Spiro Mound Group
About this property
Spiro Mounds (34 LF 40) is an Indigenous archaeological site located in present-day eastern Oklahoma. The site was built by people from the Arkansas Valley Caddoan culture that was part of the Mississippian culture. The 150-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. Between the 9th and 15th centuries, the local Indigenous people created a religious and political center, culturally linked to the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex identified by anthropologists as the Mississippian Ideological Interaction Sphere (MIIS). Spiro was one of four regional centers used by the Caddoan Mississippian culture. These four centers were Cahokia, located in present-day East St. Louis, Moundville, in present-day Alabama, Etowah, in present-day Georgia, and Spiro. Spiro was a major western outpost of Mississippian culture which dominated the Mississippi Valley and its tributaries for centuries. In the 1930s during the Great Depression, treasure hunters bought the rights to tunnel into Craig Mound—the second-largest mound on the site—to mine it for artifacts. Without concern for scientific research, they exposed a hollow burial chamber inside the mound, a unique feature containing some of the most extraordinary pre-Columbian artifacts ever found in the United States. The treasure hunters sold the artifacts they recovered to art collectors, some as far away as Europe. The artifacts included works of fragile, perishable materials: textiles and feathers that had been uniquely preserved in the conditions of the closed chamber. Later, steps were taken to protect the site. 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. Later, some of the artifacts sold by treasure hunters were returned to regional museums and the Caddo Nation, but many artifacts from the site have never been accounted for. Since the late 20th century, the Spiro Mounds site has been protected by the Oklahoma Historical Society and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Spiro Mound Group listed on the National Register?
Spiro Mound Group was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 29, 1969.
What type of historic resource is Spiro Mound Group?
Spiro Mound Group is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Spiro Mound Group?
The period of significance for Spiro Mound Group is recorded as the pre_contact era.
Can I research the history near Spiro Mound Group?
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