The Mossy Grove Model of long-term forager-collector adaptations in inland southeast Texas

This dissertation examines the archeology of inland southeast Texas during the Ceramic and Historic periods (ca. A.D. 400 - A.D. 1850). Previous investigations, prehistory and ethnohistoric data regarding the region are reviewed. Archeological theory on hunter-gatherer groups in general and pertaining to the Study Area is synthesized. The Mossy Grove Model of long-term hunter-gatherer adaptation is generated to provide a framework for the analysis of archeological remains from the region. This model outlines the general nature of the operating settlement and subsistence system and the process of ethnic boundary formation in the region. The model specifies that sites of the region may productively be compared on the basis of geographical analytical units based on major and minor stream drainages in the region. It also establishes a trimodal classification of archeological sites and discusses the implications of archeological data for categorization of prehistoric groups on the forager-collector continuum. The balance of the dissertation is given to establishing justifications for the analytical units employed, tests of the implications of the Mossy Grove Model through comparative studies and through the detailed examination of three exemplary sites within the Study Area