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What Are the Burnt Rock Mounds of Texas?1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

J. Charles Kelley  and
T. N. Campbell
J. Charles Kelley
Affiliation:
University of Texas, Austin, Texas
T. N. Campbell
Affiliation:
University of Texas, Austin, Texas
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Extract

In the Edwards Plateau and Trans-Pecos regions of southwestern Texas are a large number of archaeological sites which have been referred to as “burnt rock mounds.” Although this name is now well established in the archaeological literature of Texas, one looks in vain for a satisfactory statement concerning the origin and nature of these rather unusual sites. Quite a number have been excavated, but as yet few detailed reports on individual sites have appeared. The authors of recent reports assume that the term “burnt rock mound” is well understood and, although implying that it represents a distinct culture trait, do not explain what it means. It is evident that many archaeologists do not understand its meaning, for at recent archaeological meetings outside of Texas the writers of this paper have frequently been asked, “Just what is a burnt rock mound?” In view of this, it seems advisable to put on record a brief summary of what is known at present about the formation of these sites.

Type
Facts and Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , January 1942 , pp. 319 - 322
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1942

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Footnotes

1

The authors are indebted to the following for suggestions and beneficial criticism: Alex D. Krieger, Claude C. Albritton, Jr., J. Gilbert McAllister, and A. T. Jackson.

References

2 The “ring mounds” or “sotol pits” constitute a special case and are not included in this discussion. These sites are confined largely to the Trans-Pecos region.

3 Pearce, J. E., “Indian Mounds and other Relics of Indian Life in Texas,” American Anthropologist, Vol. 21, No. 3, 1919Google Scholar. Pearce did not actually use the term “burnt rock mound” in print until 1932 (“The Present Status of Texas Archaeology,” Bulletin, Texas Archeological and Paleontological Society, Vol. 4. 1932). Sayles (“Some Types of Archaeological Sites near Abilene, Texas,” Bulletin, Texas Archeological and Paleontological Society, Vol. 1, 1929) appears to have been the first to make published use of the term, and he was followed by Wilson (“Burned Rock Mounds of Southwest Texas,” Bulletin, Texas Archeological and Paleontological Society, Vol. 2, 1930). Since then the name has been used by all who have had occasion to refer to the sites.

Pearce (op. Cit.; 1932) referred the burnt rock mounds to a “Texas Kitchen Midden culture.” Sayles (“An Archaeological Survey of Texas,” Medallion Papers, No. 17, Globe, Arizona, 1935) assigned most of the burnt rock mounds of the Edwards Plateau and environs to an “Edwards Plateau culture“; others he linked with a “Wichita phase.”

4 Pearce, op. cit., 1919, p. 230.

5 East of the Edwards Plateau rock outcrops are less common and burnt rock mounds are rare. There appears to be a close relationship between the availability of stone and the formation of these mounds.

6 Wilson, op. cit.

7 This project is under the direction of the senior author. A report on the work is planned, but considerable time must necessarily elapse before it will appear.

8 Jackson, A. T., “A Deep Archaeological Site in Travis County, Texas,” Bulletin, Texas Archeological and Paleonlological Society, Vol. 11, 1939 Google Scholar. The deeply buried site described by Jackson lies in the same terrace. Similar sites have been excavated recently.