In each issue this year, we're highlighting one artifact from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's historical collections.
They're not fingerprints in the traditional sense. The crescent moon-shaped markings that cover this piece of pottery discovered at Lake Somerville State Park and Trailway were made by a person's fingernail. This piece was part of a vessel that was likely made after A.D. 900 by someone from the Mossy Grove Culture, a group of tribes that occupied East Texas and Louisiana for hundreds of years. People have been making pottery in Texas since the early centuries B.C.; some pieces are ornately painted, some plain and utilitarian. This piece feels special — the markings are not only decoration, but a simple human connection that spans centuries.
