THE MEADOR SITE (3SF414)
A Salvage Dig in NE Arkansas
NEW! Look here for a project update (May 2000).
In
June of 1999, farmer James Meador and his son Jimmy were leveling some
of their land in St. Francis County in northeast Arkansas. They planned
to start growing rice on the property. As the leveling machine scraped
part of a low ridge, the machine operator saw what appeared to be a human
skeleton. Another one turned up shortly. Mr. Meador was concerned, and
called the Sheriff's Office to make sure these were not murder victims.
It
was determined that they were probably very old, and archeologists at
nearby Parkin Archeological State Park were
contacted. They were indeed able to identify the skeletons as Native Americans
who lived there during what archeologists call the Baytown period. Pottery
and other artifacts from the site indicate that it was occupied during
the period of A.D. 300-800.
The
Meadors were concerned that the human remains be treated with respect,
and they also wanted to comply with state law that prohibits desecration
of human skeletal remains in unmarked cemeteries (Act
753 of 1991). Arkansas Archeological Survey archeologists contacted
the Quapaw Tribe
of Oklahoma to discuss how to proceed. The Quapaw Tribe is one of
the Native American groups who used to live in Arkansas before they were
forcibly removed to Oklahoma in the 1800s, and they have assumed responsibility
for the remains of Native Americans unearthed from archeological sites
in the northeast part of the state. After contacting the Meador family,
three members of the Quapaw Tribe visited the site in June. They reached
an agreement with the Meadors to allow excavations at the site by Arkansas
Archeological Survey personnel, with plans to rebury the recovered human
remains on a separate piece of property owned by the Meador family.
Excavations
lasted from June 18 through July 15, 1999. Under the overall direction
of Parkin Research Station Archeologist Dr. Jeffrey M. Mitchem, volunteers,
University of Arkansas students, and Arkansas Archeological Survey personnel
excavated hundreds of features at the 3-acre site. Included were several
house floors, storage pits, fire hearths/cooking pits, and many trash-filled
holes. The entire contents of many of the pits were collected, and these
will be carefully investigated to find evidence of plants used by the
Native American inhabitants. By careful removal of the uppermost soil
layer, many human burials were located, and the archeologists were able
to excavate all of them. The Meador site was a small village on a low
ridge next to the St. Francis River (which flowed by the site at that
time).
On
July 16, Quapaw Tribal Business Committee Chairman Ed Rodgers, Tribal
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Representative
Carrie V. Wilson, and Business Committee members Jesse McKibben and Kim
Carrigan traveled to the site, where Mr. McKibben presided over the reburial
of the human remains on another part of the Meador property. The private
ceremony was attended by many members of the Meador family, representatives
of the Arkansas Archeological Survey (Director Thomas J. Green, Parkin
Station Archeologist Jeffrey M. Mitchem, and Parkin Research Assistant
Timothy S. Mulvihill), and Roger Fisher (representing U.S. Representative
Marion Berry). The burial was followed by a cedar smoke ceremony presided
over by Jesse McKibben. The group then traveled to Parkin Archeological
State Park where James and Jimmy Meador were honored by the Quapaw Tribe
for their efforts to see that the human remains were treated with respect
and reburied with dignity.
The
Meador site project was a great success from all points of view. The Quapaw
Tribe was able to see that the remains of their forebears were treated
with respect and reburied properly. The Meador family was able to proceed
leveling their land without any delay, while at the same time ensuring
that both the human remains and the archeological deposits on the property
were properly cared for. The archeologists were able to salvage irreplaceable
information about a past culture that is little known in this part of
Arkansas. All parties are hopeful that this positive project will serve
as a model to landowners about how they can work with archeologists and
Native Americans to help preserve Arkansas's past.
Dr.
Jeff Mitchem
Parkin Archeological State Park
