Vanessa Canfield

Intro to Archaeology

Written Assignment: From Mounds to Mammoths

Big-Game Hunters

The big-game hunters existed from about 25,000 BC to 5,000 BC. The first Paleo-

Indians are known as big game hunters because of their successful skills of taking down the

big animals during the last ice age. Some of the animals they hunted consisted of bison,

short-faced bear, mammoths, mastodons, and ground sloths. The most common kill for these

Paleo-Indians was bison and mammoths.

Discovery of the Cooperton site in 1961 brought the bones of a mammoth to the

modern world. Radiocarbon dating shows these findings to be about 17,000 years old. The

archaeologists assume this mammoth died around hominids by the way some of the bones

were broken and also what appear to be hammer stones surrounding the mammoth

skeleton. They believe this mammoth was not killed but the tribe of hominids used the

mammoth’s bones, marrow, and perhaps skins to make tools, clothing, etc. Other

archaeological digs in Oklahoma such as the Domebo site suggest a more hostile

environment. Bones found along side spear tips and arrowheads suggest a hunt. By the time

the Folsom people were hunting, about 10,000 years ago, most of the mammoth population

had died out. Their main hunt was bison and buffalo. The Folsom people hunted these

prehistoric bison by foot since they had not domesticated horses yet. They tried to herd the

bison in areas where they could be trapped and easier killed from somewhat of a distance.

The Foragers

The foragers existed from 5,000 BC to AD 1. These people were hunters of smaller

more modern game such as deer and buffalo. In addition to hunting, the foragers gathered

nuts, berries, grains, and roots to support their diets. They formulated digging tools and had

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the help of domesticated dogs to find and harvest the vegetation. Other tools, such as axes,

hammers, grinding tools, etc, were made from pecked and ground stone. Atlatls, dart-

throwing device, were also utilized during this period.

The Calf Creek culture lived in Oklahoma about 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. They hunted

small and large game and gathered vegetation and seeds from their surrounding foliage

using skin bags and woven baskets. They had a wide array of tools such as large spearheads,

knives, and scrapers. Most of the Calf Creek sites known today are severely damaged from

the ever-changing climate. Other forager cultures thrived across the plains of Oklahoma.

Archaeologist found evidence of a cooking area during the Gore Pit dig in Comanche county.

The foragers camped in natural made caves or bluffs. These provided overhead and

sometimes surrounding walls of protection from the elements.

Early Western Farmers

The early western farmers existed from AD 1 to AD 1000. The Neolithic revolution

brought the foraging and nomadic way of life to an end. Farming was more reliable and was

taking over as the common form of living. Farmers were building semi permanent structures

to live in along side their families, which could have included the extended family.

Archaeologists are unable at this time to determine who the first farmers in Oklahoma were.

The formation of a farming culture drew a need for food storage. Pottery made from

clay was utilized during the farming period. Clay was easy to work with and durable to the

elements of plain life. Women traditionally made these clay pots and the men are thought to

made tools during this period. Much like other civilizations, when farming comes, villages

closely follow. By AD 500 villages dotted along the three forks area and up to the mountains.

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Houses of these peoples were more permanent and often utilized thatch and mud as the

main building materials. The homes are thought to be circular like that of a hearth.

Plains Village Farmers

The plains village farmers existed around AD 800 to AD 1,400. By this time crops of

corn, beans, and squash were being regularly grown in the plains area. They also hunted

local animals and fished occasionally. Villages continued to be formed around or near water

for irrigation purposes. During this time the climate changed dramatically for the plains

Indians and they were doused by drought and storms. The crops were becoming unreliable

so new forms of hunting were created. The bow and arrow were used to hunt deer, turkey,

elk, antelope, wolf, cougars, coyote, fox, and other small game. There is not evidence of large

kills such as bison during this period.

Food preparation and preservation was greatly improved during this time. Food

storage units called cashes were dug deeper into the ground providing a better climate to

preserve crops. Women began to cook over fire inside and outside of the houses in pots and

other pottery vessels. Art was also becoming prevalent during this time. Small, perhaps

religions, figures were found at sites from this period. Villages remain small during this time

not exceeding 150 inhabitants. The houses became more angular and had a rectangular

shape. Weight-barring posts were used as the structure’s support. From archaeological digs

it appears that these villages buried their dead in cemeteries outside of the village where

people lived. Some of the bodies were found with various items buried with them suggesting

they had some sort of afterlife idea or religious beliefs about death. Sites that date from this

time include the Roy Smith site in the panhandle of Oklahoma.

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Caddoan Mound Builders

The Caddoan mound builders existed from AD 1,000 to AD 1,500. The Caddoan

mound builders most likely were decedents of the Caddo or Wichita tribes. They lived along

the Arkansas River Valley in northeastern Oklahoma. Archaeologists believe the Caddo

Mound builders were a matrilineal culture.

The Harlan site is the earliest known major Caddoan culture in Oklahoma. The site

included one large mound and three smaller mounds. The large mound held 127 bodies.

Skeletons were found lying on their sides in a flexed position. Burial goods were included in

these mounds. Goods vary from common every day items used in the culture to lavish items

subject to the upper class. Other items such as arrowheads, spear points, knives, pottery

vessels, beads (shell, stone, and wood), earrings, pipes, and small figurines were found.

Excavators found little evidence of any people living in close proximity to these mounds.

Indicating these were a place of religious center. It is estimated that this site is from AD 700

to AD 1200.

The mounds at Spiro are the most famous of the sites known today. The site’s wide

spread fame is in reaction to the well-preserved artifacts found and controversy surrounding

the excavation. In the 1930s local inhabitants, the “Pocola Mining Company,” dug into the

mounds and carried numerous artifacts away never to be seen again. Some even appeared in

East Coast markets bringing extremely high prices. The archaeological community was in an

uproar. When the National Research Council chairman, Carl Gurthe, heard of this event he

contacted Forrest Clements at the University of Oklahoma to investigate this “dig.” After

Clements arrived he was horrified at the disarray of the site. He quickly halted this “dig” and

began a scientific dig in 1936. The mounds still held a large amount of artifacts and

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information about the Spiro culture. Spiro was a major religious center. The Spiro elites are

called chiefdoms and this is the highest-ranking person over resources the Spiro people

utilized. They traded and indulged in luxury goods from far off places. Another great mound

is the Great Mortuary of the Spiroan people. From this mound area, archaeologists

determine the different classes of Spiroan citizens and how they were treated, even in death.

The religion of the Caddoan people is translated to us through their various art works,

weapons, baskets, and clothing. Engraving on shells tells archaeologist stories about the lives

of the Caddoan people. Depictions of animals in a hunt or people dancing can be found on

these engravings. Archaeologists are not sure what happened during the last century of the

Caddoan inhabitation period. Mound building gradually stopped but farming continued and

so did trade.

Early Historic Buffalo Hunters

The early historic buffalo hunters existed from AD 1,500 to AD 1,700. The climate was

changing again and with this change the land became hard to farm. Inhabitants of Oklahoma

turned, again, to buffalo hunting (they also hunted deer, elk, rabbits, etc). Buffalo hunting

was done with bows and arrows. Permanent homes were abandoned to follow the buffalo

herds by foot. The houses were made of grasses and covered with hides from the buffalo.

Buffalo provided meats, hide for clothing and shelter, and tools for the buffalo hunters. The

hunters used every part of the buffalo letting none of it go to waste. Even drinking the blood

on occasion. They dried meat to take with them if the kill was too much for immediate

eating. Around AD 1,700 the European explorers introduced the domesticated horse to the

hunters. Horses made hunting buffalo a much easier task.

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However, once the European explorers found the buffalo the hunters had little to hunt.

Buffalo were hunted to near extinction. Some tribes died out completely due to lack of food

and resources that the buffalo provided. The buffalo hunters became hostile during this

period fighting with not only the Europeans but also other tribes.

The Duncan site is a site excavated and dated to this time period. Harold Brighton

first excavated the site in 1951. In 1981 and 1983 the site continued to be scientifically

excavated. Artifacts found include large quantities of buffalo bone, obsidian, turquoise,

painted ceramics, and shells from costal areas. One major find from this site is a palisade.