Indians Before Europeans

This section summarizes two perspectives on the history of Arkansas Indians before Europeans.

The Indians’ own historical perspective is based on stories and ceremonies passed from generation to generation. The temporal framework for this perspective extends from the present back to a time when primordial events that formed the present world began to take place.

Carved shell pendant decorated with pre-contact cosmological symbols. Archeologists date this artifact to the A.D. 1400-1600 era. Courtesy Texas Archeological Research Laboratory and the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma.
Carved shell pendant decorated with cosmological symbols.
Archeologists date this artifact to the A.D. 1400-1600 era.
Courtesy Texas Archeological Research Laboratory and the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma.

The perspective developed by academic scholars (some of whom are American Indians), is organized within a chronological time frame beginning about 30,000 years ago and is based primarily on the study of archeological remains.

Note: For easy reading and cross-referencing with other Arkansas Archeological Survey publications, all references to chronology in the following discussions of the pre-contact history of American Indians are given in years B.C. or A.D. Archeologists often discuss chronology in terms of “radiocarbon years before present” (or, RCYBP) or they may simply use the term "years ago," which yield slightly different dates. The following table gives general correlations for these three chronological systems.

Chronology Table
RCYBP Calendar years ago (Yr BP) BC/AD
15,000 17,950 16,000 BC
14,000 16,950 15,000
13,000 15,350 13,400
12,000 14, 065 12,115
11,000 13,000 11,050
10,000 11,350 9,400
9,500 11,030 9,080
9,000 10,200 8,250
8,500 9,500 7,550
8,000 9,000 6,985
7,500 8,350 6,340
7,000 7,800 5,890
6,500 7,400 5,435
6,000 6,850 4,870
5,500 6,300 4,310
5,000 5,750 3,810
4,500 5,250 3,220
4,000 4,500 2,520
3,500 3,800 1,810
3,000 3,200 1,250
2,500 2,700 655 BC
2,000 1,950 AD 55
1,500 1,400 585
1,000 950 1070
500 525 1425

Adapted from Table A.1: Radiocarbon ages calibrated to mid-points of likeliest calendar years ago, in The Early Settlement of North America: The Clovis Era by Gary Haynes (2002, Cambridge University Press) with additional information from INTCAL98 Radiocarbon Age Calibration, 24,000 – 0 cal BP, by M. Stuiver, P. J. Reimer, E. Bard, J. W. Beck, G. S. Burr, K. A. Hughen, B. Kromer, G. McCormac, J. van der Plicht, and M. Spurk. Radiocarbon 40(3):1041-1083.