Two Shell Earspools from Spiro Mound, LeFlore Co, OK. 1" and 1 1/4". . Some scholars believe that minerals percolating through the mound hardened the log walls of the chamber, making them resistant to decay and shielding the perishable artifacts inside from direct contact with the earth. [16], Under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco and Tawakonie) are recognized by the U.S. Federal government, cultural anthropologists, and archaeologists as the cultural descendants of the builders of Spiro Mounds.[17]. This period of repopulation is known as the Wilbanks phase (AD 12501375). It is currently "These pieces are sacred," he said. Home to rich cultural resources, the Spiro Mounds were created and used by Caddoan speaking Indians between 850 and 1450 AD. This monograph presents the historical context and detailed descriptions of a remarkable collection of more than 20,000 artifacts from the Craig Mound at the Spiro site in eastern Oklahoma. Read about our approach to external linking. from Lear Howell of Glenwood, Arkansas by A.T. Wehrle of Newark, Pictures and description of several large bifaces that were excavated from Craig Mound in the 1930's by the Pocola Mining Company. Twelve mounds lie on approximately 150 acres in which the Spiro lived and worked. Leflore Co, OK. Includes 2 Copper Pieces (1 3/4" and 2 1/4"). Funded by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), archaeologists from the University of Oklahoma excavated parts of the site between 1936 and 1941. One of the most important American Indian sites in the nation, the Spiro Mounds are world renowned for the high volume of art and artifacts dug from the Craig Mound, the site's only burial mound. By 1450, the mound city of Spiro was abandoned (Credit: alantobey/Getty Images). Corn, or maize, was the dominant crop, but other plants, whether grown or gathered, such as beans, squash, sump weed, acorns, and sunflowers, played an important role. $170. swords, and the three chipped chert maces that were purchased by 35.311731, -94.568431 C. It has burial artifacts that date to earlier than 10,000 BCE. Witnesses say the air hissed as it escaped from a burial chamber that had been sealed for 500 years. base. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday. A. This region had easy access to salt and mineral springs, which made it a powerful trade zone. A nearly forgotten people who created one of the most highly-developed civilizations in the Americas. Interstate 540 in Fort Smith). Newspapers would later call the find an American "King Tut's tomb". An artifact displayed a the Spiro Mounds exhibit. . In return, it received valuable goods from those other centers. Human head effigy plate from 1200-1450 AD found at the Spiro site in Oklahoma (Credit: Courtesy of the Ohio History Connection), Many of the pieces are "mind-blowing", said Singleton, the exhibit curator. (Highway 9 is the Oklahoma extension of. Spiro Mounds (34 LF 40)[3] is an archaeological site located in present-day eastern Oklahoma that remains from an indigenous Indian culture that was part of the major northern Caddoan Mississippian culture. Craig Mound is the tallest one, about 34 feet high, and to the left. An archaeological find unmatched in modern times. Greg Perino named these points in 2001 from a small group that surfaced in a private collection and documented several years ago by Dr. Robert Bell. More than a decade in the making, this nearly 200-object exhibition with companion publication and educational programming were developed in collaboration with the Caddo Nation, the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, and scholars from over a dozen universities and museums from across the United States. Leflore Co, OK. These are the characteristics of an object that allow it to be grouped with similar works. Based upon these historic records, the game consisted of players rolling a stone disk for a considerable distance and then hurling spears as close as they could to the point where the stone stopped. Indianapolis, Indiana, a secondhand furniture dealer, for a price The largest, Mound C, served as the mortuary facility for Etowahs elite and included objects and iconographic imagery matching other regional stylesnamely Braden. It tells of a people desperately trying to adapt to a changing climate that would ultimately destroy their society. Home to rich cultural resources, the Spiro Mounds were created and used by Caddoan speaking Indians between 850 and 1450 AD. Scientists believe the Birdman was a warrior king, but it's also possible this was the legendary Thunderbird. Spiro was home to a ceremonial centre for a loosely aligned confederation of mound-building nations called the Mississippian Culture. Later, archaeologists recognized that the ritual artifacts at Spiro were similar to comparable objects excavated at other powerful Mississippian towns that also participated in the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. Once the seat of power during the Mississippian period (circa 800-1500 AD), the Spiro people ruled over a confederation of more than 60 North American tribes, influencing trade, religion and the political structure of the Southwest United States. It is 268 pages and has 152 black-and-white plates of photographs and drawings of artifacts recovered from Spiro Mound. The treasure hunters sold the artifacts they recovered to art collectors, some as far away as Europe. of Prehistoric Art - Volume 1. It was divided into different occupation phases beginning with the Evans Phase (AD 950 1100), Harlan phase (AD 1100 1250), Norman Phase (AD 1250 1350), and concluding with the Spiro Phase (AD 1350 1450). While Cahokia declined, however, Spiro's importance was increasing greatly, thanks to its strategic location on the Arkansas River with easy access to both the Plains and the Woodlands. They also lacked the wooden palisade fortifications often found in the major Middle Mississippian towns. This event was likely environmental and brought on by what is known today as a Little Ice Age. Six out of this group of bladesare shown in Antonio Waring and Preston Holder first defined the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex in the 1940s, according to a series of distinct cultural traits. The city was palisaded (walled) and had a large grand plaza that was the equivalent of thirty-five football fields. The Spiro Mounds treasure made headlines nationwide. First identified in 1914 by Joseph Thoburn, a professor at the University of Oklahoma, the mounds were part of the Choctaw Nation land allotment. Why the Spiro culture disappeared and why the site was abandoned remain a mystery, although the Caddoan language lived on with the modern Wichita, Kichai, Caddo, Pawnee, and Arikara, suggesting that the Spiro people broke off into smaller tribes. Spiro's location on the Arkansas River, one of the principal tributaries of the Mississippi River, gave the Spiro traders access to the Mississippian heartland. As their finds began to interest collectors, word reached a University of Oklahoma professor who asked the diggers to stop. The 80-acre site is located within a floodplain on the southern side of the Arkansas River.The modern town of Spiro developed approximately seven miles to the south. The Mississippian people (AD 8001650) were the largest and most complex society to develop in the eastern half of North America. Anthropologists have thought that the Caddo and related peoples had been living in the region for centuries and that they had their own local variant of Mississippian culture. They soon unearthed bones, along with arrowheads, pipes and copper relics. Traditionally, women tended crops like corn, beans, squash and sunflowers, while men hunted small game. included in the Hamilton picture. Permanent settlement at Spiro lasted from the year 800 until 1450, when the population suddenly declined and dispersed. This The Caddoan Mississippian towns had a more irregular layout of earthen mounds and associated villages than did towns in the Middle Mississippian heartland to the east. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like Which of the following prehistoric cultures built 12 mounds by hand between 850 and 1450 CE?, Which of the following factors led to theories that Paleo-Indians may have been in Oklahoma as early as 30,000 BCE? The hope was that the ceremonial burying of sacred property would return the city to its previous state, bringing back the steady rains and long growing seasons that had let Spiro flourish. The site is open. The majority of the Spiro artifacts are housed at the Gilcrease Museum, but Special Collections has a few artifacts, and . The spiritual beings of the Under World were thought to be in constant opposition to those in the Upper World. Often, the cedar tree, or the striped-center-pole, is found on engraved conch shell gorgets, with human or animal figures positioned on either side. When the Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto led a military expedition into what is now the southeastern United States in the 1540s, he encountered Native American groups including the Tula people, who lived near the Arkansas River. Darryl Starbird's National Rod and Custom Car Hall of Fame Museum. Etowah was a large Mississippian center constructed about the same time as Cahokia and Moundville. Today, the Spiro Mounds site and artifacts are among Oklahoma's richest cultural resources. 1.3. As the nation prospered, a priest class evolved, which took responsibility for planting and harvest ceremonies, and marking the annual solstices and equinoxes that governed the growing seasons. On the long list of Oklahoma's historical gems, the Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center in Spiro has earned its place near the top. the local S.S. Kresges 5 & 10 store in Bells This preserved the mounds until the Great Depression, when a group of diggers who called themselves the Picola Mining Company acquired the site and tore through the ancient structure, destroying the delicate feather capes and baskets that had survived within the mound-cavities for hundreds of years. The story of the m. The site remained unoccupied from AD 1600 until 1832. al. They are shown sitting on The mining company was finally shut down in 1935, and in 1936 the University of Oklahoma started a scientific excavation that lasted until 1941. They were dug out of mound #72 at Cahokia mounds in Illinois. There may have been other pieces originally in the cache But the drought cycle continued, and by 1450, the mound city was abandoned. almond-shaped and are within a forked or weeping eye design. This is the oldest piece of gold jewelry ever . Explore the religious and ceremonial activities, farming and hunting practices and daily life of the Spiro people. Where Elvis Presley received his first Army buzz cut. The cities began to crumble. Temple Mound, Spiro, 1936, showing the ragged destruction by the looters.
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