Ozark Bluff Dweller Myth

Early archaeologists misinterpreted artifacts excavated from sites in the Ozark Mountain region to form theories about a primitive and distinct race dwelling in these sites that mysteriously disappeared. However, this romantic early picture of inhabitants of the Ozarks as a vanished race is now considered by experts to be mythic and mistaken. Archaeologists later came to believe these inhabitants were neither lagging in cultural development, distinct from Native Americans, nor isolated. In fact, the evidence holds that shelters were not permanent homes at all but were used only seasonally for hunting, food processing, and, later, for spiritual ceremonies and as burial sites.

The rugged Ozark Mountain area of northern Arkansas and southern Missouri is rife with rock overhangs and caves, many of which are sizable and dry, offering good shelter. Humans have used these shelters for more than 10,000 years, and archaeologists have identified more than 2,000 occupied sites. The dry conditions preserve perishable artifacts, such as textiles, woven materials, tool shafts (with bindings), and grains, along with stone points and tools, providing clues to how these humans lived. Early archaeologists misunderstood the artifacts excavated from these sites, however, and theorized about an unknown primitive race. Their writings, together with popular articles and textbooks of the time, furthered this picture.

The first professional archaeologist to do extensive work on these sites was Mark R. Harrington of the Heye Foundation of New York, who collected a large number of artifacts in the 1920s. His excavation techniques were the standard of the time but do not meet modern standards. Samuel Dellinger, of the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington County), led further excavations during the late 1920s and 1930s, preserving many artifacts. This work led both to believe there had been an “Ozark Bluff Dweller” culture, unknown and unique, that hunted, grew corn, had few ceramics, and was very different from Native Americans living in open areas surrounding the Ozarks. There was even a suggestion this culture was connected to the Aztecs because of the presence of atlatls (spear throwers) of a type found only in a temple in Mexico. They believed this culture had mysteriously disappeared and been supplanted by a more advanced “Top Layer” culture.

This idea was furthered by two Harvard University professors in the 1950s, who characterized the culture as being archaic, isolated, and “impervious” to cultural influences from nearby Native American groups who were in a period of intense cultural development. They implied that the bluff dwellers lagged in development due to location and rugged terrain (much like the hillbilly stereotype of Ozark inhabitants in the more recent past). These professors had never visited the Ozarks and drew their conclusions from the work of Harrington and Dellinger. Nevertheless, this brief reference influenced the perception of the “Bluff Dweller” for a substantial period.

The romantic image of a vanished race crept into popular writing and Arkansas history textbooks. One textbook posited that these so-called bluff dwellers were disconnected from Native Americans, saying they “lived in Arkansas long before the Indians.” A state publication in 1941 characterized them as “mysterious people of small stature” who “fell far short of the cultured levels attained” by other inhabitants, and who vanished. According to a 1939 Arkansas Gazette article, the Bluff Dweller is “a stocky little man scarcely five feet two. To be sure, he had the long head and sloping forehead, the jutting ape-like jaw we attribute to primitive man.” Arkansas history textbooks of the 1930s and 1940s contained lines such as, “The Bluff Dwellers probably ate much raw meat and needed strong teeth and jaws to tear the meat from the bone,” and described their running down prey and killing it with their bare hands.

This image persisted until the 1970s, or even later. In the summer of 2017, Lydia Rees and Jamie Brandon published their article “Beyond the ‘Bluff Dweller’: Excavating the History of an Ozark Myth” in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly. This article sets forth current thinking and debunks the myth.

Neither Harrington nor Dellinger had the advantage of modern excavation techniques or technology. Dry conditions did result in preservation of artifacts that would have not lasted in open sites. However, the shelters were confined spaces, and the occupants over the eons dug pits for storage of grains and nuts and, later, for burials. As a result, artifacts from different eras were mixed in various layers, presenting a confusing picture. They could not be accurately dated by how deeply they were buried, and radiocarbon dating was not yet available. Thus, Harrington and Dellinger did not realize they had compressed three major cultures and 9,000 years into a single culture, and that relatively recent artifacts were mixed with much older ones. For example, Harrington’s book, not published until 1960, included an illustration of a “Bluff Dweller” wearing artifacts that varied greatly in age and that would not have been in use at the same time. Further, Harrington and Dellinger, along with others later, failed to recognize that prehistoric humans did not “dwell” in the bluff shelters, but rather used them periodically for special purposes.

Modern archaeology methods, together with a better understanding of the cultural timeline of prehistory in the Southeast, changed scientists’ understanding of these people. Archaeologists’ efforts in the late 1950s and early 1960s refute the myth of the primitive, isolated “Bluff Dweller.” Later researchers point out that, based on perishable and non-perishable artifacts, the shelters were actually used as seasonal hunting camps, food processing and storage sites, and later for burial and ritual purposes. This explains why more advanced pottery or other tools were not found in the shelters. They would not have been needed there. In short, the artifacts located in the shelters do not present a complete picture of the culture, just as a modern hunting camp would not present a complete picture of our society today.

Further work has shown there is great similarity between the bluff shelter artifacts and material found in the Spiro Mounds in the Arkansas River Valley. Other open site investigations support the proposition that the bluff shelters were used only seasonally, for special uses. Examination of the perishable artifacts from the Dellinger collections and of the rock art in the shelters indicates that the creators were neither backward nor isolated. Work with plant evidence shows that the people using the shelters domesticated plants at the same time as inhabitants of the rest of the Southeast, and, in fact, may have been ahead of the curve on domesticating sunflowers. Corn was also domesticated in the same timeline as other areas. Ceramic pottery techniques were in line with other areas also.

Finally, contents of the bluff shelters show that early Ozark area inhabitants were not isolated. These include trade goods from other geographic regions, such as marine shell beads, cotton, and copper, and are consistent with trade items found in other parts of Arkansas. The rock art has strong connections with the rest of the Southeast and possible connections with the Southwest. The perishable baskets and textiles show styles similar to those found in regions outside Arkansas and the Ozarks.

For additional information:
Bluff Shelters of the Arkansas Ozarks. Arkansas Archeological Survey. http://archeology.uark.edu/ozarkbluffshelters/ (accessed September 5, 2024).

Harrington, Marie. On the Trail of Forgotten People: A Personal Account of the Life and Career of Mark Raymond Harrington. Reno, NV: Great Basin Press, 1985.

Harrington, Mark R. The Ozark Bluff-Dwellers. Indian Notes and Monographs 12. New York: Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, 1960. Online at https://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/ozarkbluffdwel00harr (accessed September 5, 2024).

Miner, Horace. Cave Hollow, An Ozark Bluff-Dweller Site. Lansing: University of Michigan Press, 1969.

———. “The Ozark Bluff-Dwellers.” American Anthropologist 26 (January–March 1924): 1–21.

Rees, Lydia I., and Jamie C. Brandon. “Beyond the ‘Bluff Dweller’: Excavating the History of an Ozark Myth.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 76 (Summer 2017): 125–143. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26201258 (accessed September 5, 2024).

Rock Art in Arkansas. https://archeology.uark.edu/rockart/index.html (accessed September 5, 2024).

Stoltman, James B. “The Southeastern United States.” In The Development of North American Archaeology, edited by James E. Fitting. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1973.

Jerry W. Cavaneau
North Little Rock, Arkansas