Miscellaneous Papers Relating to Anthropology/Mounds and Other Remains in Independence County, Arkansas
MOUNDS AND OTHER REMAINS IN INDEPENDENCE COUNTY, ARKANSAS.
By A. Jones, M. D., of Caddo Gap, Ark.
In the fork of White and Beach Rivers, Independence County, Arkansas, is a collection of mounds 2 or 3 miles each way in extent. They are 4 or 5 feet high, and laid out in rows in a semicircular form, about 6 miles above Jackson.
There is another group south of Suspension Rock, half a mile south, laid out in the same way.
On section 17, township 5 south, range 21 west, are two mounds 7 or 8 feet high, sunken at the top. Near by are depressions whence the earth for the mounds was taken. These have never been explored. They are on a piece of upland that has been cultivated and each had large trees growing on the summit. They stand about 2 miles from the Caddo River. There are two shell-beds near by, constructed of the common mussel, in which the coarse clay and shell pottery is found.
Four miles north of Amity, section 17, township 5 south, range 23 west, are several shell-heaps on a high and second bottom of the Caddo, entirely above overflow.
Another mound is in the Caddo Cove, 2 miles west of Black Springs, on the old Major Farr place, now owned by Dr. Gray. It is 5 feet high and has been explored. A depression 80 yards distant is the only spot in the vicinity whence the material of the tumulus could have been derived.
There are several shell-heaps on a high table-land bordering on the Washita, in this county, 4 miles southwest of Cedar Glades, on the land of Robert Hansley. Fragments of pottery occur about the heaps. The beds are 40 feet above high water, indicating that the shells must have been carried to the spot.
On the south fork of Washita, section 24, township 2 south, range 26 west, near Mount Ida and at the upper ford of the creek, human remains, partly washed out, were discovered. The bodies were buried in a recumbent posture, the head to the west. The bones were too friable for preservation, the teeth alone remain firm. Forty years ago the ground was covered with a dense growth of cane. The bottom is a high one and above overflow. Many human remains have been plowed up in the vicinity. The cemetery must be about 200 to 300 yards long, and 75 yards wide. Near by, running east and west, are several small mounds, in the largest of which a former owner, Mr. Powell, was buried.
Three miles east of this point, in a bottom-land owned by Reuben McKenney, were plowed up the remains of a very large man. Pottery has also been found in the same vicinity.
On section 9, township 4 south, range 24 west, is an outcrop of novaculite or flint of a very tough quality and of various colors. From this material large quantities of arrow-heads, &c., have been formed. The ancient artisans went down on the south side of the outcrop, which is a ledge 700 or 800 feet above the adjacent valley, and carried away immense quantities. The material is the same as that of arrow-heads from Tennessee, Mississippi, and westward.
There is on Capt. R. S. Burk's farm, section 17, township 5 south, range 23 west, evidence of an extensive workshop in arrow-heads and cutting implements. The arrow material was taken from the quarry above described, although ten miles away. The cutting instruments were of the hatchet kind and made from a species of iron ore.
There is another atelier near my home, section 7, township 4 south, range 23 west, Montgomery County, Arkansas.