The Late Prehistoric Period at Spring Lake
Historically, following J. Charles Kelley (1947), archaeologists divide the Late Prehistoric is into two phases, Austin and Toyah. However, the present authors consider the Central Texas Late Prehistoric to be limited to the Toyah interval beginning at approximately AD 1300 based on a sudden appearance of bison in the regional record (Table 1). Dating the end of Toyah is complicated, since material traits clearly extend into the early part of the Historic period (Arnn 2012). In general, this period is marked by the (apparently) complete shift away from the dart and atlatl to the bow and arrow, and by the incorporation of pottery throughout the region (Black 1989:32; Story 1985:45–47). Importantly, Toyah peoples were interacting in a broad network of exchange focused on bison and bison by-products. This network appeared in Southern Plains areas to the north (Spielman 1991), stretched from Pueblo areas to the west to Mississippian villages in the east, and involved agricultural goods, people (especially women), exotic materials like obsidian, ceramics, and other resources. Evidence for the movement of peoples into the study area comes from stable isotope values from a human burial from the University campus; data show this woman from coastal regions had moved to Central Texas as an adult (Muñoz et al. 2011).
The beginning of the Toyah period (650 B.P.) in Central Texas is marked by contracting stem points and flaring, barbed shouldered points. Perdiz is the most common example (Black 1989:32; Huebner 1991:346), and this type occasionally occurs on glass in mission contexts (Lohse 1999:268). Toyah is also characterized by its tools, like prismatic blades and blade cores, which are considered part of a specialized bison hunting and processing toolkit (Black and McGraw 1985; Huebner 1991; Ricklis 1994). However, wide technological variability is present, including both lithics and ceramics, suggesting a diverse social landscape (Arnn 2012).
