Prehistory - 1540

Pre-European Exploration
White man at base of tree covered mound site in field
Archaic Period
The Archaic Period refers to the time between 9500 and 650 BC in the Native American history of Arkansas. As w...
Tree covered mound on river shore
Battle Mound Site
The Battle Mound site is a Caddo site located along the Red River in Lafayette County. The Red River landscape...
Gravel sidewalk in park lined with text displays on posts surrounded by trees and along a river
Caddo Indian Memorial
The Caddo Indian Memorial is located on the site of a Native American burial ground on the outskirts of Norman...
Hand carved stone tools on black background with checkered scale
Carden Bottom
Carden Bottom (also known as Carden’s Bottom or Carden Bottoms) is a rich alluvial flood plain in northeaste...
Group of arrow points on black background
Crenshaw Site
The Crenshaw Site was a large village and ceremonial center occupied from about AD 700 to 1400 along the Red R...
Graphic showing different types of arrowheads and artifacts
Dalton Period
The Dalton Period extends from 10,500 to 9,900 radiocarbon years ago (circa 8500 to 7900 BC), during which the...
Three-toed bone cast in plaster
Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs are a group of hundreds of species of reptiles that lived from the late Triassic through the Cretace...
Overgrown field with trees in the background
Eaker Site
The Eaker Site is a large, prehistoric archaeological site located near Blytheville (Mississippi County) on la...
Map showing the locations of Cretaceous age rock in Arkansas
Extinct Animals [Prehistoric Period]
Fossils and sedimentary rock layers contribute to current knowledge of the animals that lived in Arkansas in t...
Multicolored "Geologic time scale" divided into time periods on white background
Fossils
Fossils are the remains of animals and plants that have been preserved in the earth’s crust. They can consis...
Single-story brick building and sign with trees
Hampson Archeological Museum State Park
Hampson Archeological Museum State Park houses and exhibits the archaeological collection from a Mississippian...
Pot shaped like a human head with ears and face and opening at top
Head Pots
Head pots are a very rare and unique form of pre-historic Native American pottery found almost exclusively in ...
Man at base of large tree covered mound in field
Indian Mounds
Indian Mounds were constructed by deliberately heaping soil, rock, or other materials (such as ash, shell, and...
White man at base of tree covered mound site in field
Menard-Hodges Site
Archaeological investigations at the Menard-Hodges site near Nady in Arkansas County since the late 1800s hav...
Pot shaped like a human head with ears and face and opening at top
Mississippian Period
The Mississippian Period is one of several broad categories (including Paleoindian, Archaic, and Woodland) tha...
Four white men in hard hats and reflective vests with equipment in dirt field
Nashville Sauropod Trackway
The Nashville sauropod trackway, which may be the largest dinosaur trackway in the world, was located near Nas...
Round ceramic container with long spout sticking up on left side painted with swirling pattern behind glass display above label text "Quapaw Phillips County
Native American Pottery
Indians in Arkansas began making pottery containers about 2,500 years ago, during the Woodland Period, and the...
Pot shaped like a human head with ears and face and opening at top
Nodena Site
The Nodena Site in Mississippi County is an archaeological site representing Native American life in Arkansas ...
Map showing the locations of Cretaceous age rock in Arkansas
Official State Dinosaur
aka: Arkansas Dinosaur
aka: Arkansaurus fridayi
In August 1972, Joe B. Friday discovered the remains of the right h...
"The Ozark Bluff Dwellers Arkansas' ancient settlers" newspaper clipping
Ozark Bluff Dweller Myth
Early archaeologists misinterpreted artifacts excavated from sites in the Ozark Mountain region to form theori...
Close-up of crystal arrowhead point on blue background
Paleoindian Period
The term “Paleoindian” refers to a time 13,500 years ago (11,500 BC) at the end of the last ice age when t...
Native American pottery on display behind glass with sign saying "The Pacaha Province: Casqui's Enemies"
Parkin Historic Site
The Parkin Historic Site is a seventeen-acre Native American village site along the St. Francis River in Cross...
Bow section of wooden canoe in glass display case
Peeler Bend Canoe
The Peeler Bend Canoe is an extremely rare and well-preserved relic of Arkansas’s Native American heritage. ...
beaver painting in red on cave wall
Petit Jean Rock Art Sites
Petit Jean Mountain in west-central Arkansas boasts a large concentration of ancient Native American rock art ...
field with trees in front of mound
Plum Bayou Culture
Plum Bayou culture was a people who built religious centers with a formal arrangement of earthen platforms or ...
Graphic showing different types of arrowheads and artifacts
Pre-European Exploration, Prehistory through 1540
The pre-European history of Arkansas begins 13,500 years ago in the Pleistocene epoch, when cold weather preva...
Prehistoric Caddo
aka: Caddo, Prehistoric
Prehistoric Caddo culture developed as a regional variant of the Mi...
Rattlesnake Basket Rockshelter
The Rattlesnake Basket Rockshelter (3NW79) is located in southeastern Newton County near the top of the Boston...
beaver painting in red on cave wall
Native American Rock Art
Rock art is a term archaeologists use to describe images on rock surfaces created both prehistorically and his...
Large kettle pot standing vertically on base with "Salt Kettle" plaque outside brick building
Salt Making
Salt making was an enterprise carried out in Arkansas for more than 600 years, first by the prehistoric Native...
Mound of earth with flat land around it under blue skies
Sherman Mound Site
The Sherman Mound is one of the larger and better-preserved Native American earthworks in the Central Mississi...
Rock arrowheads and stone tools laid out together on table with small ruler
Sloan Site
The Sloan site is located on an ice age sand dune in the lowlands of Greene County. People of the Dalton cultu...