al. The people of Spiro people relied on a wide variety of animals for meat, including deer, elk, turkey, fish, turtles, geese, ducks, squirrels, opossums, raccoons, and other small mammals. This point measures 1 13/16 inches long (46mm) and 1 1/16 inches wide (26mm). 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? Artifacts from across the country have been found at Spiro Mounds, including copper from the Great Lakes, shell beads from the Gulf of California, and a conch shell from the Gulf of Mexico, indicating a vast trade and communication system. Braecklein, quoted in the Kansas City Star (Dec. 15, 1935) In August of 1935, John Hobbs of the Pocola Mining Company broke into the sealed chamber beneath Craig Mound, near Spiro in eastern Oklahoma. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday. Spiro has been the site of human activity for at least 8,000 years. figure in the cutout can be seen wearing such an earspool. During the 1930s commercial, and later academic, excavations revealed one of the greatest collections of artistic and utilitarian prehistoric American Indian artifacts in the United States. Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center preserves 150 acres of the site along the Arkansas River. the leaders at Spiro Mounds thrived. Wednesday through Saturday from 9 to 5 and. 18154 First Street Evidence indicates that the most common source of food was deer, bear, elk, turkey, and the eastern box turtle. Visitors can explore nearly two miles of interpreted trails, including a one-half mile nature trail. Ex-Ken Partain, Lonnie Hartline, Tommy Bryden . Bell collection at Marion, Ohio, until July 30, 1956, when Earl The Spiro Mounds site is world renowned for the incredible amount of art and artifacts dug from the Craig Mound, the site's only burial mound. Containing twelve mounds and a population of several thousand, it was physically unremarkable when compared to many other North American Mississippian sites. This region had easy access to salt and mineral springs, which made it a powerful trade zone. In Artifacts from the Craig Mound at Spiro, Oklahoma, April Sievert (2011:100) also notes the small tool marks lining the inside of hollow boatstones. It tells of a people desperately trying to adapt to a changing climate that would ultimately destroy their society. Oklahoma's Spiro Mounds is one of America's most important ancient cultural and religious centers. incredible cache of around 3,000 arrowheads. This artifact was recovered from The Spiro Mound, reportedly by Bill Heydon Vandagriff, and purchased for $15.00 on the spot by Robert E. Bell for his father's collection. Inside lay unimaginable treasure. Since the late twentieth century, the Spiro Mounds site has been protected by the Oklahoma Historical Society and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[4]. Now an exhibition at The Cowboy and Western Heritage Hall of Fame brings this to life. Spiro Mound. feather but that it is intended to show a sheet copper plume hair The new scheme divides the SECC into five periods, or horizons, each defined by the appearance of new ritual objects and cultural motifs connected with new developments in politics and long-distance trade. Spiro was the westernmost outpost of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, also known as the Southern Death Cult or Buzzard Cult, which included Cahokia (now East St. Louis), Moundville in Alabama, and Etowah in Georgia. Harry T. Bell- Robert Bell's father, an artifact collector from Marion, Ohio. Twelve mounds lie on approximately 150 acres in which the Spiro lived and worked. This developing interest and enthusiasm in the Spiro site has been stimulated in various ways; by examination of artifacts in private collections or in museums, by an increasing reference to Spiro materials in the literature, and through recognition of Spiro as a grandiose example of the so-called "Southern Cult" complex. at Spiro in August 1935. piece is shown in Ancient Art of the American Woodland Indians on In the 1930s during the Great Depression, treasure hunters bought the rights to tunnel into Craig Moundthe second-largest mound on the siteto mine it for artifacts. 2 11/16" Tablet. Spiro Mounds had been unearthed by a group of local men who called themselves the Pocola Mining Company. 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. two photographs show a total of twenty artifacts found in a cache Located on a bend of the Arkansas River, the site was a natural gateway from which the Spiro people exerted their influence. Mineralogical analysis of some of the most beautiful stone effigy pipes found at Spiro, including the famous "Grizzly Man" or "Kneeling Rattler" pipe, have shown they came from Cahokia, based on the material from which they were made. Our first view of the mounds. Spiro and the Arkansas Basin. Between 1933 and 1935, Craig Mound was excavated by a commercial enterprise that had bought the rights from local landowners to excavate and to keep or sell the artifacts they recovered. Running horizontally along the inner walls, the lines indicate that the hollow inside was perhaps carefully scraped away. The cities began to crumble. "The Spiros were family with us," said Chase Earles, a Caddo artist from Ada, Oklahoma, whose contemporary pottery and historical illustrations are included in the new exhibit. spiro@history.ok.gov Historical parallels suggest that Moundville was originally built as a sociograman architectural depiction of a social order based on ranked clans. Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. [14] Archaeologists have determined that Spiro was at the peak of its cultural importance in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The artifacts included works of fragile, perishable materials: textiles and feathers that had been uniquely preserved in the conditions of the closed chamber. Founded around AD 1050, this site is divided into five separate phases: Lohmann (AD 10501100), Stirling (AD 10001200), Moorehead (AD 12001275), Sand Prairie (AD 12751350), and Oneta (AD 13501650). The effigy measures 1.75 inches wide and 2.5 inches high. The spiritual beings of the Under World were thought to be in constant opposition to those in the Upper World. Mound 72 is a fascinating mound well worth googling for more information and absolutely ridiculous photographs of artifacts, burials and sacrifices. The compatriots pushed their way through the debris into a Native American mound, amazed by what they saw. This picture shows an 11 They soon unearthed bones, along with arrowheads, pipes and copper relics. When it rose once more, it was under the rulership of a new chiefdom. Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center is. . of Prehistoric Art - Volume 1. Spiro Mound. pictured in Figure 23. spiromound-0023- Figure 23: While reaching firm conclusions about the meanings of works of art made centuries ago by people of an extinct culture is difficult, they have made some compelling interpretations by comparing Mississippian artistic imagery with the myths, religious rituals, art, and iconography of historic Native American groups. This Spiro artifact is made from what is commonly known as a conch shell. Since the original Spiro Mound amateur excavations resulted in the scattering of the contents into numerous private collections, the Heye Museum of the American Indian produced this publication to catalog the objects that were . Comprising nearly thirty mounds, Moundville can be divided into five separate phases, each defined by a distinct ceramic style: West Jefferson (AD 10201120), Moundville I (AD 11201260), Moundville II (AD 12601400), Moundville III (AD 14001520), and Moundville IV (AD 15201650). B _____ was the ancient isthmus that connected present-day Alaska to northeastern Russia. ---1981, Barbara Page, "Spiro Mound Artifacts Reveal 12th Century Culture," The Gilcrease Magazine Of American History And Art, p. 7- 8. in the collection of Bobby Onken. The Great Serpent is portrayed in Mississippian art with a serpent's body, but also with wings or horns. Monkeys inhabit the lush forest surrounding ancient Mayan ruins once considered sacred. Follow us on social media to add even more wonder to your day. They removed thousands of objects, making no attempt to document the site or its holdings. The Spiro people did not rely on maize as their primary cultivated crop like the inhabitants of the other ceremonial centers. This event was likely environmental and brought on by what is known today as a Little Ice Age. SIartifacts Newbie. from the occipital hairknot is a copper feather that curves up In June, he brought a dozen summer school students 30 miles from their home in Stigler, Oklahoma, to tour the archaeological site. The town was the headquarters of a regional chiefdom, whose powerful leaders directed the building of eleven platform mounds and one burial mound in an 80-acre (0.32km2) area on the south bank of the Arkansas River. GERMANY: The grave of a 20-year-old Bronze Age woman buried near Tbingen 2,800 years ago contained only a single artifacta delicate gold ribbon. On top of each mound sat various public and religious structures as well as the chiefly residence. The remainder of the cache is him. Use of drones over Oklahoma Historical Society property is not permitted without written approval of the facility director. The mounds barely rate a mention in textbooks, he said, while noting that some years, nearly half his students have Native American heritage. [15], Most authorities agree that the people of Spiro were Caddoan speaking, but their descendants in historic times are difficult to identify. We arrived at the Spiro Mounds site in early afternoon. Corn (maize) was the most harvested plant, but others, such as sunflowers, squash, beans, hickory nuts, and acorns were also utilized. 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. This site has been significant for North American archaeology since the 1930s, especially due to its many preserved textiles and a wealth of shell carving. What made it unique were the thousands of ceremonial objects found in an earthen Hollow Chambersomething not seen anywhere else in North America. The exhibition also showcases contemporary Indigenous art pieces that explore the ideas of origin and connect the art and artistry of the Spiro people to their modern descendants. A.T. Wehrle from Lear Howell. $20. Craig Mound also called "The Spiro Mound" is the second-largest mound on the site and the only burial mound. It is a C. Townsend, Jr. purchased the Bell collection. Paired groups of mounds along the plazas edge were associated with specific clans, arranged according to social power and prestige. 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. It is currently These settlements rose to prominence beginning in the 800s during a period of favourable weather patterns that allowed them to create stable, agriculture-based societies, said Dennis Peterson, an archaeologist and manager of the Spiro site.
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