Plum Bayou Mounds Archeological State Park

{{Short description|Archaeological site from the Late Woodland period in Arkansas}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}} {{Use American English|date=March 2023}} {{Infobox ancient site | name = Plum Bayou Mounds 3 LN 42 | alternate_name = Toltec Mounds | image = Toltec Mounds Archeological Site Overview HRoe 2013.jpg | image_size = 250 | alt = | caption = Artist's conception of the archaeological site | map = | map_type = North America | map_alt = | map_caption = Location in North America | map_size = 250 | relief = yes | coordinates = {{coord|34|38|49|N|92|3|55|W|region:US-AR_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | location = Lonoke County, Arkansas, US | region = Central Arkansas | type = Settlement | built = 7th century | abandoned = 11th century | epochs = | cultures = Plum Bayou culture | event = | excavations = | archaeologists = | ownership = Government of Arkansas | management = Arkansas State Parks | public_access = Yes | website = {{official website}} | architectural_styles = platform mounds, burial mounds, plazas | architectural_details = Number of monuments: {{Infobox NRHP|embed=yes|name=Plum Bayou Mounds Site|nrhp_type=nhl|area= |architect = |architecture= |designated_nrhp_type=June 2, 1978<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1322&ResourceType=Site |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021116064345/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1322&ResourceType=Site |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 16, 2002 |title=Toltec Mounds Site|date=2007-09-26|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>|added=January 12, 1973<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref>|refnum=73000382}} | notes = Responsible body: State | designation1 = | designation1_offname = | designation1_type = | designation1_criteria = | designation1_date = | delisted1_date = | designation1_partof = | designation1_number = | designation1_free1name = | designation1_free1value = | designation1_free2name = | designation1_free2value = | designation1_free3name = | designation1_free3value = | designation2 = | designation2_offname = | designation2_type = | designation2_criteria = | designation2_date = | delisted2_date = | designation2_partof = | designation2_number = | designation2_free1name = | designation2_free1value = | designation2_free2name = | designation2_free2value = | designation2_free3name = | designation2_free3value = }}

'''Plum Bayou Mounds Archeological State Park''' (3 LN 42), formerly known as "Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park",<ref name="rename1">{{Cite web |date=2022-11-02 |title=Toltec Mounds renamed Plum Bayou Mounds |url=https://archeology.uark.edu/who-we-are/research-stations/toltec-renamed-plum-bayou-mounds/ |access-date=2022-11-07 |language=en}}</ref> also known as '''Knapp Mounds''', '''Toltec Mounds''' or '''Toltec Mounds site''', is an archaeological site from the Late Woodland period in Arkansas that protects an 18-mound complex with the tallest surviving prehistoric mounds in Arkansas. The site is on the banks of Mound Lake, an oxbow lake of the Arkansas River. It was occupied by its original inhabitants from the 7th to the 11th century.<ref name=ROLINGSON/> The site is designated as a National Historic Landmark.

==Name== The identification of the site with the Toltec of Mexico was a 19th-century misinterpretation. It was thought that the Toltec people lived in North America and built the mounds.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rolingson |first=Martha Ann |date=November 9, 2022 |title=Toltec Mounds Site |url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/toltec-mounds-site-413/ |access-date=2022-12-23 |website=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |language=en-US}}</ref> Mary Knapp was the co-owner of the land from 1849 to 1905. She and her first husband purchased the land in 1849, and the land passed to her after his death. She and her second husband made subsequent land purchases near the site.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=Arkansas archaeology : essays in honor of Dan and Phyllis Morse |date=1999 |publisher=University of Arkansas Press |others=Robert C. Mainfort, Marvin D. Jeter, Dan F. Morse, Phyllis A. Morse |isbn=978-1-61075-029-5 |location=Fayetteville |pages=127–128 |oclc=609350684}}</ref> Mary was interested in archeology and had become acquainted with Dr. William Barry who was also interested in Native American artifacts and customs. Mary entered into correspondence with Barry discussing the "Toltec Mounds" site and Barry passed her letter on to Joseph Henry, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Mary would go on to correspond directly with Henry as well as forward artefacts she had collected from the site to the Smithsonian.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Knapp |first=Mary Eliza |date=1877 |title=EARTH WORKS OX THE ARKANSAS RIVER, SIXTEEN MILES BELOW LITTLE ROCK |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7959919 |journal=Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution |volume=1877 |pages=251 |via=Biodiversity Heritage Library}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

This would lead to investigations at the site by archaeologist Edward Palmer from the Smithsonian Institutions Bureau of American Ethnology in 1883 as well as by others which proved that the indigenous ancestors of regional Native Americans built these mounds and all other mounds within the present-day United States. They were part of mound building cultures that flourished from the Late Archaic period into the Protohistoric period.<ref name=ROLINGSON/> They built earthwork mounds for religious, political and ceremonial purposes, connecting them to their cosmology.

Originally, the name ''Plum Bayou'' was borrowed from a nearby waterway and applied to the distinctive culture of the site, discussed below. The site was officially renamed in November 2022 following consultation with the Quapaw Nation and the Arkansas Archaeological Survey.<ref name="rename1"/><ref name="rename2">{{Cite news |title=State renames Toltec Mounds park to Plum Bayou Mounds Archeological State Park |url=https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/nov/03/state-renames-toltec-mounds-park-to-plum-bayou/ |date=November 3, 2022 |last=Moss |first=Theresa |periodical=Arkansas Democrat-Gazette}}</ref>

==Plum Bayou culture== The people who built the mounds at Plum Bayou Mounds had a culture distinct from other contemporary Native American groups in the Mississippi Valley. Plum Bayou sites are found throughout the White River and Arkansas River floodplains of central and eastern Arkansas, but are also found as far west as the eastern Ozark Mountains. Plum Bayou Mounds is the largest site of the eponymous culture. Their relationships with neighboring cultures such as the Coles Creek culture to the south and Fourche Maline culture to the southwest are still under investigation.<ref name=ROLINGSON/> The people lived in permanent villages and hamlets throughout the countryside. They built sturdy houses, farmed, gathered wild plants, fished, and hunted.

===Plum Bayou Mounds Site=== thumb|250px|left|Two mounds at the site Mound groups, such as this one, were religious and social centers for people living in the surrounding countryside. Plum Bayou Mounds itself had a small population, made up primarily of political and religious leaders of the community and their families. This center was occupied from the 7th to the 11th century.

Located on the banks of an oxbow lake, the archaeological site once had an {{convert|8|-|10|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} and {{convert|5298|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} earthen embankment and ditch on three sides. The other side was the lake, now called Mound Pond. Eighteen mounds were built inside the high curving 1 mile embankment, and two were originally {{convert|38|and|49|ft}} high. Mounds were placed along the edges of two open areas (plazas) which were used for political, religious, and social activities attended by people from the vicinity. At least two mounds were used for feasting, as indicated by discarded food remains. Deer were a favorite food. Mound locations seem to have been planned using principles based on the alignment with important solar positions and standardized units of measurement. Most of the mounds were flat-topped platform mounds with buildings on them. Other Native Americans lived on the site in the 15th century, but they did not build the mounds.<ref name=rename1></ref>

The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1978,<ref name="nhlsum"/><ref name="nhlnom">{{cite web|url= http://www.nps.gov/nhl/designations/samples/ar/ToltecMoundsSite.pdf|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121022204814/http://www.nps.gov/nhl/designations/samples/ar/ToltecMoundsSite.pdf|url-status= dead|archive-date= October 22, 2012|title=National Historic Landmark Nomination|date=1978-02-08|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref> and an Arkansas State Archeological Landmark in 2025.<ref name="KATV">{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Kylon |date=2025-03-17 |title=Three Arkansas State Parks earn State Archeological Landmarks designations |url=https://katv.com/news/local/three-arkansas-state-parks-earn-state-archeological-landmarks-designations-plum-bayou-mounds-parkin-state-park-davidsonville-native-americans-quapaw-nation-european-hernando-de-soto-ceremonies |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=KATV News}}</ref>

==Culture, phase and chronological table for the Plum Bayou Mound site==

{| class="wikitable" ! Period || Lower Yazoo Phase || Dates || Tensas/Natchez Phase || ''Toltec Phase'' || Dates |- | rowspan="1"| Historic | Russell | 1650–1750 CE | Tensas/Natchez | Quapaw ? | 1673 |- |rowspan=3| Plaquemine/Mississippian culture ''Late Plaquemine/Mississippian'' ''Middle Plaquemine/Mississippian'' ''Early Plaquemine/Mississippian'' | Wasp Lake | 1400–1650 CE | Transylvania/Emerald | Quapaw ? | 1650 |- | Lake George | 1300–1400 CE | Fitzhugh/Foster | – | – |- | Winterville | 1200–1300 CE | Routh/Anna | – | – |- | rowspan="1"| Transitional Coles Creek | Crippen Point | 1050–1200 CE | Preston/Gordon | – | – |- |rowspan=3| Coles Creek culture ''Late Coles Creek'' ''Middle Coles Creek'' ''Early Coles Creek'' | Kings Crossing | 950–1050 CE | Balmoral | – | – |- | Aden | 800–950 CE | Ballina | Steele Bend | 750–900 CE |- | Bayland | 600–800 CE | Sundown | Dortch Bend | 600–750 CE |- | rowspan="2"| Baytown culture ''Baytown 2'' ''Baytown 1'' | Deasonville | 500–600 CE | Marsden | Dooley Bend | 400–600 CE |- | Little Sunflower | 400–500 CE | Indian Bayou | – | – |- | rowspan="2"| Marksville culture ''Late Marksville'' ''Early Marksville'' | Issaquena | 200–400 CE | Issaquena | – | – |- | Anderson Landing | 0–200 CE | Point Lake/Grand Gulf | – | – |- | rowspan="1"| Tchefuncte culture | Tuscola | 400 BCE–0 CE | Panther Lake | – | – |} Table taken from "Emerging Patterns of Plum Bayou Culture:Preliminary Investigations of the Toltec Mounds Research Project", by Martha Ann Rolingson, 1982.<ref name=ROLINGSON>{{cite book |author-link=Martha Ann Rolingson|last=Rolingson|first=Martha Ann|title= Emerging Patterns of Plum Bayou Culture:Preliminary Investigations of the Toltec Mounds Research Project| year= 1982 |publisher= Arkansas Archaeological Survey|isbn= 1-56349-042-0}}</ref>

==See also== * Poverty Point * Watson Brake

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

==External links== {{Commons category}}  * {{official website}} * {{YouTube|Ik_3YapadZ4|Archeology at Plum Bayou Mounds Archeological State Park}} * {{TripAdvisor}}

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Category:Archaeological museums in Arkansas Category:Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas Category:Arkansas populated places on the Arkansas River Category:Buildings and structures on the Arkansas River Category:Former populated places in Arkansas Category:Mounds in Arkansas Category:Museums in Lonoke County, Arkansas Category:National Historic Landmarks in Arkansas Category:National Register of Historic Places in Lonoke County, Arkansas Category:Native American history of Arkansas Category:Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas Category:Plum Bayou culture Category:Populated places established in the 7th century Category:Populated places disestablished in the 11th century Category:Populated places on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas Category:Protected areas established in 1973 Category:Protected areas of Lonoke County, Arkansas Category:State parks of Arkansas

Plum Bayou Mounds Archeological State Park

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