The material of the collection relates to a large collection of archeological specimens which Harris began in 1924 and developed into a 100,000-piece amassment. The collection, ranging in time from the paleo-American to the historic, in part represents Harris's own field work but also incorporates material of other workers. It includes material from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado, and Montana. It also includes pieces from Bolivia, Central America, Mexico, and Korea. The material is now among the holdings of the Department of Anthropology of Natural History and is managed by the department's processing lab. ; Correspondents include Robert Eugene Bell, Jay C. Blaine, Katy Caver, Claire C. Davison, Robert O. Fay, Dan L. Flores, Jon L. Gibson, Vance Haynes, Lawrence H. Head, Robert Fleming Heizer, Thomas R. Hester, Marsha F. Jackson, Jerome Jacobson, Dan Jank, William K. Jones, Morton B. King, Alex Dony Krieger, Truett Latimer, Robert K. Liu, John Ludwickson, William S. Marmaduke, Roger McVay, K. R. Morgan, Dan F. Morse, Hermes Nye, Dorris L. Olds, Gregory Perino, Stephen Schmidt, Dan Scurlock, S. Alan Skinner, Len Slesick, Robert Lloyd Stephenson, Byron Sudbury, Helen Hornbeck Tanner, Lonn W. Taylor, Ted Thygesen, Marvin E. Tong, Jr., Clarence H. Webb, Mildred Mott Wedel, Frank A. Weir, Fred Wendorf, James H. Word, and Don G. Wyckoff. The collection includes some material about the family of Inus Marie Harris and their early days in Texas.
Please note that the collection contains images of human remains.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into 13 series: (1) Biographical material, papers about the Harris collection, and personal material; (2) correspondence, ca. 1964 1979; (3) alphabetical subject file; (4) manuscripts (by Harris and other authors); (5) Texas archeological survey sheets in notebooks; (6) loose survey sheets; (7) miscellaneous notes; (8) sound recordings; (9) printed and processed material; (10) Clem family papers (concerning its early days in Texas); (11) railroad material; (12) cartographic material (archeological, historical, modern maps of Texas, maps of Texas counties (many annotated to show archeological sites), Texas geological maps, miscellaneous maps outside Texas, United States Geological Survey maps, United States Geological Survey and United States Army Corps of Engineer maps annotated to show archeological sites, maps of dams and reservoirs, aerial photographs of a section of Red River; (13) photographs and illustrations.
Biographical Note:
By vocation, Robert (R.) King Harris was a locomotive engineer who worked for the Texas Pacific Railroad Company. By avocation, he was an archeologist, an amateur, in the finest sense of the word, with a long-time scientific interest in the work. Harris first developed an interest in archeology as a young boy scout in his native Dallas, Texas. During the 1930s, he became a member of the Texas Archaeological and Paleontological Society and also began to meet informally with other amateur archeologists in Dallas. In 1940, he was one of the founders of the Dallas Archaeological Society and served that organization for many years as the editor of its publication The Record. In 1939-1941, he was a curator at the Hall of State Museum of the Dallas Historical Society; and in 1966, after his retirement, he assumed duties as the curator of collections of the Department of Anthropology at Southern Methodist University. For many years, he was also an active participant with the series of Caddoan Conferences. In these activities and his archeological work, Harris worked closely with his wife, Inus Marie Harris. ; As an archeologist, Harris carried out many archeological surveys in Texas and nearby Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. In 1941, under the sponsorship of the Dallas Archaeological Society, he was field foreman of an excavation of burial sites below White Rock Spillway in Dallas County and an excavation of another burial site at the Ragland site on the East Fork of the Trinity River. Again, in 1946, he was field foreman for the excavation of a house site at Bulter Hole site in Collin County, Texas. In 1948-1949, he assisted with the Smithsonian Institution River Basin Survey's work in Whitney, Lavon, and Garza-Little Elm reservoirs. In 1954, he joined Wilson W. Crook in test excavations at the Louis Obschner site near Seagoville and, in 1956, at the well-known Lewisville site in Denton County. He also participated in 1959 in excavations at the Branch site in Lavon Reservoir and, in 1960, directed excavations of a shelter at the Kyle site and the Pearson site in the Iron Bridge Reservoir. In 1962, he worked at the Gilbert site in Rains County, and in 1963, led a survey of Forney Reservoir. In 1965, he was involved in excavations at Glenn Hill site in the same reservoir. In the 1960s and 1970s, Harris also carried out studies of artifacts relating to French trade with Caddoan Indians. Harris was also interested in the travels of early explorers in northeastern Texas including Francisco de Soto and Benard de la Harpe.
Related Materials:
The National Anthropological Archives holds MS 1998-28 Catalog of artifact photographs and descriptions from the R.K. Harris collections.
The Human Studies Film Archives holds the Robert King Harris films (HSFA.1992.07).
Provenance:
Received from Mrs. Inus Marie Harris in 1983.
Restrictions:
Access to the Robert King Harris papers requires an appointment.
Curet, L. Antonio, Dawdy, Shannon Lee, and La Rosa Corzo, Gabino, editors. 2005. Dialogues in Cuban Archaeology. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
Photographs relating to archeology, most of which were made by Bureau of American Ethnology photographers and ethnologists. Much of the collection consists of photographs by Cosmos and Victor Mindeleff of Southwest pueblos. Images depict mounds and excavations (including Grant Mound in Pennsylvania and additional mounds in West Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, and elsewhere); Hopi Sipaulovi village; petroglyphs in Wind River, Wyoming; ancient artifacts; Standing Rock; Tohono O'odham Indians; Canyon de Chelly; and Clear Creek. Photographers represented include John K. Hillers; C. H. Bryan of Mt. Sterling, Kentucky; the Mindeleff brothers; Henry Bascom Collins; L. C. Rennick; J. W. Milner; Hattons Studio in Lansing, Michigan; and a drawing by W. A. Rogers.
Collection may contain images of human remains.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 28
Location of Other Archival Materials:
William Dinwiddie photographs documenting Papago Indians, previously filed in Photo Lot 28, have been relocated to National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 89.
Additional Mindeleff photographs can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 4362, Photo Lot 14, Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 40, Photo Lot 78, and the BAE historical negatives.
Additional Hillers photographs can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 14, Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 40, Photo Lot 143, Photo Lot 83-18, Photo Lot 87-2N, Photo Lot 90-1, Photo Lot 92-46, and the BAE historical negatives.
Additional Collins photographs can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 82-23, Photo Lot 86-42, Photo Lot 86-43, and Photo Lot 86-59.
See others in:
Photograph collection relating to archeology, burial mounds, and the Southwest, 1880s-1920s
Photo Lot 28, Bureau of American Ethnology photograph collection relating to archeology and burial mounds, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Archaeology reports and related material collection
Extent:
111.5 Linear feet
Note:
The collection is stored off-site. Advanced notice is required to view the collection.
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
circa 1970 - circa 1990
Scope and Contents:
With the passage of federal environmental and cultural heritage legislation during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, archaeological investigations were required before federal land could be disturbed for construction projects. Reports of these investigations, often conducted by archaeological contactors, were generally published in processed rather than printed form. The multiliths, electrostats, dittographs, and so forth are referred to as "grey literature." Access to them is sometimes difficult because many libraries decline to collect them.
Included are reports on archaeological work in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Canada (Alberta), Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennesee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Provenance:
The collection was formed largely from four sources: (1) Smithsonian curators, who received contract archaeology reports and passed them on to the NAA; (2) the NAA, which was on the mailing list of some contractors; (3) the Smithsonian Anthropology Library, which turned over its collection to the archives; (4) the National Park Service archaeology program in Washington, D.C., which also placed its collection in the NAA
Restrictions:
The Archaeology reports and related material collection is open for research.
Access to the Archaeology reports and related material collection requires and appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Citation:
Archaeology reports and related material collection, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Report on an archaeological survey for historic sites in disposal areas C-6 and C-7 and waterway channel, Columbus Lake, Tombigbee River Multi-resource District, Alabama and Mississippi
2 Volumes (Volume I vii + 185; Volume II iv + 134)
Type:
Archival materials
Volumes
Printed material
Place:
Alabama -- Antiquities
Mississippi -- Antiquities
Alabama -- Archeology
Mississippi -- Archeology
Date:
March 1978
Scope and Contents:
First volume by James R. Atkinson consists of methodology, lithics, ceramics, environmental settings. Second volume by Jack D. Elliott, Jr. consists of site descriptions.
Restrictions:
Item in off site storage. Contact archives for information on availability.
