Parkin Archeological State Park
Encyclopedia
Parkin Archeological State Park, also known as Parkin Indian Mound, is an archeological site and state park in Parkin
, Cross County, Arkansas
. Around 1350–1650 CE
an aboriginal
palisade
d village
existed at the site, at the confluence of the St. Francis
and Tyronza Rivers. Artifacts
from this site are on display at the site museum. The Parkin Site is the type site
for the Parkin phase, an expression of Late Mississippian culture
. Many archeologists believe it to be part of the province
of Casqui
, documented as visited by Spanish
explorer Hernando de Soto in 1542. Archeological artifacts from the village
of the Parkin people are dated to 1400–1650 CE.
The Parkin site was declared a National Historic Landmark
in 1964 for its significance as a type site of the Parkin Phase. In 1966, the Parkin Indian Mound was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
. Parkin Archeological State Park is located at 60 Arkansas Highway 184 North, Parkin, Arkansas.
for an important Late Mississippian cultural component, the Parkin phase, which dates from about 1400–1700 CE
. The Parkin phase was a collection of villages along the St. Francis
and Tyronza Rivers. This culture is contemporary with the Caborn-Welborn culture and Menard
, Tipton
, Walls
and the Nodena
phases. It has been determined that the site was continuously occupied for at least 500 years.
In the early 1540s, the Spanish
Hernando de Soto expedition
is believed to have visited several sites in the Parkin Phase, which is usually identified as the Province of Casqui
, with the Nodena Phase being identified as the province of Pacaha
. The province takes its name from the chieftain
Casqui, who ruled the tribe from its primary village. The de Soto chroniclers indicate that political provinces, characterized by a paramount chief
living in a paramount town, with satellite vassal
towns surrounding it, were the major political institutions of this area. The Parkin phase is a series of twenty-one villages of varying sizes along the St. Francis and Tyronza rivers, most of them roughly 2.5 miles (4 km) apart from each other. These sites include the Rose Mound , Glover, Neeleys Ferry, and Barton Ranch.
During the preceding periods, homesteads and small villages had been spread throughout the area, but by this time endemic warfare
had forced the populations to consolidate into the palisaded villages. They would leave their villages during the day to farm their fields, collect wood, and hunt, but at night return to the safety of their well defended villages. The people of the Parkin phase were isolated from other phases to their east and southeast by swamp
s, which the Spanish chroniclers described as some of the worst they had crossed. The swamps acted as buffer zones in between the
hostile phases. As time went on, the material culture of the Parkin phase diverged more and more from the surrounding phases. Among other indicators, this diversion was characterized by changes in pottery designs and mortuary practices. The cultural changes show that the peoples of the Parkin phase were becoming isolated from their neighbors not only culturally but also physically. Motifs on artifacts found at the Parkin phase sites show that the people of Parkin were part of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
, an extensive religious and trade network that brought Mill Creek chert
, whelk
shells, and other exotic goods to the Parkin phase sites.
The people of Parkin were intensely involved in maize
agriculture
, as well as other food crop
s originating in the Americas, such as beans, gourds, squash, and sunflower
s. After the harvest maize was stored in large above ground cribs for consumption during the remainder of the year. They also gathered wild foodstuffs such as pecan
s and persimmon
s. The de Soto chroniclers described the area as being under heavy cultivation, and the most populous they had seen in La Florida. The Spaniards described groves of wild fruit and nut bearing trees, implying that the Parkin phase peoples must have left them standing when clearing other trees for the cultivation of maize
and their other crops. The hunting of whitetail deer
, squirrel
, rabbit
, turkey
, and mallard
was practiced as well as fishing for alligator gar
, catfish
, drum
, turtle
s and mussel
s. The two rivers and the moat must have been a very productive source of fish, as the de Soto chroniclers spoke often of "gifts of fish" from the residents of Casqui.
or Siouan
speaking. It is known that the Tunica were in the area at the time of the de Soto Entrada
, and the related group of phases present in the region may have all been Tunica peoples, with Caddoan
speakers to their west and south. By the time of later European contact in the 1670s and the beginning of the historic period, the area was occupied by the Dhegiha Siouan
speaking Quapaw
. Unsuccessful attempts have been made to connect pottery styles and words from the de Soto narratives with the Quapaw.
The site was a 17 acres (7 ha) palisade
d village
at the confluence
of the St. Francis
and Tyronza rivers. All other sites of the Parkin Phase are located on very fertile soil
, but not the Parkin Site. The soil is not adequate to support the population level that is thought to have resided at the site. It is believed that the large village was located at the confluence of the two rivers because this allowed the residents to control transportation and trade on the waterways.
The site had one large substructure mound and six smaller ones arranged around a central plaza
. The largest mound was 21.3 feet (6.5 m) tall, with a projecting terrace level that was 5 feet (1.5 m) tall. It is located beside the St. Francis River, with the plaza on its other side. The Spanish chroniclers describe the main mound as having a large structure at its summit, which was the residence of the chief, Casqui. Situated on the terrace level were the homes and other structures used by his wives and attendants.
The other six mounds ranged from 3.2 to 5 ft (0.97536 to 1.5 m) in height. The plaza would have been used for religious rituals and the playing of games such as chunkey
and the ballgame. Surrounding the plaza were numerous well-laid out houses, aligned to the axis of the mound and plaza, giving the whole site a planned look. The villages of this area were described as having few if any trees, probably because wood was the primary source of fuel and building materials. The Spanish camped amongst a nearby grove of trees to avoid the sweltering heat on the floodplain. Homes were built from wattle and daub
, with thatched roofs.
The palisade which surrounded the site on three sides was designed for defensive purposes. It had bastion
s at regular intervals, with archers
slots to defend against plundering enemies. Immediately outside the palisade was a large moat
, which surrounded the site on three sides and connected to the St. Francis River, which was its fourth side. The area inside the ditch
and palisade was 3.2 foot (0.97536 m) higher than the surrounding land. Although the level of the site may have been raised by the inhabitants, it is more likely that dirt and refuse built up in the confined space and raised its level gradually, similar to a tell
in the Middle East.
found at the Parkin Site is of the kind known as Mississippian Plain var. Neeleys Ferry and Barton Incised var. Togo (formerly called Parkin Punctated). Pottery found at Parkin phase sites are usually utilitarian wares rather than the elaborate mortuary types found at the Nodena, Kent or Walls phase burials. The archaeologist Clarence Bloomfield Moore
described pottery from St. Francis River sites with adjectives such as "lopsided", "insufficiently fired", "rude and scanty", of "inferior surface" and "great monotony". In fact elaborate effigy
pottery were also found at these sites, including five human head effigy pots, underwater panther
effigies, elaborate fish and dog effigies, and red and white spiral, swastika
and stripped bottles. The inclusion of less specifically mortuary wares found in graves seems to be a cultural difference between the Parkin peoples and the peoples of the surrounding phases.
The Parkin Phase people put a bowl and a bottle into a grave with the bodies, as did the people of the Nodena, Walls, and Kent phases. Pottery made by the Parkin people was built up from strips of clay, and then smoothed out by the potter, much like other pottery
in the Eastern America area where the potters wheel was unknown. Slips using galena
for white, hematite
for red, and sometimes graphite
for black were used to paint the pottery. The effigy head pots give an idea of what the people of the Parkin Site may have looked like, as envisioned by this bust on display at the Parkin Site museum.
In 1966, a Spanish trade bead
, which matches descriptions of the seven-layer glass beads
carried by the expedition, was found at the Parkin site, as well as a brass bell known as a "Clarksdale bell". The bell was associated with a child's burial, which also contained four pottery items, all known types of Parkin Phase pottery. This is one of only a handful of sites in the Southeast where items from the de Soto expedition have been found in a datable archaeological context
. In 1977, a large charred posthole was found at the summit of the large substructure mound at the Parkin Site.
Parkin, Arkansas
Parkin is a city in Cross County, Arkansas, in the United States, along the St. Francis River. The population was 1,602 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Parkin is located at ....
, Cross County, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
. Around 1350–1650 CE
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
an aboriginal
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
palisade
Palisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
d village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
existed at the site, at the confluence of the St. Francis
St. Francis River
The Saint Francis River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, about long, in southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas in the United States...
and Tyronza Rivers. Artifacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
from this site are on display at the site museum. The Parkin Site is the type site
Type site
In archaeology a type site is a site that is considered the model of a particular archaeological culture...
for the Parkin phase, an expression of Late Mississippian culture
Mississippian culture
The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....
. Many archeologists believe it to be part of the province
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
of Casqui
Casqui
Casqui was a Native American tribe discovered in 1541 by the Hernando de Soto expedition. This tribe inhabited fortified villages in eastern Arkansas....
, documented as visited by Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
explorer Hernando de Soto in 1542. Archeological artifacts from the village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
of the Parkin people are dated to 1400–1650 CE.
The Parkin site was declared a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1964 for its significance as a type site of the Parkin Phase. In 1966, the Parkin Indian Mound was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Parkin Archeological State Park is located at 60 Arkansas Highway 184 North, Parkin, Arkansas.
Culture of the Parkin Phase
The Parkin Site is the type siteType site
In archaeology a type site is a site that is considered the model of a particular archaeological culture...
for an important Late Mississippian cultural component, the Parkin phase, which dates from about 1400–1700 CE
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
. The Parkin phase was a collection of villages along the St. Francis
St. Francis River
The Saint Francis River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, about long, in southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas in the United States...
and Tyronza Rivers. This culture is contemporary with the Caborn-Welborn culture and Menard
Menard-Hodges Site
The Menard-Hodges Site , is an archaeological site in Arkansas. It includes two large mounds as well as several house mounds. It is the type site for the Menard phase, a protohistoric Mississippian culture group. It is considered as a possible candidate for the Province of Anilco encountered by the...
, Tipton
Tipton Phase
The Tipton Phase is an archaeological phase in southwestern Tennessee of the Late Mississippian culture. Other contemporaneous groups in the area include the Parkin Phase, Walls Phase, Menard Phase, and the Nodena Phase. The Tipton Phase is the last prehistoric people to inhabit the area before the...
, Walls
Walls Phase
The Walls Phase is an archaeological phase in southwestern Tennessee and northwestern Mississippi of the Late Mississippian culture. Chucalissa Indian Village is a Walls Phase mound and plaza complex located on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. Other contemporaneous groups in the area...
and the Nodena
Nodena Phase
The Nodena Phase is an archaeological phase in eastern Arkansas and southeastern Missouri of the Late Mississippian culture which dates from about 1400–1650 CE. The Nodena Phase is known from a collection of villages along the Mississippi River between the Missouri Bootheel and Wapanocca Lake...
phases. It has been determined that the site was continuously occupied for at least 500 years.
In the early 1540s, the Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
Hernando de Soto expedition
Exploration
Exploration is the act of searching or traveling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans...
is believed to have visited several sites in the Parkin Phase, which is usually identified as the Province of Casqui
Casqui
Casqui was a Native American tribe discovered in 1541 by the Hernando de Soto expedition. This tribe inhabited fortified villages in eastern Arkansas....
, with the Nodena Phase being identified as the province of Pacaha
Pacaha
Pacaha was a Native American tribe encountered in 1541 by the Hernando de Soto expedition. This tribe inhabited fortified villages in what is today the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Arkansas...
. The province takes its name from the chieftain
Chieftain
Chieftain may refer to:The leader or head of a group:* a tribal chief or a village head.* a member of the 'House of chiefs'.* a captain, to which 'chieftain' is etymologically related.* Clan chief, the head of a Scottish clan....
Casqui, who ruled the tribe from its primary village. The de Soto chroniclers indicate that political provinces, characterized by a paramount chief
Paramount chief
A paramount chief is the highest-level traditional chief or political leader in a regional or local polity or country typically administered politically with a chief-based system. This definition is used occasionally in anthropological and archaeological theory to refer to the rulers of multiple...
living in a paramount town, with satellite vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
towns surrounding it, were the major political institutions of this area. The Parkin phase is a series of twenty-one villages of varying sizes along the St. Francis and Tyronza rivers, most of them roughly 2.5 miles (4 km) apart from each other. These sites include the Rose Mound , Glover, Neeleys Ferry, and Barton Ranch.
Settlement pattern
| Village type | Known Sites | Site size | Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paramount village | Parkin Site | 17 acres (6.9 ha) | Substructure mounds, palisade Palisade A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were... and moat Moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices... |
| Important villages | Barton Ranch(3CT18) Glover Neeley's Ferry(3CS24) Rose Mound |
6.7 to 9.1 acre (2.7 to 3.7 ha) | |
| Intermediate villages | 9 sites known | 3.7 to 5.9 acre (1.5 to 2.4 ha) | Palisade and moat, some mounds |
| Smaller villages | 5 sites known | 0.7 to 2 acre (0.2832802 to 0.809372 ha) | |
| Very small villages | Ritter, Togo | < 0.7 acre (0.2832802 ha) | Palisade, no mounds, no moat |
During the preceding periods, homesteads and small villages had been spread throughout the area, but by this time endemic warfare
Endemic warfare
Endemic warfare is the state of continual, low-threshold warfare in a tribal warrior society. Endemic warfare is often highly ritualized and plays an important function in assisting the formation of a social structure among the tribes' men by proving themselves in battle.Ritual fighting permits...
had forced the populations to consolidate into the palisaded villages. They would leave their villages during the day to farm their fields, collect wood, and hunt, but at night return to the safety of their well defended villages. The people of the Parkin phase were isolated from other phases to their east and southeast by swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
s, which the Spanish chroniclers described as some of the worst they had crossed. The swamps acted as buffer zones in between the
hostile phases. As time went on, the material culture of the Parkin phase diverged more and more from the surrounding phases. Among other indicators, this diversion was characterized by changes in pottery designs and mortuary practices. The cultural changes show that the peoples of the Parkin phase were becoming isolated from their neighbors not only culturally but also physically. Motifs on artifacts found at the Parkin phase sites show that the people of Parkin were part of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex is the name given to the regional stylistic similarity of artifacts, iconography, ceremonies, and mythology of the Mississippian culture that coincided with their adoption of maize agriculture and chiefdom-level complex social organization from...
, an extensive religious and trade network that brought Mill Creek chert
Mill Creek chert
Mill Creek chert is a type of chert found in Southern Illinois and heavily exploited by members of the Mississippian culture . Artifacts made from this material are found in archeological sites throughout the American Midwest and Southeast. It is named for a village and stream near the quarrys,...
, whelk
Whelk
Whelk, also spelled welk or even "wilks", is a common name used to mean one or more kinds of sea snail. The species, genera and families referred to using this common name vary a great deal from one geographic area to another...
shells, and other exotic goods to the Parkin phase sites.
Agriculture and food
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, as well as other food crop
Crop
Crop may refer to:* Crop, a plant grown and harvested for agricultural use* Crop , part of the alimentary tract of some animals* Crop , a modified whip used in horseback riding or disciplining humans...
s originating in the Americas, such as beans, gourds, squash, and sunflower
Sunflower
Sunflower is an annual plant native to the Americas. It possesses a large inflorescence . The sunflower got its name from its huge, fiery blooms, whose shape and image is often used to depict the sun. The sunflower has a rough, hairy stem, broad, coarsely toothed, rough leaves and circular heads...
s. After the harvest maize was stored in large above ground cribs for consumption during the remainder of the year. They also gathered wild foodstuffs such as pecan
Pecan
The pecan , Carya illinoinensis, is a species of hickory, native to south-central North America, in Mexico from Coahuila south to Jalisco and Veracruz, in the United States from southern Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana east to western Kentucky, southwestern Ohio, North Carolina, South...
s and persimmon
Persimmon
A persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros in the ebony wood family . The word Diospyros means "the fire of Zeus" in ancient Greek. As a tree, it is a perennial plant...
s. The de Soto chroniclers described the area as being under heavy cultivation, and the most populous they had seen in La Florida. The Spaniards described groves of wild fruit and nut bearing trees, implying that the Parkin phase peoples must have left them standing when clearing other trees for the cultivation of maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
and their other crops. The hunting of whitetail deer
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
, squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...
, rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
, turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, and mallard
Mallard
The Mallard , or Wild Duck , is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia....
was practiced as well as fishing for alligator gar
Alligator gar
The Alligator Gar , Atractosteus spatula, is a primitive ray-finned fish. Unlike other Gars, the mature Alligator Gar possesses a dual row of large teeth in the upper jaw. Its name derives from the alligator-like appearance of these teeth along with the fish's elongated snout...
, catfish
Catfish
Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...
, drum
Sciaenidae
Sciaenidae is a family of fish commonly called drums, croakers, or hardheads for the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make...
, turtle
Turtle
Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...
s and mussel
Mussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
s. The two rivers and the moat must have been a very productive source of fish, as the de Soto chroniclers spoke often of "gifts of fish" from the residents of Casqui.
Language
The peoples of Parkin were probably TunicanTunica language
The Tunica language was a language isolate spoken in the Central and Lower Mississippi Valley by in the United States by Native American Tunica peoples. There are no known speakers of the Tunica language remaining.When the last known fluent speaker Sesostrie Youchigant died, the language became...
or Siouan
Siouan languages
The Western Siouan languages, also called Siouan proper or simply Siouan, are a Native American language family of North America, and the second largest indigenous language family in North America, after Algonquian...
speaking. It is known that the Tunica were in the area at the time of the de Soto Entrada
Exploration
Exploration is the act of searching or traveling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans...
, and the related group of phases present in the region may have all been Tunica peoples, with Caddoan
Caddo language
Caddo is the only surviving Southern Caddoan language of the Caddo language family. It is spoken by the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma. Today, only 25 elderly speakers are estimated to remain, none of whom are monolingual Caddo speakers, making Caddo a critically endangered language...
speakers to their west and south. By the time of later European contact in the 1670s and the beginning of the historic period, the area was occupied by the Dhegiha Siouan
Siouan languages
The Western Siouan languages, also called Siouan proper or simply Siouan, are a Native American language family of North America, and the second largest indigenous language family in North America, after Algonquian...
speaking Quapaw
Quapaw
The Quapaw people are a tribe of Native Americans who historically resided on the west side of the Mississippi River in what is now the state of Arkansas.They are federally recognized as the Quapaw Tribe of Indians.-Government:...
. Unsuccessful attempts have been made to connect pottery styles and words from the de Soto narratives with the Quapaw.
Parkin Site 1350–1650 CE
Palisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
d village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
at the confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
of the St. Francis
St. Francis River
The Saint Francis River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, about long, in southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas in the United States...
and Tyronza rivers. All other sites of the Parkin Phase are located on very fertile soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
, but not the Parkin Site. The soil is not adequate to support the population level that is thought to have resided at the site. It is believed that the large village was located at the confluence of the two rivers because this allowed the residents to control transportation and trade on the waterways.
The site had one large substructure mound and six smaller ones arranged around a central plaza
Plaza
Plaza is a Spanish word related to "field" which describes an open urban public space, such as a city square. All through Spanish America, the plaza mayor of each center of administration held three closely related institutions: the cathedral, the cabildo or administrative center, which might be...
. The largest mound was 21.3 feet (6.5 m) tall, with a projecting terrace level that was 5 feet (1.5 m) tall. It is located beside the St. Francis River, with the plaza on its other side. The Spanish chroniclers describe the main mound as having a large structure at its summit, which was the residence of the chief, Casqui. Situated on the terrace level were the homes and other structures used by his wives and attendants.
The other six mounds ranged from 3.2 to 5 ft (0.97536 to 1.5 m) in height. The plaza would have been used for religious rituals and the playing of games such as chunkey
Chunkey
Chunkey is a game of Native American origin. It was played by rolling disc shaped stones across the ground and throwing spears at them in an attempt to place the spear as close to the stopped stone as possible...
and the ballgame. Surrounding the plaza were numerous well-laid out houses, aligned to the axis of the mound and plaza, giving the whole site a planned look. The villages of this area were described as having few if any trees, probably because wood was the primary source of fuel and building materials. The Spanish camped amongst a nearby grove of trees to avoid the sweltering heat on the floodplain. Homes were built from wattle and daub
Wattle and daub
Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw...
, with thatched roofs.
The palisade which surrounded the site on three sides was designed for defensive purposes. It had bastion
Bastion
A bastion, or a bulwark, is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall , facilitating active defence against assaulting troops...
s at regular intervals, with archers
Archery
Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
slots to defend against plundering enemies. Immediately outside the palisade was a large moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
, which surrounded the site on three sides and connected to the St. Francis River, which was its fourth side. The area inside the ditch
Ditch (fortification)
A ditch in military engineering is an obstacle, designed to slow down or break up an attacking force, while a trench is intended to provide cover to the defenders...
and palisade was 3.2 foot (0.97536 m) higher than the surrounding land. Although the level of the site may have been raised by the inhabitants, it is more likely that dirt and refuse built up in the confined space and raised its level gradually, similar to a tell
Tell
A tell or tel, is a type of archaeological mound created by human occupation and abandonment of a geographical site over many centuries. A classic tell looks like a low, truncated cone with a flat top and sloping sides.-Archaeology:A tell is a hill created by different civilizations living and...
in the Middle East.
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Pottery
Most potteryPottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
found at the Parkin Site is of the kind known as Mississippian Plain var. Neeleys Ferry and Barton Incised var. Togo (formerly called Parkin Punctated). Pottery found at Parkin phase sites are usually utilitarian wares rather than the elaborate mortuary types found at the Nodena, Kent or Walls phase burials. The archaeologist Clarence Bloomfield Moore
Clarence Bloomfield Moore
Clarence Bloomfield Moore was an American archaeologist and writer...
described pottery from St. Francis River sites with adjectives such as "lopsided", "insufficiently fired", "rude and scanty", of "inferior surface" and "great monotony". In fact elaborate effigy
Effigy
An effigy is a representation of a person, especially in the form of sculpture or some other three-dimensional form.The term is usually associated with full-length figures of a deceased person depicted in stone or wood on church monuments. These most often lie supine with hands together in prayer,...
pottery were also found at these sites, including five human head effigy pots, underwater panther
Underwater panther
An Underwater panther is a powerful creature in the mythological traditions of some Native American tribes, particularly Anishinaabe tribes, the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi, of the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States...
effigies, elaborate fish and dog effigies, and red and white spiral, swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
and stripped bottles. The inclusion of less specifically mortuary wares found in graves seems to be a cultural difference between the Parkin peoples and the peoples of the surrounding phases.
The Parkin Phase people put a bowl and a bottle into a grave with the bodies, as did the people of the Nodena, Walls, and Kent phases. Pottery made by the Parkin people was built up from strips of clay, and then smoothed out by the potter, much like other pottery
Native American pottery
Native American pottery is an art form with at least a 7500-year history in the Americas. Pottery is fired ceramics with clay as a component. Ceramics are used for utilitarian cooking vessels, serving and storage vessels, pipes, funerary urns, censers, musical instruments, ceremonial items, masks,...
in the Eastern America area where the potters wheel was unknown. Slips using galena
Galena
Galena is the natural mineral form of lead sulfide. It is the most important lead ore mineral.Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms...
for white, hematite
Hematite
Hematite, also spelled as haematite, is the mineral form of iron oxide , one of several iron oxides. Hematite crystallizes in the rhombohedral system, and it has the same crystal structure as ilmenite and corundum...
for red, and sometimes graphite
Graphite
The mineral graphite is one of the allotropes of carbon. It was named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789 from the Ancient Greek γράφω , "to draw/write", for its use in pencils, where it is commonly called lead . Unlike diamond , graphite is an electrical conductor, a semimetal...
for black were used to paint the pottery. The effigy head pots give an idea of what the people of the Parkin Site may have looked like, as envisioned by this bust on display at the Parkin Site museum.
Spanish artifacts
Slave beads
Trade beads were otherwise decorative glass beads used between the 16th and 20th century as a currency to exchange for goods, services and slaves . Made to ease the passage of European explorers and then traders mainly across the African continents, the beads were made throughout Europe although...
, which matches descriptions of the seven-layer glass beads
Chevron bead
Chevron beads are special glass beads, the first specimens of this type were created by glass bead makers in Venice and Murano, Italy, towards the end of the 14th century. They may also be referred to as Rosetta, or star beads...
carried by the expedition, was found at the Parkin site, as well as a brass bell known as a "Clarksdale bell". The bell was associated with a child's burial, which also contained four pottery items, all known types of Parkin Phase pottery. This is one of only a handful of sites in the Southeast where items from the de Soto expedition have been found in a datable archaeological context
Archaeological context
In archaeology, not only the context of a discovery is a significant fact, but the formation of the context is as well. An archaeological context is an event in time which has been preserved in the archaeological record. The cutting of a pit or ditch in the past is a context, whilst the material...
. In 1977, a large charred posthole was found at the summit of the large substructure mound at the Parkin Site.
See also
- Mississippian cultureMississippian cultureThe Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....
- List of Mississippian sites
- List of sites and peoples visited by the Hernando de Soto Expedition
- Southeastern Ceremonial ComplexSoutheastern Ceremonial ComplexThe Southeastern Ceremonial Complex is the name given to the regional stylistic similarity of artifacts, iconography, ceremonies, and mythology of the Mississippian culture that coincided with their adoption of maize agriculture and chiefdom-level complex social organization from...