Spiro Mounds
Spiro Archaeological Site · Craig Mound (Spirit Lodge)
Mississippian Spiro phases Harlan–Sprio 950–1450 CE (Craig Mortuary climax 1200–1400)·Caddoan Mississippian (Spiroan, ancestors of Wichita/Caddo)·🇺🇸 Oklahoma, United States
About
About Spiro Mounds
Premier Mississippian and Caddoan necropolis and ceremonial center on Arkansas River: 12 mounds (Craig Mound – 10 m high, hollow burial chamber or ‘Spirit Lodge’ with shell-carved ‘Great Mortuary’ containing engraved conch cups, embossed copper plates, embroidered textiles, 1,000+ bodies), Brown Mound (platform temple) and plaza. Most spectacular Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (SECC) treasury in North America, looted 1933–35 by Pocola Mining Co. before WPA excavation (1936–41). Gateway between Spiroan Mississippian (950–1450 CE) and Plains Caddo world; artifacts show Mesoamerican–Mississippian linkage.
Why it mattersRichest SECC funerary assemblage in North America (4,000+ artifacts in Smithsonian); proves Caddoan-Mississippian–Mesoamerican interaction sphere.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Who built Craig’s cedar-pole ‘Spirit Lodge’ and why it remained empty before mortuary use
- 02Why Spiro copper-embossed falcon figures parallel Etowah and Moundville 600 km apart identically
Theories
- 01Craig as charnel house restart later converted to necropolis – Krieger 1940s sequencing
- 02Spiro as western SECC portal trading Caddo bows, salt and Plains bison hides for Gulf shell and copper
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.950–1450 CE; Craig Mortuary 1200–1400 CE
- Period
- Mississippian Spiro phases Harlan–Sprio 950–1450 CE (Craig Mortuary climax 1200–1400)
- Culture
- Caddoan Mississippian (Spiroan, ancestors of Wichita/Caddo)
- Purpose
- Necropolis, temple mound complex and SECC craft / long-distance trade entrepot
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.950–1450 CE; Craig Mortuary 1200–1400 CE
Initial construction
c. 1641 CE
Abandonment
On the ground
Structures & features
35.3183° N · 94.5875° W · 140 m · 3 mapped features
Craig Mound (Great Mortuary / Spirit Lodge)
mound10 m burial mound with hollow cedar crypt
35.3189° N · 94.5872° WBrown Mound (platform mound)
platform mound5 m temple platform
35.3175° N · 94.5885° WCopple Mound
moundSecondary conical burial mound
35.3182° N · 94.5868° W
Gallery