Hampson Museum State Park
Encyclopedia
The Hampson Museum State Park in Wilson
, Arkansas
, U.S.A. exhibits an archeological collection of early American
aboriginal
artifacts
from the Nodena Site
. The Nodena Site is an archeological site east of Wilson and northeast of Reverie
, Tennessee
.
Around 1400-1650 CE
an aboriginal palisade
d village
existed in the Nodena area on a meander
bend of the Mississippi River
. Artifacts
from this site are on display in the Hampson Museum State Park.
The museum is named after Dr. James K. Hampson (1877-1956), a local landowner and archaeologist.
About 5 mi (8 km) east of Wilson, at the Nodena Site, archeological artifacts from an aboriginal village of the Nodena people dated 1400-1650 CE
were found in the first half of the 20th century.
A collection of these artifacts is on display at the Hampson Museum State Park. The museum
documents the culture
of the civilization
of the Nodena people, who lived in a 15 acres (6.1 ha) palisaded village on a horseshoe
bend of the Mississippi River in the Wilson, Arkansas area. Cultivation of crops, hunting
, social life
, religion
and politics
of that ancient civilization are topics of the exhibition.
In 1964 the Nodena Site was declared a National Historic Landmark
. In 1966 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places
.
The Parkin Indian Mound
is the site of another Indian village contemporary with the Nodena people, located in Parkin
, Arkansas
, about 30 mi (50 km) southwest of Wilson.
and preserve the artifacts from the Nodena Site.
In 1900 Dr. James K. Hampson documented the discovery of a prehistoric mastodon
skeleton
2 mi (3.2 km) south of the Nodena site.
genus
Mammut, they resemble modern elephants. Native to North America
they are said to have lived on the North American continent
from almost 4 million years ago until their eventual disappearance about 10,000 years ago.
In 1900, archaeologist Dr. James K. Hampson documented the find of skeletal
remains of a mastodon on Island No. 35 of the Mississippi River, 2 mi (3.2 km) south of the Nodena site and 23 mi (37 km) south of Blytheville, Arkansas
.
In 1957 the site was reported as destroyed. Fossilized bones from the find are on display at the Hampson Museum State Park.
Wilson, Arkansas
Wilson is a town in Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 939 at the 2000 census.The town was named after Robert E. Lee Wilson, a landowner and logging business owner in the area in the late 19th century....
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, U.S.A. exhibits an archeological collection of early American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
aboriginal
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
artifacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
from the Nodena Site
Nodena Site
The Nodena Site is an archeological site east of Wilson, Arkansas and northeast of Reverie, Tennessee in Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. Around 1400–1650 CE an aboriginal palisaded village existed in the Nodena area on a meander bend of the Mississippi River. The Nodena site...
. The Nodena Site is an archeological site east of Wilson and northeast of Reverie
Reverie, Tennessee
Reverie is an unincorporated community in Tipton County, Tennessee, United States. In 2001, the population was 11.Over a period of about 24 hours on March 7, 1876, the Mississippi River abandoned its former channel that coincided with the Tennessee-Arkansas border, and established a new channel...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
.
Around 1400-1650 CE
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
an aboriginal palisade
Palisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
d village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
existed in the Nodena area on a meander
Meander
A meander in general is a bend in a sinuous watercourse. A meander is formed when the moving water in a stream erodes the outer banks and widens its valley. A stream of any volume may assume a meandering course, alternately eroding sediments from the outside of a bend and depositing them on the...
bend of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. Artifacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
from this site are on display in the Hampson Museum State Park.
The museum is named after Dr. James K. Hampson (1877-1956), a local landowner and archaeologist.
Nodena village 1400-1650 CE
About 5 mi (8 km) east of Wilson, at the Nodena Site, archeological artifacts from an aboriginal village of the Nodena people dated 1400-1650 CE
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
were found in the first half of the 20th century.
A collection of these artifacts is on display at the Hampson Museum State Park. The museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
documents the culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
of the civilization
Civilization
Civilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
of the Nodena people, who lived in a 15 acres (6.1 ha) palisaded village on a horseshoe
Horseshoe
A horseshoe, is a fabricated product, normally made of metal, although sometimes made partially or wholly of modern synthetic materials, designed to protect a horse's hoof from wear and tear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall...
bend of the Mississippi River in the Wilson, Arkansas area. Cultivation of crops, hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
, social life
Social life
Social life may refer to:* an individual's Interpersonal relationships* Social relation * Social Life, an album by Koufax* Social Life, the indie/punk band from Greensboro, North Carolina....
, religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
and politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
of that ancient civilization are topics of the exhibition.
In 1964 the Nodena Site was declared a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
. In 1966 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
The Parkin Indian Mound
Parkin Archeological State Park
Parkin Archeological State Park, also known as Parkin Indian Mound, is an archeological site and state park in Parkin, Cross County, Arkansas. Around 1350–1650 CE an aboriginal palisaded village existed at the site, at the confluence of the St. Francis and Tyronza Rivers. Artifacts from this...
is the site of another Indian village contemporary with the Nodena people, located in Parkin
Parkin, Arkansas
Parkin is a city in Cross County, Arkansas, in the United States, along the St. Francis River. The population was 1,602 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Parkin is located at ....
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, about 30 mi (50 km) southwest of Wilson.
Dr. James K. Hampson
The museum is named after Dr. James K. Hampson (1877-1956), owner of the Hampson Plantation on which the Nodena Site is located, and archaeologist to excavateExcavate
The excavates are a major kingdom of unicellular eukaryotes, often known as Excavata. The phylogenetic category Excavata, proposed by Cavalier-Smith in 2002, contains a variety of free-living and symbiotic forms, and also includes some important parasites of humans.-Characteristics:Many excavates...
and preserve the artifacts from the Nodena Site.
In 1900 Dr. James K. Hampson documented the discovery of a prehistoric mastodon
Mastodon
Mastodons were large tusked mammal species of the extinct genus Mammut which inhabited Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and Central America from the Oligocene through Pleistocene, 33.9 mya to 11,000 years ago. The American mastodon is the most recent and best known species of the group...
skeleton
Skeleton
The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...
2 mi (3.2 km) south of the Nodena site.
Prehistoric Mastodon skeleton
Mastodons are members of the prehistoric, extinctExtinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Mammut, they resemble modern elephants. Native to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
they are said to have lived on the North American continent
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
from almost 4 million years ago until their eventual disappearance about 10,000 years ago.
In 1900, archaeologist Dr. James K. Hampson documented the find of skeletal
Skeleton
The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...
remains of a mastodon on Island No. 35 of the Mississippi River, 2 mi (3.2 km) south of the Nodena site and 23 mi (37 km) south of Blytheville, Arkansas
Blytheville, Arkansas
Blytheville is the largest city in and one of the two county seats of Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 15,620 at the 2010 census....
.
In 1957 the site was reported as destroyed. Fossilized bones from the find are on display at the Hampson Museum State Park.