The chronology of the cultural sequences of Texas Indians is usually divided into three time periods, but can generally be narrowed down into seven time components: Paleo-Indian, Early Archaic, Middle Archaic, Late Archaic, Transitional Archaic, Late Prehistoric, and Historic. This section will not only describe each era, but will also supply the specific types of projectile point artifacts that were discovered in a recent survey of Coleman County, or more specifically, the Ivie Reservoir Basin area. Archaeologists from Mariah Associates, Inc. of Austin, Texas investigated the area in 1992 and completed a final cultural resource report* of the area. (Smith, 1995)

NOTE:

This period covers a basic time span of about two-thousand years. The earliest inhabitants of Texas during the late Pleistocene can be associated with the Clovis Complex. The Clovis, a fluted point, can commonly be found throughout Texas, and was mostly used in mammoth-hunting. The Folsom Complex, circa 8800-8200B.C., consists of another fluted point, the Folsom, which was mostly used to kill certain forms of bison that are presently extinct. The Clovis and the Folsom points characterize the early portion of this period. After Clovis and Folsom, the creation of projectile points evolved to aide in hafting--the "sewing" of a projectile point onto a wooden rod.

According to the survey of Coleman County, the most commonly found dart points from the Paleo-Indian era are the Angostura, Golondrina, Midland, Scottsbluff, Clovis, Hell Gap, Palmer, Folsom, Meserve, and Plainview.

The majority of this era consists of a transition to the cultural patterns of hunters and gatherers. It is also noted for the alterations in the style and manufacturing of projectile points and tools, in addition to the vital introduction of grinding techniques and stone ornaments, all of which "[reflect] a gradually increasing population utilizing the abundant plant and animal resources of environments similar to that of modern times"(Turner and Hester, 1985:48).
 

*Due to the extensivity of this time period, it is subdivided into smaller time components.

The most primitive phases of this period are not yet thoroughly understood. Later phases, however, generally indicate a more scattered settlement, as implied by the discovery of numerous, distinctive triangular points and large barbed specimens spread vastly from region to region throughout the state.

A variety of points found in the survey were identified as a part of the Early Archaic period. These include Andice, Bell, Bulverde, Early Triangular, Gower, Hoxie, Jetta, La Jita, Martindale, Morrill, Nolan, Pandale, Uvalde, Wells, and Yarbrough.

This period is typified by a definite increase in population, numerous sites, and an abundance of various types of lithic artifacts. Differentiation on regions can be established through the identification of the burned-rock middens of central Texas and the shell middens of the Coast of Texas. Cemeteries with significant numbers of interments also begin to appear in the later part of this period, which may constitute the territorial mannerism of some hunting and gathering societies. Stone artifacts and shells of distant areas are brought to certain regions, which marks the establishment of trade.

Artifacts found in the survey belonging to this subdivision include the Carrollton, Ellis, Gary, Kent, Kenney, Langtry, Marshall, Palmillas, Pandora, Pedernales, Tortugas, Travis, andWilliams.

Hunting and gathering lifeways continue in the majority of Texas, which again can be recognized by distinct types of projectile points and stone tools. Ceramic artifacts of certain East Texas sites mark the impetus of settled village life around 500B.C. Bison became resourceful game.

The Castroville, Elam, Godley, Lange, Marcos, Montell, Morhiss, and Shumla projectile points were linked to the Late Archaic Period.

This interval can be described most effectively as a continuation of the Late Archaic period. However, distinctive point styles can be classified to this time. This time period is crucial for the Archaic series of central Texas and lower Pecos Texas, but is less significant in other regions of Texas.

The Late Prehistoric era is particularly distinctive in the archaeological record of Texas. The bow and arrow were introduced at this time, in addition to other stone tools. Areas of central, south, and coastal Texas became slightly domesticated by hunters and gatherers who created pottery. Bison became more important game in certain regions. Although the hunting and gathering lifeways of the Archaic period continue, "the material culture, hunting patterns, settlement types and other facets of Late Prehistoric times mark a fairly distinctive break with the past"(Turner and Hester, 1985:52).

Arrow points of the Prehistoric Indian era consist of the Alba, Bonham, Chadbourne, Cliffton, Cuney, Edwards, Fresno, Garza, Harrell, Lott, Maud, Massard, Moran, Perdiz, Scallorn, Starr, Toyah, Washita,and Young points.

This time period indicates the beginning of the end for the many cultures of the Indians of Texas. Due to the emergence of missions and reservations, some Indians continued to make projectile points and stone tools. However, halfway through the eighteenth century, these tools began to diminish as metal, brass and iron points were created instead, ending an 11,000-year tradition.

Only four points found were assigned to this period--the Cuney, Garza, Guerrero, andToyah points.
 

*These reports assigned various projectile points to certain time periods, based mostly on carbon-14 dating.