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Eaker site
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Overview of the site
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Nearest city	Blytheville, Arkansas
Coordinates	35°57′48″N 89°56′4″W / 35.96333°N 89.93444°W / 35.96333; -89.93444
Area	80 acres (32 ha)
NRHP reference No.	91001048
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	November 25, 1992
Designated NHL	June 19, 1996

The Eaker site (3MS105) is an archaeological site on Eaker Air Force Base near Blytheville, Arkansas, that was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1996. The site is the largest and most intact Late Mississippian Nodena phase village site within the Central Mississippi Valley, with archaeological evidence indicating a palisaded village some 50 acres (20 ha) in size, with hundreds of structures. The site's major period of occupation was 1350–1450 CE, although evidence of occupation dates back to 600 CE. The site is also hypothesized to have been occupied by the Quapaw prior to a migration further south, after which they made contact with Europeans in the late 17th century.

Description and archaeological history

The Eaker site is located in northeastern Arkansas, overlooking Pemiscot Bayou, a tributary of the St. Francis River. It is an area that saw little development before 1900, when agricultural endeavors resulted in the drainage of local swamps. The property was acquired by the United States Air Force in 1942, and has been part of Eaker Air Force Base since then.

The site was first recorded in 1973, although its location was incorrectly given, and was not corrected until 1978, when an amateur archaeologist collected samples from the site. Preliminary surveys were made in 1980 and 1982 by state archaeologists, and in 1988 a full investigation established the boundaries of the 80-acre (32 ha) site. This work yielded more than 100 projectile points and over 2,000 pottery fragments. A portion of the site has since been surveyed using a magnetometer, identifying a significant number of subsurface features of interest, including as many as 400 house sites. Excavations have yielded evidence of refuse middens, houses, toolmaking workshops, and human remains.

The most significant damage to the site took place shortly after the Air Force occupation in 1942, when a portion of a platform mound was apparently used as fill for one of the airfield runways. A mound-like feature in the northeast of the site is believed to represent the surviving element of this structure.

Analysis

According to the archaeological finds, the site appears to have been occupied several times between about 600 CE and 1500 CE. The pottery finds are similar in distribution to those found at the Nodena site, and the Nodena period (1350–1450 CE) is when this site appears to have been occupied to its greatest extent. This occupation included a large village, occupying about 50 acres (20 ha) of the site, which was surrounded by a wooden palisade and ditch. The southern 30 acres (12 ha) have evidence of Late Woodland Period occupation.

The site is significant for its size, which should enable archaeologists to uncover substantial evidence about the society which occupied it, including information such as social stratification (as indicated by differing burial practices, and the arrangement of structures in the village), and trading patterns with surrounding communities. It may also yield valuable information about agricultural practices, given its location in a place favorable for such uses.

The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1996.

See also

• Nodena site
• Parkin Archeological State Park
• Menard-Hodges site
• Mississippian culture
• List of Mississippian sites
• List of National Historic Landmarks in Arkansas
• National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi County, Arkansas

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
2. ^ "Eaker Site". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. September 27, 2007. Archived from the original on August 13, 2009.
3. ^ Carmichael, David (January 14, 1994). Barnes, Michael R. (ed.). "National Historic Landmark Nomination: Eaker Site (redacted)" (pdf). National Park Service.
4. "National Historic Landmarks Program – Eaker Site". Archived from the original on August 13, 2009. Retrieved May 31, 2009.

v t e Mississippian and related cultures
List of Mississippian sites Timeline of Mississippi valley
Middle Mississippian	American Bottom and Upper Mississippi Aztalan Big Eddy Cahokia Monks Mound Mound 34 Mound 72 Ramey state Woodhenge Cloverdale Dickson Mounds Emerald Acropolis Emmons Cemetery Horseshoe Lake John Chapman Kuhn Station Larson Lunsford-Pulcher McCune Mitchell Orendorf Sleeth Starr Steed-Kisker culture Sugarloaf Mound Lower Ohio River and Confluence area Adams site Dogtooth Bend Mounds Kincaid Mounds Marshall Site Millstone Bluff Orr-Herl Rowlandton Mound Towosahgy Turk Site Twin Mounds Ware Mounds Wickliffe Mounds Middle Ohio River Angel Mounds Angel phase Annis Mound Bone Bank Caborn-Welborn culture Ellerbusch Hovey Lake-Klein Hovey Lake District Murphy Prather Slack Farm Tolu Welborn Village Yankeetown Tennessee and Cumberland Backusburg Beasley Mounds Brentwood Library Brick Church Castalian Springs Dunbar Cave Fewkes Group Hiwassee Island Link Farm Mound Bottom Riverview Sellars Obion Old Town Swallow Bluff Central and Lower Mississippi Belle Meade Boone's Boyd Campbell Carson Chucalissa Denmark Eaker Janet's Menard-Hodges Murphy Nodena Nodena phase Owl Creek Parkin Quigualtam Tipton phase Tunica Koroa Yazoo Walls phase
South Appalachian Mississippian	Adamson Avery Beaverdam Creek Bell Field Mound Bessemer Biltmore Blair Bussell Island Chauga Chiaha Chota Citico Coosa Dallas phase Dyar Etowah Garden Creek Hoojah Branch Irene Jere Shine Joara Joe Bell King Lamar Lamar phase Liddell Little Egypt Long Swamp Mabila Mandeville McMahan Moccasin Bend Moundville Mouse Creek phase Mulberry Muscogee (Creek) Nacoochee Nikwasi Ocmulgee Park Mound Pisgah phase Punk Rock Shelter Rembert Roods Landing Rucker's Bottom Savannah Shiloh Sixtoe Summerour Taskigi Tomotley Toqua Town Creek Waddells Mill Pond Wilbanks
Fort Walton culture	Anhaica Apalachee Apalachee Province Cayson Corbin–Tucker Fort Walton Mound Lake Jackson Leon-Jefferson culture Letchworth Velda Yon
Pensacola culture	Bottle Creek Dauphin Island Fort Walton Hickory Ridge Cemetery Naval Live Oaks Cemetery Pensacola people
Plaquemine Mississippian	Anna Atchafalaya Basin Emerald Fitzhugh Flowery Fosters Ghost Glass Grand Village of the Natchez Holly Bluff Jaketown Jordan Julice Mangum Mazique Medora Mott Natchez Taensa Pocahontas Routh Scott Place Sims Transylvania Venable Winterville
Caddoan Mississippian	Battle Belcher Blue Spring Shelter Bluffton Caddo Caddoan Mounds Gahagan Hughes Ka-Do-Ha Indian Village Keller Spiro
Upper Mississippian cultures	Oneota Anker Beattie Park Blood Run Carcajou Point Fifield Fisher Mound Group Gentleman Farm Grand Village of the Illinois Griesmer Hartley Fort Hotel Plaza Hoxie Farm Huber Juntunen Knoll Spring Mero site Moccasin Bluff Oak Forest Palos Plum Island Roche-a-Cri Petroglyphs Schwerdt Summer Island Fort Ancient culture Alligator Effigy Mound Clover Dodge Leo Petroglyph Serpent Mound SunWatch Indian Village
Culture	Agriculture Beans Chenopodium Little barley Maize Marshelder Pumpkin Squash Sunflower Three Sisters Tobacco Artwork Emmons mask Copper plates Rogan plates Spiro plates Wulfing cache Duck River cache Long-nosed god maskette Mill Creek chert Pottery Shell gorget Stone statuary Languages Caddoan Central Algonquian Cherokee Mobilian Jargon Muskogean Natchez Taensa Siouan Timucuan Tunican Yuchi Religion Ballgame (Southeastern) Northern Black drink Burial mound Ceremonial pipe Chanunpa Chunkey Earth/fertility cult Green Corn Ceremony Horned Serpent Platform mound Red Horn Sacred bundle Village bundle Southeastern Ceremonial Complex Stone box grave Thunderbird Underwater panther
Related topics Chevron bead Clarksdale bell Mound Builders de Soto Expedition

• Late Mississippian culture
• Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas
• National Historic Landmarks in Arkansas
• National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi County, Arkansas
• Populated places on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas
• Former populated places in Arkansas
• Mounds in Arkansas