Canvasser

Area C Prior to the mid-1970s, a thick fiber zone approximately a meter thick extended some 3-4 m out from the rear wall in the central area of Hinds Cave where the deposits were relatively flat. Most of this upper fiber zone had been stripped by artifact collectors before the Texas A&M investigations. The remaining lower deposits in this area appeared undisturbed and were probed by a small, 1-x-1.5 m test pit (Unit C) dug in 1975 in arbitrary levels. In 1976 Unit C was expanded to 2 m wide and Unit CW was added to provide an east-west profile looking southward into a sizable area of intact Early Archaic deposits. To sample these deposits, a relatively large excavation area, dubbed C South, was laid out in 4 quadrants measuring 2 m on a side except were the sloping rear wall. Only two of the quadrants (Units CS1 and CS3) could be excavated before time ran out in the 1976 season, creating a checkerboard-like pattern. Finally, deep looter hole was straightened by trench (Unit ACC) measuring 2.7-x-1 m was along the west wall of CS-3 to create an north-south stratigraphic profile. Area C documented a series of small coprolite lenses (short-term latrines) and the northeast end of buried burned rock midden deposit (AU 6), as well as ash and fiber lenses. Perishable remains were well preserved in the Area C deposits and stone artifacts were numerous.

Area A and the A-C Trench Area A was first excavated in 1975 and was selected as a major area for sampling plant remains from the fiber-rich deposits visible there in the edges of nearby holes dug by artifact collectors. The artifact hunters, in fact, had inadvertently protected part of Area A by piling up their backdirt there. Once the backdirt was removed, other looter holes were found and sides of these were cleaned up and used to guide excavation in a relatively undisturbed area. Two narrow trenches were dug and combined with the cleaned up looter hole exposures, resulting in the isolation of a rectangular block measuring 1.6 by 1.8 m (5.3 by 5.9 feet) known as the A Block. The A Block was divided into two halves, designated A-West (Unit AW) and A-East (Unit AE). Each half was excavated by peeling off each lens visible in profile; the lenses were numbered sequentially from the top. At the end of the 1975 season, the upper section of Area A had been excavated. In 1976, the lower section was excavated in the same fashion until bedrock floor of the shelter was reached between 1.5 and 2.3 m beneath the surface (the natural floor sloped from back to front). The Area A deposits were used as the primary basis for defining th

Area D A 1-x-2 m test pit, dug as two 1-x-1 m units (D-1 and D-2), was placed within a fairly deep looter hole early in the 1975 season to probe the shelter’s deeper deposits. The units essentially squared-off and cleaned back the looter hole and then continued downward. These units were dug in artificial levels 10-centimeters thick, an expedient method. (Most other units at Hinds Cave were excavated by natural stratigraphy.) While the arbitrary levels allowed relatively fast excavation, the horizontal levels cut across several stratigraphic layers, resulting in mixed-age samples. Nonetheless, Area D showed that the shelter’s deposits extended to at least 3.2 meters before the sloping bedrock floor was encountered. Perishable materials and coprolite lenses were sampled in the intact lower deposits.

Areas B and E

When archeologists first began work at Hinds Cave they observed numerous coprolites the looter backdirt piles along the southwest wall of the shelter. Intact deposits were visible in the walls of looter holes and it could be seen that a sizable area of undisturbed deposits remained. Area B was excavated to expose latrine deposits and collect coprolites and associated materials. This area proved to be the most informative of any at Hinds Cave, in part because of the nature of the deposits and due to the careful excavation and sampling methods followed in Area B. Glenda W. Dean supervised the work here and took copious notes while Ed Baxter did most of the digging.

The work began here in 1975. First, the walls of a deep looter hole were cleaned up and cut back to provide a stratigraphic exposure (Unit B1). Two coprolite lenses were observed and it was decided to isolate a block measuring 1.5-x-1.5 m. Next a sequence of five small narrow units (Units B2-B6) were dug on three sides, with the rear wall of the shelter forming the fourth side of the Area B Block (or Block B.)

Using the natural stratigraphy (visible layers) exposed on three sides, the excavators peeled back layer after layer of the Block B deposits. These layers, termed lenses, were numbered sequentially from the top. The intact deposits were systematically excavated and removed to a depth of just over a meter below the surface by the end of the 1975 season. Massive lenses of coprolites and urine-compacted soil had been encountered—these represent an obvious long-term latrine location against the rear wall of the shelter. The thickest and lowest lens reached in 1975 was designated B-13. In 1976, the Area B excavations continued, reaching a depth of 2.0 to 2.5 m below the original shelter surface. Additional latrine layers were encountered and sampled in the lower section of Block B.
Immediately south of Area B, a 1.25-x-1.5 m unit was excavated in 1975 and designated Area E. Areas B and E were connected with a small unit dubbed Trench B-E that ran along the rear wall of the shelter. Additional latrine and midden lenses were encountered in the Area E and B-E excavations, adding to the sample of stratified coprolite lenses found in Area B.
For purposes of discussion and analyses of grouped data (such as Lord’s faunal study) Units/Areas B, E and B-E are often considered together. The stratigraphic record of “greater” Area B is the most complete of any area at Hinds Cave because intact upper deposits were present. Good samples were obtained from almost all of the Analysis Units (except AU 6). The stratified latrine deposits have proven extremely important. Dean analyzed a large sample of the Lens 13 coprolites for her dissertation study and Stock included coprolites from deeper Area B lenses in her work. The calibrated midpoints of the 15 radiocarbon dates obtained from Area B samples range from about 200 B.C. to 6100 B.C.