Fort Ancient [OH]

Description

Fort Ancient features 18,000 feet of earthen walls built 2,000 years ago by American Indians who used the shoulder blades of deer, split elk antler, clam shell hoes, and digging sticks to dig the dirt. They then carried the soil in baskets holding 35 to 40 pounds. Portions of these walls were used in conjunction with the sun and moon to provide a calendar system for these peoples. The Museum at Fort Ancient contains 9,000 square feet of exhibits, including many interactive units, focusing on 15,000 years of American Indian history in the Ohio Valley.

The site offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational programs.

Serpent Mound [OH]

Description

Atop a plateau overlooking the Brush Creek Valley, Serpent Mound is the largest and finest serpent effigy in the United States. Nearly a quarter of a mile long, Serpent Mound apparently represents an uncoiling serpent. In the late 19th century, Harvard University archaeologist Frederic Ward Putnam excavated Serpent Mound and attributed the creation of the effigy to the builders of the two nearby burial mounds, which he also excavated. This, this culture is referred to as the Adena (800 BC–AD 100). A third burial mound at the park and a village site near the effigy's tail belong to the Fort Ancient culture (AD 1000–1550). A more recent excavation of Serpent Mound revealed wood charcoal that could be radiocarbon dated. Test results show that the charcoal dates to the Fort Ancient culture. This new evidence of the serpent's creators links the effigy to the elliptical mound and the village rather than the conical burial mounds. The head of the serpent is aligned to the summer solstice sunset and the coils also may point to the winter solstice sunrise and the equinox sunrise. Today, visitors may walk along a footpath surrounding the serpent. The museum contains exhibits on the effigy mound and the geology of the surrounding area.

The site offers exhibits and tours.

Toltec Mounds Archaeological State Park [AR]

Description

Arkansas's tallest remaining prehistoric Native American Indian burial mounds are preserved at this National Historic Landmark site. These earthworks are the remains of a large ceremonial complex that was inhabited here from A.D. 600 to 1050. Visitors can tour the visitor center and see exhibits and audiovisual programs, and then take a walking tour of the mound site.

The site offers a short film, exhibits, tours, workshops, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Hampson Archaeological Museum State Park [AR]

Description

The James K. Hampson Collection presents an amazing look at the decorative arts of the late Mississippian people from the Nodena Site. Notable pieces include a large collection of the famed "Nodena Red and White" pottery, Nodena type site points, and a variety of effigy vessels, including a remarkable human head effigy.

The site offers exhibits and occasional recreational and educational events.

Parkin Archaeological State Park [AR]

Description

The Park preserves and interprets the Parkin site on the St. Francis River where a 17-acre Mississippi Period American Indian village was located from A.D. 1000 to 1550. A large platform mound on the river bank remains. There were once many archaeological sites similar to Parkin throughout this region, but they did not survive as eastern Arkansas was settled. Visitors can watch research in progress, and see firsthand the results of careful excavations and laboratory analysis. Along with including an archaeological research laboratory, the park visitor center includes an interpretive exhibit area and auditorium. The park interpretive staff offers audiovisual programs, site tours, workshops, and other educational programs and special events and activities. When archaeological excavations are underway, visitors on guided tours can observe them. Visitors experiencing Parkin Archeological State Park can also tour the circa 1910 Northern Ohio Schoolhouse. By the beginning of World War II, there were 15 one-room and two-room schoolhouses providing education for children in Parkin, a town of less than 2,000 citizens. Today, the Northern Ohio School is the only one of these early Parkin structures still standing. The stories it tells of what took place here in the early 20th century in and around the Sawdust Hill community are parts of the historic fabric of Parkin, just as is the park’s interpretation of the prehistoric village of Casqui.

The site offers exhibits, tours, workshops, and educational and recreational programs and events.

Felix Vallé House State Historic Site [MO]

Description

The Felix Vallé State Historic Site is designed to offer visitors a rare glimpse of Missouri's French colonial past. From the historic site's website, "The site features the Felix Vallé House built in 1818 as an American-Federal style residence and mercantile store. Restored and furnished to reflect the 1830s, the home today interprets the American influence on the French community following the Louisiana Purchase." In addition to the Felix Vallé House, the historic site also features the Benjamin Shaw house and the 1792 Bauvais-Amoureux House.

The State Historic Site offers guided tours and interpretive activities, and serves as the headquarters for the Historic Preservation Field School. The website offers visitor information as well as a brief history of the site.

Mastodon State Historic Site [MO]

Description

Mastodon State Historic Site contains an important archaeological and paleontological site—the Kimmswick Bone Bed. Bones of mastodons and other now-extinct animals were first found here in the early 1800s. The area gained fame as one of the most extensive Pleistocene Ice Age deposits in the country and attracted scientific interest worldwide. Today, the 425-acre property preserves this National Register of Historic Places site and provides recreational opportunities. A museum tells the natural and cultural story of the oldest American Indian site one can visit in the state's park system. A full-size replica of a mastodon skeleton highlights the exhibits. A picnic area, several trails, and a special-use camping area offer chances to explore the land where the lives of Native Americans and mastodons once intertwined.

The site offers exhibits, a slideshow, tours, and educational programs.

Wupatki National Monument [AZ]

Description

Less than 800 years ago, Wupatki Pueblo was the largest pueblo around. It flourished for a time as a meeting place of different cultures. Yet this was one of the warmest and driest places on the Colorado Plateau, offering little obvious food, water, or comfort. How and why did people live here? The builders of Wupatki and nearby pueblos have moved on, but their legacy remains.

The site offers exhibits, tours, and educational programs.