Belcher Mound Site
Encyclopedia
The Belcher Mound Site (16CD13) is an archaeological site
in Caddo Parish, Louisiana
. It is located in the Red River Valley 20 miles north of Shreveport
and about one-half mile east of the town of Belcher, Louisiana
. It was excavated by Clarence H. Webb from 1959 to 1969. The site gives its name to a local phase of the Caddoan Mississippian culture
, the Belcher Phase, which radiocarbon dates suggest lasted from 1400 to 1600 CE.
The Belcher Site was a ceremonial center with a mound
, habitation area, and cemetery inhabited between circa 900 - 1700 CE. The mound at Belcher was built in successive levels. Each layer had a structure, which was burned or deserted after a period of use, and the mound subsequently covered with a new layer and building. The earliest were rectangular wall trench structures with wattle and daub
walls and grass thatched
gable roofs. Later, circular structures with interior roof supports and central hearths were constructed atop the mound. These were constructured with the same materials, but subdivided into compartments for several living and cooking arrangements. The structures atop the mounds are thought to have been ceremonial lodges or the homes of chieftains.
and shell artifacts. The remains were determined to be related to ancestors of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma and returned to them under the NAGPRA Act.
and beans. They also collected a variety of wild foodstuffs such as hickory
nuts, persimmon
seeds, and pecan
s. Mussel
, gar
, catfish
, buffalo, sheepshead
, bowfin
, and turtle
were taken from the local waterways. Whitetail deer, rabbit
, squirrel
, fox
, mink
, and birds were hunted in the local woodlands.
s(axes), arrow points, flint scrapers and gravers, and sandstone hones from a variety of rocks. They also made awls, needles and chisels from animal bones, and hoe
s for farming from mussel
shells.
and the McCurtain Phase even further upstream. Belcher Phase sites are found from Fulton, Arkansas
to just below Shreveport.
Sites in the Texarkana and Belcher Phase areas were an assortment of sizes, from large, permanent settlements with mounds and cemeteries, to smaller dispersed hamlet
s and farmsteads. The people of these settlements were maize
agriculturalists with complex societies led by high status individuals who lived at the mound centers such as the Belcher Mound, the Battle Mound
, Hatchel-Mitchell Site (part of the Texarkana Phase Archeological District), and Cabe Mounds. Hamlets or farmsteads, such as the Cedar Grove Site and Spirit Lake Site for the Belcher phase and the Sherwin Site and Atlanta State Park Site
for the Texarkana Phase have also been investigated.
Archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
in Caddo Parish, Louisiana
Caddo Parish, Louisiana
Caddo Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Shreveport; as of 2000, the population was 252,161...
. It is located in the Red River Valley 20 miles north of Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
and about one-half mile east of the town of Belcher, Louisiana
Belcher, Louisiana
Belcher is a village in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 272 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Shreveport–Bossier City Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Belcher is located at ....
. It was excavated by Clarence H. Webb from 1959 to 1969. The site gives its name to a local phase of the Caddoan Mississippian culture
Caddoan Mississippian culture
The Caddoan Mississippian culture was a prehistoric Native American culture considered by archaeologists as a variant of the Mississippian culture. The Caddoan Mississippians covered a large territory, including what is now Eastern Oklahoma, Western Arkansas, Northeast Texas, and Northwest Louisiana...
, the Belcher Phase, which radiocarbon dates suggest lasted from 1400 to 1600 CE.
Site description
Platform mound
A platform mound is any earthwork or mound intended to support a structure or activity.-Eastern North America:The indigenous peoples of North America built substructure mounds for well over a thousand years starting in the Archaic period and continuing through the Woodland period...
, habitation area, and cemetery inhabited between circa 900 - 1700 CE. The mound at Belcher was built in successive levels. Each layer had a structure, which was burned or deserted after a period of use, and the mound subsequently covered with a new layer and building. The earliest were rectangular wall trench structures with wattle and daub
Wattle and daub
Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw...
walls and grass thatched
Thatching
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge , rushes, or heather, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. It is a very old roofing method and has been used in both tropical and temperate climates...
gable roofs. Later, circular structures with interior roof supports and central hearths were constructed atop the mound. These were constructured with the same materials, but subdivided into compartments for several living and cooking arrangements. The structures atop the mounds are thought to have been ceremonial lodges or the homes of chieftains.
Burial practices
The people of the site buried their dead in pits beneath the floors of their houses. In excavations between 1936–1954, the remains of forty six individuals and their funerary objects were removed by Dr. Webb, who donated these remains and objects to the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science in 1974. The grave goods included earthenware pottery, a ceramic spindle whorl and hair ornament, a stone celtCelt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
and shell artifacts. The remains were determined to be related to ancestors of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma and returned to them under the NAGPRA Act.
Food
The people of the Belcher site were full time agriculturalist, who grew a variety of domesticated plants. Food remains found include maizeMaize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
and beans. They also collected a variety of wild foodstuffs such as hickory
Hickory
Trees in the genus Carya are commonly known as hickory, derived from the Powhatan language of Virginia. The genus includes 17–19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and big nuts...
nuts, persimmon
Persimmon
A persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros in the ebony wood family . The word Diospyros means "the fire of Zeus" in ancient Greek. As a tree, it is a perennial plant...
seeds, and pecan
Pecan
The pecan , Carya illinoinensis, is a species of hickory, native to south-central North America, in Mexico from Coahuila south to Jalisco and Veracruz, in the United States from southern Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana east to western Kentucky, southwestern Ohio, North Carolina, South...
s. Mussel
Mussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
, gar
Gar
In American English the name gar is strictly applied to members of the Lepisosteidae, a family including seven living species of fish in two genera that inhabit fresh, brackish, and occasionally marine, waters of eastern North America, Central America, and the Caribbean islands.-Etymology:In...
, catfish
Catfish
Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...
, buffalo, sheepshead
Sheepshead (fish)
The sheepshead, Archosargus probatocephalus, is a marine fish that grows to 30 in , but commonly reaches 10 to 20 in. It is deep and compressed in body shape, with 5 to 6 dark bars on the side of the body over a gray background. It has sharp dorsal spines. Its diet consists of oysters, clams, and...
, bowfin
Bowfin
The Bowfin, Amia calva, is the last surviving member of the order Amiiformes , and of the family Amiidae...
, and turtle
Turtle
Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...
were taken from the local waterways. Whitetail deer, rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
, squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...
, fox
Fox
Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
, mink
Mink
There are two living species referred to as "mink": the European Mink and the American Mink. The extinct Sea Mink is related to the American Mink, but was much larger. All three species are dark-colored, semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae, which also includes the weasels and...
, and birds were hunted in the local woodlands.
Tools
The Belcher people made tools such as celtCelt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
s(axes), arrow points, flint scrapers and gravers, and sandstone hones from a variety of rocks. They also made awls, needles and chisels from animal bones, and hoe
Hoe (tool)
A hoe is an ancient and versatile agricultural tool used to move small amounts of soil. Common goals include weed control by agitating the surface of the soil around plants, piling soil around the base of plants , creating narrow furrows and shallow trenches for planting seeds and bulbs, to chop...
s for farming from mussel
Mussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
shells.
Belcher Phase
Archaeological investigations in the area have determined that the Belcher Phase began about 1400 and existed until 1600 CE. During its beginning, Belcher culture probably overlapped and coexisted with Bossier culture. Its neighbors were the Texarkana Phase on the Red River northwest of Texarkana, TexasTexarkana, Texas
Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States. It effectively functions as one half of a city which crosses a state line — the other half, the city of Texarkana, Arkansas, lies on the other side of State Line Avenue...
and the McCurtain Phase even further upstream. Belcher Phase sites are found from Fulton, Arkansas
Fulton, Arkansas
Fulton is a city in Hempstead County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 245 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Hope Micropolitan Statistical Area...
to just below Shreveport.
Sites in the Texarkana and Belcher Phase areas were an assortment of sizes, from large, permanent settlements with mounds and cemeteries, to smaller dispersed hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
s and farmsteads. The people of these settlements were maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
agriculturalists with complex societies led by high status individuals who lived at the mound centers such as the Belcher Mound, the Battle Mound
Battle Mound Site
The Battle Mound Site is an archaeological site in Lafayette County, Arkansas in the Great Bend region of the Red River basin. The majority of the mound was built from 1200-1400 CE. The site has the largest mound of the Caddoan Mississippian culture , and measures approximately 670 feet in length,...
, Hatchel-Mitchell Site (part of the Texarkana Phase Archeological District), and Cabe Mounds. Hamlets or farmsteads, such as the Cedar Grove Site and Spirit Lake Site for the Belcher phase and the Sherwin Site and Atlanta State Park Site
Atlanta State Park
Atlanta State Park is a state park in northeast Texas in the United States. It is located on Wright Patman Lake in northern Cass County.-Location:...
for the Texarkana Phase have also been investigated.