Nodena Site
Nodena Plantation Site · Nodena Phase Type Site (3MS4)
Late Mississippian (Nodena phase)·Mississippian (Nodena phase, Oneota-related)·🇺🇸 Arkansas, Mississippi County, United States
About
About Nodena Site
Type site of the Nodena phase (c.1350–1650 CE), Late Mississippian palisaded town and mound complex on the Mississippi River meander bend, Nodena Plantation. Excavated by James K. Hampson 1900–1905 and by Arkansas Archeological Survey; produced Nodena Red-and-White ceramics, head-flattening burials, and dense palisade with bastions. Fifteen mounds (8 extant) within 46 ha fortified plaza town, with elite cemetery yielding 1,200+ burials and famed Nodena arrowpoints. Represents western Mississippian–Oneota interaction and protohistoric contact periphery; NHL 1964.
Why it mattersDefinitive type site for Nodena phase taxonomy; key to Mississippian–Oneota–Quapaw continuity and de Soto-era polity localization.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Identity of inhabitants — Quapaw ancestors vs Spier's Nodena entity
- 02Frequency of intentional cranial deformation significance
- 03Location of de Soto's Pacaha province correlation
Theories
- 01Quapaw emergence from Nodena gradual dispersal model
- 02Palisaded town as refuge center during Mississippi Valley endemic warfare 1400–1650
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1350–1650 CE
- Period
- Late Mississippian (Nodena phase)
- Culture
- Mississippian (Nodena phase, Oneota-related)
- Builders
- Mississippian (Nodena phase)
- Purpose
- Fortified riverine town, regional redistribution and mortuary center
- Abandoned
- c.1650 CE (post-contact dispersal)
- Rediscovered
- 1897 by local planters; documented James K. Hampson 1900
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
On the ground
Structures & features
35.6025° N · 89.9792° W · 72 m · 2 mapped features
Mound A (central platform)
mound5 m high 90 m base platform flanking plaza, elite residence/burial mound
35.6030° N · 89.9790° WPalisaded plaza and bastions
earthwork800 m palisade circuit with regularly spaced bastions and ditch enclosing town
35.6020° N · 89.9785° W