing—poor	two bowls
13	-2 yr	infant	on back	incomplete	none
14	adult	?	ext. on back	all above pelvis missing	none
15	adult	?	ext. on back	complete—poor	bottle
16	adult	?	ext. on back	complete—very poor	none
17	plus 50	male	ext. on back	poor complete	bottle and bowl
18	adult	?	ext. on back	fragmentary	none
19	adult	?	ext. on back	fragmentary	none
20	?	?	?	very frag. disturbed	none
21	adult	?	ext. on back	crushed by machinery	bottle
22	adult	?	ext. on back	completely crushed	bowl
23	plus 30	female	ext. on back	no hands or feet—disturbed	bottle and shell bead
24	plus 30	male	ext. on back	no feet present	flint drill, bottle jar, bowl
25	adult	?	ext. on back	complete	bowl
26	pre-natal	infant	?	none
27
28	25-30 yr	male
29	3 yr	child
30
31	pre-natal	infant	in a firebasin
32	35 yr plus	male	ext. on back	complete but crushed	none
33	35-40	male	ext. on back	pathological suture closure only squamous open	bowl
34	25-30 yr	male	ext. on back	complete but poor condition	bottle
35	adult	?	?	only an arm present	bottle
36	plus 60	male	ext. on back	complete—all sutures closed—no upper teeth—no lower molars	none
37	adult	?	?	not worked out	shallow bowl
38	plus 20	female	scattered bone	burned bone—heaviest at feet—none on skull	none
39	plus 20	female	scattered bone some placement of long bones?	burned bone—deep charring general over body—not on skull	none
40	plus 50	male	?	?
41-42	pre-natal	infants	bundled	complete—42 covered with a sherd	none

TABLE 9—AGE AND SEX GROUPS
35 Burials
	Total Percent	Male	Female	Indeterminate	2-6 yr	Infant	Pre-natal
Adults	74	22	14	37
Children	11				5.5	5.5
Infants	14					3	11

TABLE 10—MORTUARY VESSELS
	Bottles	Bowls	Jars	Total
Adult Male	4	4	1	9
Adult Female	1	2		3
Adult Indet.	2	2		4
Children	1	1
Infants	0
Totals	7	9	1	17

TABLE 11—AVERAGE AGE OF FOURTEEN BURIALS
Age Group	Percentage	Male	Female	Total	Remarks
20 yr	14	0	2	2	See discussion
25-30 yr	29	2	2	4
30-35 yr	14	1	1	2
35-40	21	3		3
40-46	0			0
50 plus	21	3		3
Totals		9	5	14