Spiro Mounds Archeological Park

Oklahoma’s only archaeological park, is a 150-acre site encompassing 12 southern mounds which contain evidence of an Indian culture that occupied the site from 850 A.D. to 1450 A.D. The Mounds are considered one of the four most important prehistoric Indian sites east of the Rocky Mountains.

Because of the great quantity of the materials recovered and the variety and vitality of its art forms, Spiro has been linked to the “Southern Cult,” an association of mound sites built and utilized during the Mississippi Period.

Spiro was an important center of commerce. The Spiro chiefs controlled trade between the vast reaches of the plains and verdant southease woodlands. Other area villages recognized certian Spiro residents as political and/or religious leaders. They directed everyday farmers in the building of mortuary houses where the bodies of the high-ranking dead lay.

Many exotic religious rituals at Spiro centered upon the death and burial of elite members of the Spiro society. Other ceremonies included the celebration of planting, harvesting, and the changing of the seasons.

The Park and Interpretive Center allow the visitors to acquaint themselves with the lifestyle of these prehistoric Indians through, artifacts, displays, interpretive displays, period home, reconstructed mounds, and unexcavated mounds.