Hester Site facts for kids

The Hester Site is a very important archaeological site in Monroe County, Mississippi. It's known by special names like 22MO569 and 22MO1011. This place shows us how people lived a very long time ago. Many different groups of people lived here during different periods. The most important time was the Archaic period, which was about 9,000 to 8,000 years before the Common Era (BCE).

People also lived here during the Woodland and Mississippian periods. The Hester Site is one of the biggest Archaic sites in the southeastern United States. What makes it special is how well its layers of soil are preserved. This helped scientists figure out the age of artifacts found at other sites nearby. Because of its importance, the Hester Site was named a National Historic Landmark in 2001.

Discovering the Hester Site

The Hester Site is located in northeastern Mississippi. It is close to the city of Amory in Monroe County. We don't know the full size of the site yet. This is because only small parts of it have been dug up by archaeologists. These digs happened in 1974-75 and again in 1978.

Layers of History at Hester Site

The site has three clear layers of soil. Each layer holds different clues about the past. These clues include ancient tools and features built by early people.

Upper Soil Layer: Recent History

The top layer contains items from the Woodland and Mississippian periods. These are more recent times in ancient history. However, some older items are mixed in this layer. This is because farming activities have disturbed the soil over time.

Middle Soil Layer: Archaic Discoveries

The second main layer holds artifacts from the Middle and Late Archaic periods. This shows that people lived here for a long time during the Archaic era.

Deepest Soil Layers: Ancient Finds

The very deepest layers of the site are the oldest. They contain artifacts from the Paleo-Indian and Early Archaic periods. This means people lived here as far back as 9,000 to 7,000 years BCE. All the layers show that people made stone tools. They used a type of rock called chert, which was common in the area.

Why Hester Site is Important

The deepest parts of the Hester Site are very important to archaeologists. These layers are also divided into smaller sections. This allows scientists to map different styles of tools and ways of making them to specific time periods. This has helped archaeologists understand the order of events at other sites. Often, at other sites, different styles of tools are all mixed together.

The Late Paleo-Indian part of the site is also very special. It is the only known site of this age in Mississippi. This makes the Hester Site a key place for learning about the earliest people in the state.