Arkansas River Valley Archaeological Sites associated with Spiro Mounds, Spiro

Spiro is one of the most significant archaeological sites in the US and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. It is a sacred site and place of great significance to many Native Americans, including the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes of Oklahoma.

Spiro was occupied as early as AD 950 and most heavily between AD 1100-1450, during which time over a dozen earthen mounds were built. Early archaeological investigation of these mounds by the University of Oklahoma from 1916 through the 1930s brought the site to international attention.

As important as Spiro was during late prehistoric times, it did not exist as a singular site; rather, it was at the center of social, religious, and economic activities that brought people together from multiple communities up and down the Arkansas River Valley and its tributaries and beyond. Today, the remains of many of these sites are located in areas subject to flooding or erosion, which can cause impacts to the archaeological deposits and damage overall site integrity.

Additional damage comes to these sites by way of unauthorized excavation and looting to remove artifacts for sale. Indeed, Spiro was subjected to some of the worst looting in the early 20th Century and spurred an early state law designed to halt the activity. The Spiro Mounds archaeological site is now owned by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and managed as the Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center by the Oklahoma Historical Society, which gives the site a level of protection that other associated sites are not afforded. In addition to being protected from unauthorized looting, the site continues to yield new data through ongoing archaeological investigations conducted by the University of Oklahoma and overseen through permits from USACE. Sites that are located on private lands do not enjoy the same level of documentation or protection, sometimes despite concerted efforts by the owners to be good stewards of these endangered resources.

The combined effects of looting and increased erosion are erasing some of the sites in the Spiro orbit—sometimes before they can be properly documented. For this reason, they are endangered. The most effective approaches to protecting these important cultural resources—as demonstrated in part by Spiro—are through collaborative approaches between state and federal agencies, legislators, private landowners, universities, professional archaeologists, and other stakeholders—such as descendant tribes, preservation organizations, and concerned citizens.