Cavanaugh Mound Restoration
The Archaeological Conservancy has acquired the Cavanaugh Mound in Arkansas with plans to restore the mound and add interpretative signs explaining its history. Cavanaugh Mound is a largely intact late prehistoric platform mound on the Arkansas River just east of the Oklahoma border, about 14 km from the Spiro Mounds complex. The site is situated on a high terrace above the Arkansas River. At about 60 m across and 9 m high, Cavanaugh Mound is one of the largest, if not the largest, prehistoric mound in the region. Very little has been published concerning this site, however, and very little formal archaeological work has been done there. An excerpt from the news story on this restoration project notes:
Jessica Crawford traveled from Marks, Miss., to Fort Smith to look at a BIG pile of dirt.
It’s an historic piece of ground, in fact, located behind the New Liberty Baptist Church in south Fort Smith and believed to be constructed by Native Americans (possibly Caddo Indian ancestors) between AD 1100 and 1300.
Crawford is the southeast regional director for The Archaeological Conservancy, the private, non-profit organization that purchased the “Cavanaugh Mound” in 2006 to prevent its further destruction. The Archaeological Conservancy was formed in 1980 for the purpose of acquiring and preserving important archaeological sites.
Read the full story: Archaeologists seek to research, restore the ‘Cavanaugh Mound’
