Parkin Archeological State Park facts for kids

Parkin Indian Mound
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Artists conception of the Parkin Site.
Location in Arkansas Show map of Arkansas Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Nearest city	Parkin, Arkansas
NRHP reference No.	66000200
Quick facts for kids Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966
Designated NHL	July 19, 1964

Parkin Archeological State Park, also known as Parkin Indian Mound, is an archeological site and state park in Parkin, Cross County, Arkansas. From about 1350 to 1650 CE, a Native American village stood here. It was surrounded by a palisade (a strong fence of tall wooden posts). This village was located where the St. Francis and Tyronza rivers meet. You can see amazing artifacts from this village at the museum right here.

The Parkin Site is very important for understanding the Mississippian culture. It is the main example for what archeologists call the Parkin phase, which was part of the Late Mississippian period. Many archeologists believe this site was the village of Casqui. This was a place visited by the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1542. The artifacts found here date from 1400 to 1650 CE.

The Parkin site was named a National Historic Landmark in 1964. This was because of its importance as a key site for the Parkin Phase. In 1966, the Parkin Indian Mound was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Parkin Archeological State Park is located at 60 Arkansas Highway 184 North, Parkin, Arkansas.

The People of the Parkin Phase

The Parkin Site is the main example for the Parkin phase. This was an important part of the Mississippian culture that existed from about 1400 to 1700 CE. The Parkin phase included many villages along the St. Francis and Tyronza rivers. These villages were active at the same time as other cultures like the Caborn-Welborn culture and the Nodena phase. Archeologists believe people lived at the Parkin site for at least 500 years without stopping.

In the early 1540s, the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and his team visited several sites in the Parkin Phase area. This area is usually thought to be the Province of Casqui. Another nearby area, the Nodena Phase, is believed to be the province of Pacaha.

The De Soto expedition named the province after its chieftain, Casqui. He ruled the tribe from his main village. The Spanish writers who traveled with De Soto said that political provinces were important in this area. Each province had a powerful chief living in a main town. Smaller towns around it were loyal to this chief. The Parkin phase included twenty-one villages of different sizes. They were spread out along the St. Francis and Tyronza rivers, usually about 2.5 miles (4 km) apart. Some of these sites include Rose Mound, Glover, Neeleys Ferry, and Barton Ranch.

How Villages Were Organized

A map showing where Parkin Phase sites were located along the St. Francis and Tyronza rivers. This area was called the province of Casqui by the Spanish.

The villages in the Parkin phase were organized in different ways:

Before this time, people lived in small villages and homesteads. But by the Parkin phase, constant fighting had forced people to move into larger, fenced villages. During the day, they would leave their villages to farm, collect wood, and hunt. At night, they would return to the safety of their well-protected homes. The people of the Parkin phase were quite safe from other groups to their east and southeast. This was because large swamps acted as natural barriers. The Spanish writers said these swamps were some of the worst they had ever crossed.

Over time, the Parkin phase people developed their own unique culture. This was different from the groups around them. For example, their pottery designs and burial customs changed. This shows that they were becoming more isolated from their neighbors, both culturally and physically. Designs on artifacts found at Parkin sites show that these people were part of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. This was a huge religious and trade network. It brought special items like Mill Creek chert (a type of stone) and whelk shells to the Parkin phase sites.

Farming and Food

Maize (corn) was the main food grown by the people of Parkin.

The people of Parkin were very good at maize (corn) agriculture. They also grew other important food crops that came from the Americas. These included beans, gourds, squash, and sunflowers. Women were in charge of most of the farming and food preparation. They even developed different kinds of corn and vegetables. After the harvest, corn was stored in large bins above ground. This way, they had food for the rest of the year. Women also gathered wild foods like pecans and persimmons.

The Spanish writers described the area as being very well-farmed. They said it was the most populated place they had seen in "La Florida" (the name they gave to the southeastern US). They mentioned groves of wild fruit and nut trees. This suggests that the Parkin people chose to keep these trees while clearing others for their corn and other crops. The men hunted animals like whitetail deer, squirrels, rabbits, turkeys, and mallard ducks. They also fished for alligator gar, catfish, drum, turtles, and mussels. The two rivers and the moat must have been full of fish. The Spanish writers often mentioned receiving "gifts of fish" from the people of Casqui.

Language Spoken

The people of Parkin likely spoke either Tunican or Siouan languages. We know that the Tunica people were in this area when De Soto arrived. The related groups of villages in the region might have all been Tunican-speaking. Caddoan speakers lived to their west and south. By the time Europeans made more contact in the late 1600s, the Quapaw people lived in the area. They spoke a Dhegiha Siouan language.

The Parkin Site: 1350–1650 CE

This town was a very good one, thoroughly well stockaded; and the walls were furnished with towers and a ditch round about, for the most part full of water which flows in by a canal from the river; and this ditch was full of excellent fish of divers kinds. The chief of Casqui came to the Christians when they were entering the village and they entertained him bravely. In Aquixo, and Casqui, and Pacaha, they saw the best villages seen up to that time, better stockaded and fortified, and the people were of finer quality, excepting those of Cofitachequi.

—-RODRIGO RANJEL 1547–49

The Parkin site was a 17-acre (6.9 ha) palisaded village. It was located at the confluence (where two rivers meet) of the St. Francis and Tyronza rivers. Interestingly, the soil at the Parkin Site is not as fertile as at other Parkin Phase sites. This means it probably couldn't grow enough food for all the people living there. It is believed that the large village was built at the river meeting point to control transportation and trade on the waterways.

The site had one large mound and six smaller ones. These mounds were built around a central plaza (an open public space). The largest mound was 21.3 feet (6.5 m) tall. It had a lower terrace level that was 5 feet (1.5 m) tall. This main mound was next to the St. Francis River, with the plaza on its other side. The Spanish writers described the main mound as having a large building on top. This was the home of the chief, Casqui. The terrace level held the homes of his wives and helpers.

The other six mounds were between 3.2 to 5 feet (0.98 to 1.5 m) tall. The plaza was likely used for religious ceremonies and games. These games included chunkey and a ballgame. Around the plaza were many well-planned houses. They were lined up with the mound and plaza, showing that the village was carefully designed. The Spanish said that villages in this area had few or no trees. This was probably because wood was used for fuel and building. The Spanish explorers camped in a nearby group of trees to escape the hot weather. Homes were built from wattle and daub (a mix of woven branches and mud), with roofs made of thatch.

A strong wooden fence, or palisade, surrounded the site on three sides. It was built for defense. The palisade had bastions (towers) at regular spaces. These towers had slots for archers to defend against enemies. Right outside the palisade was a large moat. This moat surrounded the site on three sides and connected to the St. Francis River, which formed the fourth side. The land inside the ditch and palisade was about 3.2 feet (0.98 m) higher than the land around it. The people living there might have raised the ground level. But it's more likely that dirt and trash built up over time in the small space, making the ground higher, like a tell in the Middle East.

Pottery Styles

A pot with a S.E.C.C. design found at the Parkin Site.

A bust showing what the people of Parkin may have looked like.

Most pottery found at the Parkin Site is called Mississippian Plain var. Neeleys Ferry and Barton Incised var. Togo. Pottery from Parkin phase sites was usually for everyday use. It was not as fancy as the special burial pottery found at other sites like Nodena. Some archeologists described pottery from St. Francis River sites as "lopsided" or "not fired enough." But beautiful effigy (animal or human shaped) pottery has also been found. This includes five human head pots, underwater panther shapes, and detailed fish and dog effigies. Red and white spiral, swastika, and striped bottles were also found.

The Parkin Phase people often placed a bowl and a bottle in graves with bodies. This was similar to what people in the Nodena, Walls, and Kent phases did. Parkin pottery was made by building up strips of clay, then smoothing them out. This method was common for Native American pottery in Eastern America, where the potter's wheel was not known. They used slips (liquid clay) made with galena for white, hematite for red, and sometimes graphite for black to paint the pottery. The effigy head pots give us an idea of what the people of the Parkin Site might have looked like, as shown by the bust at the Parkin Site museum.

Spanish Artifacts Found

Glass chevron beads, like those used by the Spanish explorers.

On the day of our arrival, the Cacique said that inasmuch as he knew the Governor to be a man from the sky, who must necessarily have to go away, he besought him to leave a sign, of which he might ask support in his wars, and his people call upon for rain, of which their fields had great need, as their children were dying of hunger. The Governor commanded that a very tall cross be made of two, pines, and told him to return the next day, when he would give him the sign from heaven for which he asked; but that the Chief must believe nothing could be needed if he had a true faith in the cross. He returned the next day, complaining much because we so long delayed giving him the sign he asked, and he had good- will to serve and follow us. Thereupon he set up a loud wailing because the compliance was not immediate, which caused us all to weep, witnessing such devotion and earnestness in his entreaties. The Governor told him to bring all his people back in the evening, and that we would go with them to his town and take thither the sign he had asked. He came in the afternoon with them, and we went in procession to the town, while they followed us. Arriving there, as it is the custom of the Caciques to have near their houses a high hill, made by hand, some having the houses placed thereon, we set up the cross on the summit of a mount, and we all went on bended knees, with great humility, to kiss the foot of that cross. The Indians did the same as they saw us do, nor more nor less; then directly they brought a great quantity of cane, making a fence about it; and we returned that night to our camp.

—- LUYS HERNANDEZ De BIEMA, 1544

The main mound and its information sign at the Parkin Site.

In 1966, a Spanish trade bead was found at the Parkin site. This bead matches descriptions of the seven-layer glass beads carried by De Soto's expedition. A brass bell, known as a "Clarksdale bell", was also found. The bell was found with a child's burial, which also contained four pottery items. These were all known types of Parkin Phase pottery. This is one of the few sites in the Southeast where items from the De Soto expedition have been found in a way that archeologists can clearly date them. In 1977, a large charred posthole was found at the top of the main mound at the Parkin Site. In 2016, part of a cypress log was uncovered. Archeologists believe this might be part of the large cross that De Soto put up at the site in 1541. It was still being studied in April 2016.

Images for kids

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  Artists conception of the Parkin Site.

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  The distribution of Parkin Phase sites along the St. Francis and Tyronza rivers, the area the Spanish called the province of Casqui.

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  Maize was the main foodstuff grown by the peoples of Parkin

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  S.E.C.C. motif mortuary pot from the Parkin Site

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  Bust showing how inhabitants may have looked

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  Glass chevron beads of the type used by the Spanish

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  Main mound and its interpretative sign at the Parkin Site.