Knapp Trail Guide Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park

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1 Knapp Trail Guide Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park

2 Toltec Mounds Exhibit Area Toltec Mounds Exhibit Area Special interpretive programs for groups are available upon request and by reservation. Contact the park for current rates, program offerings, and additional information. Seasonal lake tours of Mound Pond are available by reservation. Pick up your copy of the Toltec Mounds State Park Calendar of Events for a complete listing of workshops, classes, day camps and other special events held year round.

3 Welcome to Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park! You are about to embark on a very special tour of this prehistoric Native American site. The Knapp Trail is 3/4 of a mile long and is fully paved and accessible. Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park 490 Toltec Mounds Road Scott, Arkansas Fax: toltecmounds@arkansas.com Park Hours Open: Tuesday through Saturday 8 AM to 5 PM Sunday Noon to 5 PM Closed: Monday (except Monday holidays) Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve (open 8 AM to Noon), Christmas Day, and New Year s Day To preserve scenic beauty, it is important that you stay on the trail and do not disturb plants, animals or the site. Do not dig on the site or climb the mounds. Caution and supervision of your children and pets are required. This is not only for the protection of the site, but for your safety as well. Enjoy your tour! 16 1

4 Marker #1 In the modern farmlands of the Arkansas River Valley are the remains of an impressive group of earthworks called the Toltec Mounds. These earthworks were built by Native Americans 1,000 years ago. Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park is by far one of the most intriguing archeological sites in the southeastern United States. The prehistoric people who inhabited the Toltec site from 650 to 1050 AD were named the Plum Bayou culture. Archeologists, get this name from a local stream. The name Toltec Mounds given to the archeological site is actually a misnomer. Mrs. Gilbert Knapp, who owned the site from 1848 to 1905, mistakenly thought the mounds were associated with the Toltec people of Mexico. Investigations by archeologists in 1883 supported the idea that these mounds, like others in North America, had been built by the ancestors of North American Indians and not by people from Mexico. The site was abandoned for unknown reasons around 1050 AD, long before European exploration. The builders of the site cannot be identified with any modern Indian tribe due to lack of oral or written records. The mound complex is located on the bank of an oxbow lake with a ten-foot high earthen embankment and ditch on three sides. Early visitors more than a century ago reported that sixteen mounds stood within the embankment varying in height from three to fifty feet. Today, eighteen mound locations have been identified. Farming activities over the past 150 years have caused considerable destruction to the archeological site. Many mounds and a large portion of the embankment have been plowed down. It is possible to relocate the mounds and embankment by using maps made in the 1880 s, through aerial photography, by studying concentrations of artifacts on the surface and through excavation. Three mounds, including the tallest mound in Arkansas, are easily seen today. The other mounds are designated by red markers with white letters and changes in vegetation. The location of the embankment wall is shown with orange cones. At this point you have just crossed over what was once the embankment wall. The concrete walkway behind you extends over the ditch constructed by the Plum Bayou people alongside the embankment. 2 Using Mound A as a place of observation, the Summer Solstice sunrise occurs over Mound B but the Winter Solstice sunrise is not marked by a mound. The equinox sunrises are over Mounds G and H. Sometime around A.D the Plum Bayou culture abandoned the Toltec site. We do not know where they went or why they left. The Quapaw tribe lived in several villages along the Arkansas River long after the Plum Bayou people were gone. They, or other people visited the site occasionally for ceremonies, but the Quapaw tribe did not live here or add to the mounds. Each year Toltec Mounds State Park encourages visitors to experience the Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, and Fall Equinox sunsets on Mound H the way the Plum Bayou culture did over 1,000 years ago. Please make plans to bring your family and friends this year! We hope you have enjoyed your tour through a part of Arkansas history. If you have any questions please ask park staff at the visitor center, or call (501)

5 Marker #9 Archeological investigations over the past few decades have found that much planning went into the placement of the mounds. Some mounds were placed to line up with each other and with the positions of the sun on the horizon at sunrise and sunset on the solstices and equinoxes. The position of the sun on the horizon changes throughout the year. The Plum Bayou people most likely observed these changes to mark the shifting of the seasons for planting and harvesting of crops and for scheduling of ceremonies and feasts. Mound H was used as a place for observation. On the first day of summer (June 21 st ), known as the summer solstice, the sun will set directly behind Mound B. On the first day of fall and on the first day of spring (September 21 st and March 21 st ) known as the autumnal and vernal equinoxes, the sun will set behind Mound A. On the winter solstice (December 21 st ) the sun will set over Mound S. Standing on Mound H, the Plum Bayou Culture could watch where the sun set and mark the changes of the seasons. 14 WINTER Mound S FALL SPRING Mound A Mound H SUMMER Mound B NC Research today indicates the Toltec site was a ceremonial gathering center. The Native Americans who lived in the center were most likely religious leaders of a larger community and their families. Archeologists think no more than 50 to 100 people would have lived in the center. Most of the population lived in scattered villages and farmsteads in the surrounding area. These people probably came to the site several times a year to participate in special ceremonies and to renew social and family ties. Marker #2 The Plum Bayou people dug a ditch and piled soil to form an earthen embankment around the site on three sides. The fourth side along the oxbow lake did not have an embankment. Since there was no embankment along the lake bank we know the embankment was not used for flood control. The embankment wall was not very tall, about 10 feet, and did not have a palisade or a fence on it. There were also several gaps in the embankment to allow people to enter and exit the site. Therefore, the embankment was most likely not used for protection from enemies. Archeologists think that the embankment was a boundary marker to separate this sacred area, where the priest and chief of the tribe lived, from the more secular world outside. Most of the embankment has been plowed down by farmers and the ditch filled in, except for this small section in front of you and another area in the woods to the south are all that remain. 3

6 The embankment, like the mounds, was made of soil. The Plum Bayou people made the earthworks by piling thousands of basket loads of soil on the ground. Archeologists sometimes can detect where each basket load was placed as they excavate because baskets were filled with soils of various colors. Stay to the left of the trail to locate marker #3. Marker #3 The mound to the right of the trail is identified as Mound C. It is 12 feet tall and was used for human burial. This is the only known mound constructed for burial at the Toltec site. The Plum Bayou people would place many individuals at a single location and cover them with soil. This was done over a period of time and resulted in a low conical or dome-shaped mound. Tools and pottery generally were not included with the burials, so it is difficult to pinpoint specific times of burial. Marker #8 Mound G is noteable for its unusual length. It is over 300 feet long and 150 feet wide and may have been 4 feet tall. It was built as a platform mound and was enlarged over a period of time. Archeologists have excavated part of a circular building that was built here before the mound was constructed. Archeologists rarely find the actual wooden poles used in the construction of a prehistoric building, however, as the wood decays over time a stain is left in the soil. This stain is called a post mold. Post molds allow archeologists to determine the size and shape of a building from long ago. Behind you, Mounds I, J, K, L, M, and O have been damaged but are marked by signs. These mounds border another rectangular area thought to have been a second plaza. This area has not yet been investigated through excavation. 4 13

7 While the Arkansas River is now three miles away, it was only one mile away when the Plum Bayou people lived here. This oxbow lake is called Mound Pond although it formed naturally. Waterways such as the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers were an important part of life for Native Americans at this site. They used dugout canoes, such as the one in the visitor center and similar to the one on the observation deck, to travel the waters and to trade goods with other tribes. Canoes were made from a variety of trees, including the bald cypress and pine. The large trees at the edge of the lake with the spreading trunks are bald cypress. Archeologists know the Native Americans who lived here had contact and traded with people along the Mississippi River. Fragments of a conch shell that would have come from the Gulf of Mexico as well as copper that would have come from the Great Lakes area, were uncovered by archeologists. Marker #7 Mound B stands 39 feet tall and is a platform mound. Platform mounds were used for ceremonies or as the location of a building such as a temple or a residence for an important person. A small excavation on the southeast corner of Mound B was conducted in Due to the steep slope the mound was excavated in a step fashion. Because of this study we know this mound was not built all at one time but in several levels or stages. Layers of midden (trash) from occupations were present on three of these levels, indicating the presence of a structure that was used as a residence. This residence was likely made of wooden poles and cane mats and could have been where the chief of the tribe lived. Without archeology we would not be able to learn about the people of long ago. However, most people believe that bones of their ancestors and grave goods must be treated with respect and remain in the earth forever. In recent years, Native Americans have protested the digging of bones and artifacts to learn more about the past. Federal law now provides a way for Native Americans to reclaim bones and for special artifacts to be returned to their tribes. In Arkansas, it is now illegal to dig up human burials except in special circumstances and with permission. Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1991: This act addresses the rights of lineal descendants of Indian tribes to claim certain Native American human remains and cultural items with which they are affiliated. NAGPRA applies standards for intentional excavations and inadvertent discoveries of human remains and related cultural items. The act calls for museums with federal collections to conduct summaries and inventories of all human remains and cultural items for repatriation to affiliated tribes. Lineal descent and cultural affiliation along with repatriation limitations and remedies are also defined. Arkansas Act 753 of 1991: This act states that on PUBLIC OR PRIVATE LANDS, it is UNLAWFUL to excavate, disturb, destroy, display for profit, buy, sell or barter human skeletal burial remains or burial furniture including burial markers, items of personal adornment, casket and casket hardware, stone and bone tools, pottery vessels, or other similar objects placed in apparent intentional association with the burial. This applies to both historic and prehistoric graves and burials. Violators are subject to arrest. Conviction can carry criminal penalties of up to six years in prison and/or a maximum fine of $10,000. Protect the cultural heritage of Arkansas. Report any violation or suspected violation you observe to your nearest law enforcement official. 12 5

8 Marker #4 The mounds visible here are arranged around a rectangular area called the plaza. The plaza may have been used as a field for dances, festivals, feasts or ceremonies. A Native American game called Chunkey was played by many tribes throughout the southeast and could have been played in this plaza here at Toltec. Two men played against each other, sometimes representing two clans within a tribe. One person rolled a round stone called a chunkey stone and both men ran after it with long sticks called chung-kes. Then men had to throw their sticks as close as possible to the stone before it stopped rolling to win the game. The Plum Bayou people probably used several types of weapons. Primarily they used a bow and arrow for hunting game. River cane growing nearby was most likely used to make shafts for arrows. Archeologists have uncovered many stone tools including arrow points, knives, drills, awls, axes, and adzes. These tools were made through a process known as flintknapping. To make a sharp point or blade, prehistoric people sharpened a rock by knocking off flakes around the edges with another rock or by using a billet made from a deer antler. The people at the Toltec site commonly used a type of rock called chert collected from gravel bars in the river. Novaculite and quartz crystal, found in rock formations in the Ouachita Mountains, were also used for making stone points. Marker #6 You are now standing on what was the Arkansas River over 4,000 years ago. The river flowed through this area long before the Plum Bayou culture lived at the Toltec site. The Plum Bayou people saw this waterway as the oxbow lake you see today. Over time, rivers and their channels meander over the floodplain and lakes such as this one are formed. Behind you, in the woods at the southern end of the site, the embankment is visible. This is the best preserved section of the embankment and outside ditch. In front of the embankment is the remnant of a barrow pit where the Plum Bayou people dug and collected soil to build the mounds. This area is wooded because the land is low and wet much of the year. 6 11

9 Marker #5 Mound R is located near the lake bank and has not been excavated. Mound A, the tallest mound in Arkansas, stands nearly 50 feet tall. This platform mound has not been excavated so its use is unknown. Mounds of similar size and shape found at other archeological sites were commonly used for ceremonial purposes. At this time, there are no plans for excavating Mound A. Trees and brush have been removed from the remaining mounds for preservation purposes. The stumps of the trees removed from the mound have been left to decay naturally. After the removal of the trees, grass seed was planted to stop further erosional damage. The Plum Bayou people ate a variety of wild and cultivated food. They hunted all kinds of mammals including deer, squirrel, and raccoon. They also ate turkeys, geese, ducks, and a variety of other birds including the passenger pigeon which is extinct today. Archeologists found evidence of these people eating fish and turtles, as well as, acorns, nuts, berries, and greens. They cultivated several native grasses such as maygrass, little barley, pigweed and amaranth, as well as, squashes and maize that originated in the tropics. The Toltec site is on a flood plain. The floods deposited a new layer of soil each year making the land good for farming. Although maize (corn) was grown here, it was only a small part of the diet. The Plum Bayou people made and fired pots from clay they collected locally. The containers they commonly made were bowls and deep jars that were used for cooking and to hold and store food. Most of the decoration on the pots was simple, with a few incised lines or notches placed around the upper edge. Some of the bowls were coated with a slip or film of red clay. Mound S is a low, flat mound that was excavated over a decade ago. Archeologists did not find a house or other structure here. Large amounts of deer and turkey bones and charred seeds and nut shells were found. In fact, there was more food consumed on this mound than was needed by the few people living here at any one time. This discovery leads archeologists to think that Mound S was a location for ceremonies that included feasts. Mound D was the fourth tallest mound on the site at roughly 5 feet high. The top of the mound was removed in the 1950 s to use the soil in other places. It was large in area, measuring 105 by 124 feet, but started out as a small mound or flat earthen platform and was enlarged by adding soil. Three seasons of excavations ( ) uncovered two large deposits of broken animal bones, charred seeds, pottery, and stone tools. Mound D may have had a priest s residence on it and also was the location for community feasts. Mound E was the fifth tallest mound on the site. It was a flat platform slightly smaller than Mound D. It has been badly damaged by farming and is not visible today. The objectives of the excavation were to determine how much of the mound is still present and where it is located. About 1 foot of mound fill survives. 10 7

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