We are excited to announce that the Bluff Shelters of the Arkansas Ozarks website has won an award for Outstanding Achievement in Preservation Education as a part of the 2017 Arkansas Preservation Awards. Congratulations to our principle author, Lydia Rees, and the whole team that helped put this website together.
The 2017 Arkansas Preservation Awards will be held on January 19, 2018 at the Albert Pike Masonic Temple, located at 712 Scott Street in downtown Little Rock.
For the first time ever, the Southeastern Archaeology Conference will be in Tulsa, Oklahoma on November 8-11 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Downtown Tulsa. Its so close, this might be your opportunity to attend the premier regional archeology meeting for the southeastern United States. Modern Tulsa is within the boundaries of the Creek, Osage, and Cherokee Nations but is surrounded by many of the Nations of the Southeastern Tribes and we are hoping for a greater attendance from those communities.
The Arkansas Archeological Survey will be well represented at this year’s conference. Two symposia have been organized–one honoring the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Survey and one about bluff shelter research in the Arkansas Ozarks. Not to mention Survey staff giving talks in many other symposia.
We are excited about our bluff shelter symposium entitled “Bluff Shelters: Past Present and Future Research.” Ozark bluff shelters are an incredible archeological resource providing both deep, stratified deposits and often the preservation of perishable materials. As we are rapidly heading toward 100 years of archeology in Ozark bluff shelters, it is time to take stock of this class of site and attempt to summarize the history of investigations, discuss current work and to contemplate the directions that future archeological inquiry may take.
The symposium will include large overviews of the archeology (Brandon & Rees) and paleoethnobotany (Fritz and Horton) in bluff shelters as well as looks at future directions in research (Mueller & Kistler) and case studies of current bluff shelter research (Rees, Petigrew & Pebworth, Kay & Hilliard, Andrews, and Rees, Pebworth & Brandon). Dr. George Sabo, Survey Director and author of Arkansas Rock Art will be our discussant.
Jamie Brandon and Lydia Rees will lead a hike along the Back 40 trail to Walker Shelter, a site we have recently recorded while conducting salvage excavations on looter disturbances there. Upon arrival at the shelter, they will provide an overview of past and more recent archeological work that complicates the picture of the prehistoric Arkansas Ozarks and offers possible future directions for research that can further refine our understanding of Ozark bluff shelters.
The hike will take place on the Back 40 Loop trail south of Lake Ann, starting at the Buckingham trailhead heading east to the bluffs and back, approximately 2 miles. Expect intermediate terrain. Please wear appropriate shoes and clothing, and bring water and insect repellent. This family friendly hike is also open to friendly dogs on a leash.
Limited parking is available at the trailhead. You may park in the right of way along Buckingham Drive, as long as emergency vehicles can still get through. Please DO NOT park in the right of way along Trafalgar Road.
Check out the Summer issue of the Arkansas Historical Quarterly published by the Arkansas Historical Association. Lydia Rees and Jamie Brandon have an article in this issue entitled “Beyond the Bluff Dweller: Excavating the History of an Ozark Myth” which seeks to educate our historian colleagues about the historiography of the problematic “bluff dweller” concept founded by the 1920-1930s work of M.R. Harrington and Samuel Dellinger.
We will busy this fall with more talk about the importance of bluff shelter sites in the Arkansas Ozarks. If you are in the area, check out one of these talks, or schedule one for your organization by contacting Dr. Jamie Brandon.
09/7/2017: Spring River Gem & Mineral Club in Cherokee Village, AR.
Where: Omaha Center in Cherokee Village
When: 10am
09/12/2017: Kadohadacho Chapter of the Arkansas Archeological Society, Magnolia AR.
Where: Magnolia Room of the Reynolds Center at Southern Arkansas University
When: 7pm
09/19/2017: Mind Stretchers Meeting, Van Buren, AR.
Where: Ruth Skinner Building on 6th Street across from St. John’s in Van Buren.
When: 6pm
10/07/2017: Walker Shelter Hike, Bella Vista, AR.
Where: Back 40 trail, Bella Vista, AR
When: 9am
Dr. Brandon will lead a 2 mile hike along the Back 40 Loop in Bella Vista to the Walker Shelter. Upon arrival he will give a brief talk about the regional importance of these sites.
11/1/2017: Butler Center “Legacies & Lunch.”
Where: CALS Main Library Darragh Center, 100 Rock St., Little Rock
At this year’s SEAC in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Dr. Jamie Brandon and Lydia Rees have organized a session on the importance of Ozark bluff shelters entitled “Ozark Bluff Shelters: Past, Present and Future Research.” This session will include George Sabo, Gayle Fritz, Elizabeth Horton, Marvin Kay, James Rees, Devon Pettigrew, Natlie Muller and Logan Kistler, Brian Andrews, Jared Pebworth, Jamie Brandon and Lydia Rees. A publication on this symposium (to appear in the Arkansas Archeological Survey’s Research series) is planned.
Check out the new page about Saltpeter Cave in Newton County. As a part of an Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council grant, we have been busy working on the collections from Saltpeter Cave. The Arkansas Archeological Survey (ARAS) conducted excavations at Saltpeter Cave in 1969 and 1970—the very early years of the organization. Ken Cole, the first Research Station Archeologist stationed at Arkansas Tech (then Arkansas Polytechnic College) conducted two seasons of excavation into this shelter that had been previously visited by the University of Arkansas Museum in 1934. Cole excavated nine test units, the deepest of which contained almost 14 feet (4.11 meters) of archeological deposits representing at least 9,000 years of Arkansas history. This deep, stratified deposit is all the more important to researchers as it is one of the few Arkansas bluff shelters investigated using modern excavation techniques. Thus, unlike the materials from the Dellinger excavations of the 1930s, researchers have detailed stratigraphic records, along with approximately 450 diagnostic hafted bifaces, and 42 radiocarbon samples. Unfortunately, Cole left the Arkansas Archeological Survey shortly following these excavations, leaving this collection curated, but largely untouched for 47 years.
Jared Pebworth working with the stone tool artifacts from Saltpeter Cave (Newton County).
We have worked to preserve and interpret the material and records from the 1969 and 1970 Saltpeter Cave excavations. This site holds great potential for adding to our understanding of prehistory in the Ozarks. This project has made the Saltpeter Cave materials and records more useful for further work and has preserved the data for future researchers in Arkansas archeology.
The first outlined goal was to rehabilitate, reorganize, and inventory the records and artifacts from the 1969 and 1970 excavations at Saltpeter Cave. The records associated with the excavations have been preserved for future research through a combination of scanning and transcription. Goal two of the project was to photograph and analyze a select portion of the collection in order to interpret the site and its importance to the general public of Arkansas and beyond. The deepest excavation unit, Unit E, was selected as the best candidate for analysis and interpretation for this project. The diagnostic stone tools from this test unit have been identified and typed. This information has been entered into a database to aide further analysis, and these tools have been photographed by excavation level. This work has allowed us to identify carbon samples associated with the diagnostic tools. Samples with the best association and most research value have been selected to submit for radiocarbon dating using funds from the Arkansas Archeological Society‘s Archeological Research Fund (ARF) and other sources.
Lydia Rees and Jared Pebworth documenting the stone tools recovered from Saltpeter Cave.
In addition to the stone tool analysis, all ceramic artifacts from the site have been analyzed. A list of attributes including temper, decoration, and vessel form were recorded for each piece of pottery in the collection. Photographs of a selection of sherds were taken and will be available in addition to the database containing the ceramic data. This ceramic analysis became the pilot project for a region-wide examination of prehistoric ceramics that will be the subject of Lydia’s Rees graduate research.
The final goal was to create a on-line exhibit about the Saltpeter Cave site and its unique archeological materials. You can now see the first step in this exhibit–a brief page housed under the “Examples” section of the current bluff shelter website. This page includes the history of excavations at the site and information about what the artifacts can tell us about Ozark prehistory, but much more information will be added as we explore this important collection. The next step of this exploration will be understanding the chronology of Saltpeter Cave by analyzing a suite of 6 or more radiocarbon dates that we are currently selecting. Stay posted for more information!
Lydia Rees (ARAS staff) at Walker Shelter in Bella Vista.
The Arkansas Archeological Survey (ARAS) staff respond to several bluff shelter looting incidents every year. This year, the most extensive was our salvage work at Walker Shelter in Bella Vista. The Bella Vista Historical Museum contacted the ARAS-UAF Research Station regarding preventing further looting at an impressive shelter along the Bella Vista Back 40 trail system. This trail had been the target of much looting activity prior to the trail opening in the fall of 2016, and it was the Museum’s hope that we could assist with documenting the damage and helping to deter subsequent looting.
This June, as a side-project of the 2017 University of Arkansas archeological field school, 10 students and several members of the ARAS staff visited Walker Shelter. We created a detailed site map, documented the looting and conducted salvage excavations along the looted areas. At least a meter and a half of archeological deposits were documented―including the recovery of a Middle Archaic Calf Creek projectile point. The looters pits were backfilled and the Museum has plans for further sterile fill and signage at the site…we are also planning a guided hike to the shelter and a lecture about the importance of bluff shelters as an endangered resources in the fall–stay tuned.
The 2017 University of Arkansas archeological field school arrives at Walker Shelter in Bella Vista after a brisk hike in.Kayden Dennis (UofA Anthropology undergraduate) and Jared Pebworth (ARAS) documenting looter disturbance and identifying intact deposits at Walker Shelter.Victoria Jones (UofA graduate student) and Jamie Middleton (UofA Honors undergraduate) mapping Walker Shelter.Late Archaic projectile point recovered from the base of the looter disturbance at Walker Shelter.Signage placed at Walker Shelter in order to help deter looting.
On Thursday, November 17th Dr. Jamie Brandon and Lydia Rees will give a public talk entitled “Beyond the Bluff Dweller: Isolation and Connection in Prehistoric Bluff Shelters of the Arkansas Ozarks” on the University of Central Arkansas campus in Conway. The talk will be held in the UCA College of Business Auditorium at 6:30 pm and is sponsored by the UCA Department of Sociology, Criminology and Anthropology as a part of the college’s Native American Heritage Month events.
Poster for the UCA talk. Click for a larger image.
This is just one stop in the fall 2016 “Beyond the Bluff Dweller” tour which has included talks at the Boone County Museum in Harrison (8/29), the state-wide Arkansas Archeological Society meeting (10/01) and several Society Chapters (Arkhoma Chapter, 9/15 and Tunican Chapter, 10/04), the North Central Chapter of the Arkansas Master Naturalists at Bull Shoals Lake (9/17), the Ozark Symposium (9/24), and the Tahlequah Archeological Society in Oklahoma (10/04). Following the UCA talk this month, the final stop on the Fall 2016 “Beyond the Bluff Dweller” tour will be a talk to the Ko-ko-ci Chapter of the Arkansas Archeological Society in Fayetteville, AR on December 13.
The Arkansas Ozark bluff shelter project was represented at the 75th annual conference of the Arkansas Historical Association in Little Rock. Dr. Jamie Brandon and Lydia Rees co-presented their paper which explored the construction of the “Bluff-dweller Culture” in the 1920s-30s and how, because of intellectual traditional and historical trajectories, this has led to misconceptions of the nature of Ozark prehistory throughout the twentieth century.
When early archeologists, like M. R. Harrington and Samuel Dellinger, deployed the “Bluff-dweller Culture” concept, they were collapsing 9,000 years of history into one cultural entity. The modern timeline of southeastern prehistory had yet to be written when they were working in the 1920s and 1930s so this error is understandable. The problem is that it has taken decades to shed the perceptions set up by this older model. It has led to the idea of a backwards and isolated Ozark prehistory that is not supported by current research. The paper presented at the conference, and which has been submitted for publication aims to counter this older narrative with newer information.
Join us Oct. 7 starting at 2pm for a hike and program about Ozark bluff shelters along 
Check out the Summer issue of the Arkansas Historical Quarterly published by the 
