Exploration & Archaeology

Archaic Period
The Archaic Period refers to the time between 9500 and 650 BC in the Native American history of Arkansas. As w...
Arkansas Archeological Society
The Arkansas Archeological Society (AAS) is a statewide organization created for the purpose of uniting all pe...
Arkansas Archeological Survey
In 1967, the Arkansas legislature created the Arkansas Archeological Survey (Act 39), the first statewide coor...
Antoine Barraque (1773–1858)
Antoine Barraque established the settlement called New Gascony, one of the earliest settlements in what is now...
Battle Mound Site
The Battle Mound site is a Caddo site located along the Red River in Lafayette County. The Red River landscape...
Jean Bernard Bossu (1720–1792)
Jean Bernard Bossu was a French captain and adventurer who explored the region of the Mississippi River while ...
Civil War Archaeology
Since the late twentieth century, Civil War archaeology has been a thriving research area. Arkansas has been a...
Crenshaw Site
The Crenshaw Site was a large village and ceremonial center occupied from about AD 700 to 1400 along the Red R...
Edwin Curtiss (1830–1880)
Edwin Curtiss, a nonprofessional field man who excavated archaeological sites and collected antiquities, is cr...
Dalton Period
The Dalton Period extends from 10,500 to 9,900 radiocarbon years ago (circa 8500 to 7900 BC), during which the...
Hester Ashmead Davis (1930–2014)
Hester Ashmead Davis was an internationally known archaeologist, administrator, writer, and professor. She was...
Route of the De Soto Expedition
When the Spanish expedition of Hernando de Soto crossed the Mississippi River on June 28, 1541 (June 18 on the...
Hernando de Soto (1500?–1542)
Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer who led an expedition into the southern United States. He and his sold...
Henri de Tonti (1649–1704)
aka: Henry de Tonty
Henri de Tonti helped establish the first permanent European settle...
Samuel Claudius Dellinger (1892–1973)
Samuel Claudius Dellinger was curator of the University of Arkansas Museum in Fayetteville (Washington County)...
Eaker Site
The Eaker Site is a large, prehistoric archaeological site located near Blytheville (Mississippi County) on la...
Don Juan Filhiol (1740–1821)
aka: Jean de Filhiol
aka: Baptiste Filhiol
aka: Jean Baptiste Filhiol
Present-day Camden (Ouachita County) has its origins in a 1782 sett...
Freeman and Custis Red River Expedition
aka: Freeman Red River Expedition
aka: The Grand Excursion
Perhaps the most forgotten expedition to explore the southwest terr...
French Explorers and Settlers
The French settlers’ experience in colonial Arkansas was vital to the history of the French presence in the ...
James Kelly Hampson (1877–1956)
One of the few amateur archaeologists to be honored with an obituary in American Antiquity, Dr. James Kelly Ha...
M. R. Harrington (1882–1971)
aka: Mark Raymond Harrington
Mark Raymond Harrington was a pioneer in the field of archaeology i...
Head Pots
Head pots are a very rare and unique form of pre-historic Native American pottery found almost exclusively in ...
Historical Archaeology
Archaeologists do more than study the ancient remains of Native Americans; they are also interested in the liv...
Thomas L. Hodges (1868–1953)
Thomas Luther Hodges was a noted physician and amateur archaeologist in Hot Spring County in the early twentie...
Hunter-Dunbar Expedition
aka: Dunbar-Hunter Expedition
The Hunter-Dunbar expedition was one of only four ventures into the...
Indian Mounds
Indian Mounds were constructed by deliberately heaping soil, rock, or other materials (such as ash, shell, and...
Jean Laffite's Espionage Mission
Jean Laffite was a well-known smuggler and privateer (considered a pirate by some) who operated in the Gulf of...
Henri Joutel (1643?–1735?)
Henri Joutel was a French soldier and explorer who served in the last expedition commanded by French explorer ...
Koroa
The Koroa are one of many “small tribes” of the southeastern United States that are mentioned briefly in h...
Jean-Baptiste Bénard de La Harpe (1683–1765)
Jean-Baptiste Bénard de La Harpe was a French officer, trader, and explorer. He was the first European explor...
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (1643–1687)
In 1682, French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle journeyed down the Mississippi River in sear...
Pierre Laclède (1729–1778)
Frenchman Pierre Laclède, credited with co-founding the city of St. Louis, Missouri, died aboard his trading ...