|
Spiro Mounds (34 LF 40) is an important Mississippian archaeological site located in what is now Eastern Oklahoma. It lies near the Arkansas River seven miles north of the town of Spiro. Between the 9th and 15th centuries, the Spiro people created a powerful religious and political center based on the model of Mississippian Culture that thrived along the Mississippi River and its tributaries at that period. Spiro is considered the western-most outpost of Mississippian culture. Spiro Mounds is under the protection of the Oklahoma Historical Society, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.〔("Spiro Mounds." ) ''Oklahoma Historical Society.'' (retrieved 30 May 2011)〕 In the 1930s, treasure hunters bought the rights to tunnel into Craig Mound—the second-largest mound on the site—to mine it for artifacts. In the process, they exposed a hollow burial chamber inside the mound, a unique feature containing some of the most extraordinary pre-Columbian artifacts ever found in North America. The treasure hunters sold the artifacts they recovered to art collectors, some as far away as Europe. Some of these artifacts were later returned, though some have never been accounted for. This site has been significant for North American archaeology since the 1930s, especially for defining the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, a significant feature of the Mississippian tradition. ==Mounds and plaza area== Mississippian culture spread along the lower Mississippi River and its tributaries between the 9th and 16th centuries. The largest Mississippian settlement was Cahokia, the capital of a major chiefdom that built a six-mile-square city east of what is now St. Louis, Missouri in present-day Southern Illinois. Mississippian culture ranged from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast, and along the Ohio River and into both the lowland and mountain areas of the Southeast. Mississippian settlements had large platform mounds (usually truncated pyramids) surmounted by temples, the houses of warrior kings and priests, and the burial houses of the elite. Archaeological research has shown that Mississippian settlements like Cahokia and Spiro took part in a vast trading network that covered the eastern half of what is now the U.S. and parts of what is now the Western U.S. as well. The Spiro site includes twelve earthen mounds and 150 acres of land.〔 As in other Mississippian-culture towns, the people built a number of large, complex earthworks. These included mounds surrounding a large, planned and leveled central plaza, where important religious rituals, the politically and culturally significant game of chunkey, and other important community activities were carried out. The population lived in a village that bordered the plaza. In addition, archaeologists have found more than twenty other related village sites within five miles of the main town. Other village sites linked to Spiro through culture and trade have been found up to a away. Spiro has been the site of human activity for at least 8000 years, but was a major settlement from 800 to 1450.〔 The cultivation of maize allowed accumulation of crop surpluses and the gathering of more dense populations. It was the headquarters town of a regional chiefdom, whose powerful leaders directed the building of eleven platform mounds and one burial mound in an area on the south bank of the Arkansas River. The heart of the site is a group of nine mounds surrounding an oval plaza. These mounds elevated the homes of important leaders or formed the foundations for religious structures that focused the attention of the community. Brown Mound, the largest platform mound, is located on the eastern side of the plaza. It had an earthen ramp that gave access to the summit from the north side. Here, atop Brown Mound and the other mounds, the town's inhabitants carried out complex rituals, centered especially on the deaths and burials of Spiro's powerful rulers. Archaeologists have shown that Spiro had a large resident population until about 1250. After that, most of the population moved to other towns nearby. Spiro continued to be used as a regional ceremonial center and burial ground until about 1450. Its ceremonial and mortuary functions continued and seem to have grown after the main population moved away. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Spiro Mounds」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|