Archaeology

The Red River Region
The Caddoan Archaeological Area

The prehistory of the Red River Region generally follows the cultural sequences used by archaeologists for the eastern half of North America:

Paleoindian (? - 8000 B.C.)
This earliest phase dates from the arrival of humans in the Americas, which some estimate to have been from as far back as forty to fifty thousand years ago. This was at the time of the last ice age when glaciers covered most of the northern half of North America, including many of its highest mountains. People roamed across vast areas and hunted large game such as mammoth and mastodon. The earliest sites that have been found in this area date to about 9500 B.C., when most of the large animals were becoming extinct. The Paleoindian diet changed accordingly, with more plant foods being consumed, and meat coming from deer, elk, and bison.

Woodland (500 B.C. – A.D. 700)
The transition from tending wild plants to full-scale agriculture that included the gathering, storing, and planting of seeds, and the modification of the land to promote cultivation, is the hallmark of this cultural phase. The introduction of pottery to the region by about 300 B.C. coincides with the need to store grains and seeds. Significant population growth appears to have occurred as better agricultural technology enabled the cultivation of more nutritional crops that could supplement the food provided by hunting. Wild game, however, remained important as a food source, and hunting technology improved. By about A.D. 600, the bow and arrow were in use in this area.

As populations increased and available resources had to be allocated and distributed, there was a greater need for leadership and government. There is evidence of the increasing importance of religion and ritual activity during this period, and widespread trade networks developed as communities interacted with their neighbors. Luxury goods and new technologies were exchanged over increasingly larger areas, with wood from southeastern forests and buffalo meat and hides from the plains being traded for tropical birds from Mexico, turquoise from the Southwest, shells from the rivers and coasts of the Mississippi Valley, copper from the Great Lakes, and obsidian from the Pacific Northwest. There was also considerable trade in hardwoods suitable for bows, e.g., bois d’arc.

Mississippian (A.D. 700 - 1500)
The inhabitants of the area encompassing the Mississippi River Valley east to the Appalachians and south to the Gulf coast, were part of the cultural complex identified as Mississippian. Intensive corn-based agriculture and the construction of large flat or platform mounds mark this period. In addition to hunting, trapping, and fishing, native societies cultivated corn, beans, squash, and other vegetables in order to feed increasingly large populations.

Decorations or symbols found on objects from this time suggest that a belief system and its associated religious practices were in place throughout the area. Monumental ceremonial centers such as those found at present day Cahokia in southern Illinois, Moundville in Alabama, Etowah in Georgia and Spiro in Oklahoma are dominated by platform mounds which served as bases for religious buildings, as well as for the residences of leaders. Some were also used for elaborate funerary rites and burials.

Highly stratified societies existed in which paramount chiefs were supported by coteries of (perhaps) “nobles” and/or civil servants, and standing armies. Grave goods show that the extensive, continent-wide trading of exotic and luxury items seen in Woodland times continued into the Mississippian period. There appear to have been specialized craft centers where raw materials were processed or worked into items for distribution throughout the Mississippian Cultural Universe. Large populations were drawn to these sites. At its height, Spiro might have had as many as 10,000 inhabitants within the city, while dominating the lives of another 250,000 people in the adjacent regions, while Cahokia’s population of 35,000 influenced upwards of a half million people.

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Prior to taking up the settled village lifestyle that became widespread by about A.D. 900, the inhabitants of the region that has come to be known as the Caddoan Archaeological Area lived by hunting and gathering. This earliest period of human activity in Oklahoma, the Paleoindian, probably dates from about 9500 B.C. Paleoindian populations were highly mobile, chasing game and moving with the seasons; and no settlement sites have yet been found dating from this period.

Towards the end of the last ice age, hunters tracked mastodon, mammoth, and other large animals. They used spears with chipped stone points, which they threw using an atl-atl, or spear thrower. In addition to wild game, hickory nuts and acorns were important foods. The end of the last ice age coincided with the extinction of the larger animals, causing Paleoindian hunters to turn to smaller game such as deer and rabbit, which made possible a less nomadic hunting lifestyle. Base camps could be set up, and as the ice sheets receded and the weather became more moderate, hunting groups could remain in a particular area for longer periods of time.

Miniature Vessels, ca. 600–1400 CADDOAN

In addition to the inventory of chipped stone points used for hunting, ground stone tools began to appear. The number and variety of adzes for woodworking that have been found in this region could indicate that making them had been a major local industry. By about 8000 B.C., as man entered the period referred to as the Archaic, the pattern of a more settled lifestyle was well established. Although the most ancient habitation sites found so far in McCurtain County date to only about 7000 B.C., earlier sites have been located in western Oklahoma. With few exceptions, this highly successful lifestyle persisted continuously for over 7000 years. The management of wild plants provided a more secure food supply than simple gathering, and over time these practices evolved into intentional planting, farming, and, eventually, agriculture.

The manufacture of clay pottery began about 300 B.C., perhaps in response to an increased reliance on plant crops and the need to store seeds, grains and other foodstuffs. This phase in cultural development is designated as the Woodland period. During this time, tools changed only slightly. The so-called Gary style point, which originated in the late Archaic, became dominant for knives and spearheads. Examples show variation over time, but the general shape, with its characteristic contracting base, remained popular for several hundred years. By about A.D. 600, Woodland hunters had replaced the spear with the bow and arrow.

Woodland society appears to have been highly stratified, with an elite being serviced by the majority of the population. Large earthen mounds were constructed. Some were used as burial sites, while others appear to have been ceremonial sites or perhaps habitation sites for the elite. There was extensive interaction with groups living in the Mississippi River Valley and the Ozarks region of Arkansas.

Miniature Vessels, ca. 600–1400 CADDOAN

Fairly permanent settlements were established by A.D. 900, and the lifestyle that was to become recognizable historically as Caddoan can be identified from many sites throughout the region. Caddoan-speaking peoples dominated this area from ca. 900 – 1500. They lived in small, probably extended family villages stretching along rivers and large streams, and could be found eastward into present-day south central Arkansas and the northern part of Louisiana. Caddoan speakers inhabited the western edge of the Mississippian Cultural Universe, relatively far from the major ceremonial centers, in what was also a frontier zone between the southeastern woodlands and the southern plains. While a shared belief system may have been a unifying factor in Mississippian culture, it is also true that certain regions and peoples maintained a level of independence. Although Caddoan groups shared the Mississippian lifestyle of their neighbors, with whom there was significant interaction, they differed from them in that they also had access to the cultures of the plains and regions farther to the west.

It is in their pottery that significant differences with their neighbors are apparent. Caddoan potters rarely painted their ceramics. The few painted examples that have been found from late in the cultural sequence, i.e., after 1300, tend to show outside influences. These potters relied instead on the natural “fire clouds” that resulted from open-flame firing of the raw clay, or they decorated their vessels by incising designs or applying decorative elements before firing, or by engraving designs after firing. The use of slip decoration – applying a thin layer of colored liquid clay to the pot before firing – generally occurred late in the Caddoan cultural sequence and produced only a limited palette.

Caddoan pottery of exceptional beauty can be seen at the Museum of the Red River, but without traveling to Idabel, you can see over 900 examples of Caddoan ceramic art in the three-volume CD set of images produced by the Museum from its collections. Each CD is a photo archive of over 300 pots, most of which were recovered archaeologically. Information about each site is provided, and vessels are categorized by type or design element for easy access. This is the largest inventory of Caddoan ceramics available anywhere on CD. The Caddoan CD Collection is available for $49.95, including shipping and handling.

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