Ancient Civilizations Quiz for ATSers

Originally posted by MuzzleBreak

This is a place not far from my home.
I'm no archeologist, but this is a very interesting thread.
Thanks





This is my first attempt at posting pix, hope it works.

Hi there,
So I have some questions,
Are you saying the figurines and the very largest chipped stone point are from the same site?
From the people in the pic I'd say its in the south, Texas maybe.

Is there anything else you can tell us without giving it away.

"Hi there,
So I have some questions,
Are you saying the figurines and the very largest chipped stone point are from the same site?
From the people in the pic I'd say its in the south, Texas maybe.

Is there anything else you can tell us without giving it away. "

_____________________________

Yes--the figurine and the point are from the same site, as was this item:



Not in Texas, but not far away.

reply to post by MuzzleBreak

Hmmm. Not Texas but close by,
The point has Clovis like attributes , but its not Clovis


Are we talking about Arkansas?

This particular site is not in Arkansas.

reply to post by punkinworks10


Louisiana really starts to come to mind

Not Louisiana, but not far away.
Another pict of early excavation:

It's Arkansas

reply to post by punkinworks10


It's about 15 miles west of Ft. Smith, AR.

Another tool from the site:

Nice ,
I thought that the only place you could find the verticality, shown in the photos would be in AK.
Well then that gives us a starting point.
Hmmmmmmmm

It's in The Arkansas River valley, about 15 miles from the nearest hills/mountains. These mounds were built by hand. The largest is a burial mound.

reply to post by MuzzleBreak


Hmmmmmm,
I'm on track

The Mississippi mound builders?

Originally posted by kimish
The Mississippi mound builders?

Yes, these were part of the Mississippi and Caddo mound builders;

The Spiro Mounds State Park is located north of Spiro OK, and just south of the Arkansas River. Most of the excavations were done privately by the Pocola Mining Company and then the WPA in the 1930's.

"CRAIG MOUND & ARTIFACTS
SPIRO MOUND SITE
LE FLORE CO., OKLAHOMA
MISSISSIPPIAN PERIOD, CADDOAN CULTURE

Some of the photographs in this article were taken by professor Robert Bell in 1935 and 1937. Robert Bell was born in 1914 in Marion, Ohio and is now deceased. He became interested in archaeology at an early age and began attending Ohio State University in 1936. He also attended the University of New Mexico and later the University of Chicago where he received his PhD. He accepted a teaching position at the University of Oklahoma and was curator of Archaeology at the Stovall Museum of Science and history at the University of Oklahoma."


lithiccastinglab.com...

Originally posted by kimish
The Mississippi mound builders?

nice call brother

reply to post by MuzzleBreak


Nice man,
The combo of the huge point and the meso American figurines, tossed me for a loop

Originally posted by punkinworks10
reply to post by MuzzleBreak

 

Nice man,
The combo of the huge point and the meso American figurines, tossed me for a loop

Yes, there is quite a mix there. How much was produced by the mound builders, and how much was traded/imported--I have no idea. Do you think Mayan influence some?

reply to post by MuzzleBreak

W
There is absolutely a connection between meso America and the mound builders.
It's only after you have the introduction of corn agriculture from central america.
There is a direct correlation between a major volcanic event in mexico and the arrival of agriculture in the gulf states. From there the culture spread up the inland river systems along existing trade routes .
For more info I recomend
lostworlds.org...

reply to post by Hanslune


Well, at least I pegged your piece as being organic, Hans. And that's as close as I got!

Originally posted by punkinworks10
reply to post by MuzzleBreak

 

W
There is absolutely a connection between meso America and the mound builders.
It's only after you have the introduction of corn agriculture from central america.
There is a direct correlation between a major volcanic event in mexico and the arrival of agriculture in the gulf states. From there the culture spread up the inland river systems along existing trade routes .
For more info I recomend
lostworlds.org...

I'm not sure that site is up to date in their postings.

I know that the idea of Central America trade with the East Coast of the United States prior to 200 AD is debunked, though it was popular at one time. However, maize and Central American products really didn't have much of an impact on Native American culture east of Texas until after 800 AD.

Here's a better history that you might enjoy reading (origins of agriculture)

Originally posted by MuzzleBreak

Originally posted by punkinworks10
reply to post by MuzzleBreak

 

Nice man,
The combo of the huge point and the meso American figurines, tossed me for a loop

Yes, there is quite a mix there. How much was produced by the mound builders, and how much was traded/imported--I have no idea. Do you think Mayan influence some?

Actually, if you study the things, they're very stylistically distinct... and you can tell one culture's art from the other one's simply at a glance. The Mayans did not influence them, nor did they import Mayan goods. They were using pipestone and soapstone (very different from jade, with different hardnesses) and worked copper but not gold or other metals.

I love mound builder cultures! There's some field school opportunities available at the parks and one of these days (NOT this year) I'm going to go to one!