Nodena Phase
Encyclopedia
The Nodena Phase is an archaeological phase
in eastern Arkansas
and southeastern Missouri
of the Late Mississippian culture
which dates from about 1400–1650 CE. The Nodena Phase is known from a collection of villages along the Mississippi River
between the Missouri Bootheel and Wapanocca Lake
. They practiced extensive maize
agriculture and artificial cranial deformation
and were members of a continent wide trade and religious network known as the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
, which brought chert
, whelk
shells, and other exotic goods to the area.
The Spanish
Hernando de Soto Expedition is believed to have visited several sites in the Nodena Phase in the early 1540s, which is usually identified as the Province of Pacaha
.
Nodena Phase sites are found in three geographic subdistricts: the Wilson
-Joiner
, the Wapanocca Lake
, and the Blytheville
subdistricts.
capital and the other nearby villages visited by the de Soto expedition.
shell as a tempering agent, and is not as smooth and polished as other varieties. Other examples found there are much finer, with a finer ground shell as a temper, some instances being so finely ground as to look untempered. Shapes and decoration were varied in the mortuary pottery, from brighly colored abstract spiral designs, to elaborate effigy
vessels depicting human heads, animals, and hunters and their prey. Pottery made by the Nodena people was built up from strips of clay, and then smoothed out by the potter, much like other pottery
in the Eastern America area where the potters wheel was unknown. Slips using galena
for white, hematite
for red, and sometimes graphite
for black were used to paint the pottery, with a red on white swastika design being particularly popular. Sometimes incising was used (an example is the incised raptor
image on the effigy head pot pictured), although it is rare in Nodena pottery. Women were probably the makers of pottery, as in most other Native American cultures. The grave of a woman at the Nodena Site contained 11 polishing pebbles and a mushroom shaped pottery anvil.
and Ozark Highlands areas for usable stone to make tools. Because of the conditions of the floodplain geography where they lived, no stone was available locally. Chert
, basalt
, and sandstone
were turned into a variety of tools such as celts
, chisels, adzes, abraders, hammerstones, hoe
s, drillbits, mortar and pestle
s, spear points, and arrow heads. A popular arrow head style is known as the Nodena point, a delicate leaf like shape. Sandstone was also ground and polished into a discoidal shape for use in the game of chunkey
.
Nodena points are a exquisitely made willow leaf-shaped flint blades named for the Nodena Site that are diagnostic of the Late Mississippian and Protohistoric
periods over a large section of the American Midwest and South. Examples have been found in Dallas Phase
sites in Tennessee
, Oneota
sites in Iowa
and Wisconsin
, Caborn-Welborn culture sites in Indiana
, Illinois
, and Kentucky
, protohistoric Quapaw sites in Arkansas, as well as sites in Alabama
, and Florida
. Two different types of Nodena points were made, the Nodena Elliptical and the Nodena Banks varieties. The Banks variety has a straight base, as opposed to the bi-point shape of the Nodena Elliptical. The Banks variety is named for the Banks Site, near Wapanocca Lake.(See illustration for distribution and diagram of types).
agriculture, as well as other food crops originating in the Americas, such as beans, squash, sunflower
s and gourds. They also gathered wild foodstuffs such as pecan
s and persimmon
s. The de Soto choroniclers described the area as being under heavy cultivation, and the most populous they had seen in La Florida. The Spaniards described groves of wild fruit and nut bearing trees, implying that the Nodena must have left them standing when clearing other trees for the cultivation of maize
. The hunting of whitetail deer
, squirrel
, rabbit
, turkey
, and mallard
was practiced as well as fishing for alligator gar
, catfish
, drum
, and mussel
s.
The people of the Nodena phase practiced artificial cranial deformation
or head flattening. Shortly after infants were born, they were strapped to a special carrier which deformed their skulls as they grew. Many of the skeletal remains found at the Nodena Site had deformed skulls, of the type defined as fronto-occipital deformation, flattening of the forehead and the back of the head. Of 123 skulls found by Dr. Hampson, only six could be considered "normal", meaning they did not show the signs of head deformation. The functioning of the brain is not affected by cranial deformation, but the overall shape of the skull bones are. This practice was performed by many Native American tribes into historic times, including the Choctaw
, although it later fell out of favor.
or Siouan
speaking. It is known that the Tunica were in the area at the time of the de Soto Entrada, and the related group of phases present in the region may have all been Tunican speakers, with Caddoan
speakers to their west and south. But by the time of later European contact in the 1670s
and the beginning of the historic period, the area was occupied by the Dhegiha Siouan
speaking Quapaw
. Attempts have been made to connect pottery styles and words from the de Soto narratives with historic tribes, but have so far been unsuccessful.
Other contemporaneous groups in the area include the Parkin Phase, Tipton Phase
, Menard Phase
, Belle Meade Phase and the Walls Phase
. The archaeological and ethnohistorical records suggest that the groups were rival and/or politically allied polities, with no neutral parties, engaged in internecine conquest warfare. The presence of palisade
s, earthen embankments and moat
s and the absence of isolated single family dwellings and smaller hamlets among the local phases suggests such a state of endemic warfare
existed. According to the de Soto narratives, Pacaha had been at war for some time with a neighboring group, the Casqui
. The Casqui are thought to have had their principal town at a site near Parkin
at the location of the present-day Parkin Archeological State Park
. Differences in pottery manufacture and burial customs found by archaeologists suggest the two groups had been isolated from each other for quit some time. The narratives record that the Pacaha and Casqui claimed they had been at war for many generations. The many years of fighting had led to a stalemate, where neither group was able to get the upper hand. Attacks were only carried out when the aggressor felt confidant of success. The Pacaha controlled more territory and had a larger population than the Casqui. Chief Pacaha was younger than the Casqui chief, however, and seemingly had more to lose from the continued aggressive Casqui attacks.
Other groups mentioned in the narratives were clearly vassal state
s of the Pacaha polity. Two such groups were the Aquixo and the Quizquiz, now identified as the Belle Meade and Walls Phase peoples.
De Soto encountered the Casqui tribe first. When he pressed on to visit the Pacaha, many of the Casqui people followed him. Many of the Pacaha, seeing the approach of their enemy, fled to a fortified island in the river, with many drowning in the attempt. The Casqui who had followed de Soto proceeded to sack the village, desecrate the temple and the remains of the Pacaha honored dead, and steal everything they could. Approximately one hundred and fifty Pacaha warriors were decapitated and their heads placed on poles outside the temple, replacing the heads of Casqui warriors.
De Soto contacted Chief Pacaha and convinced him that he had nothing to do with the attack and that the expedition's intentions were peaceful. De Soto even assured the Pacaha that the expedition would help the Pacaha attack the Casqui to punish them for their subterfuge. The Casqui received advance warning of the planned attack and decided to return the looted items and issue an apology in order to stave off retribution from the combined Spanish and Pacaha force. De Soto arranged a dinner for the two leaders and arranged a peace treaty between the two groups. As a gesture of gratitude for the arrangement of peace and also to outdo his rival, who had only presented a daughter to de Soto, Chief Pacaha presented de Soto with one of his wives, one of his sisters, and another woman from his tribe. The de Soto expedition stayed at Pacaha's village for approximately 40 days.
The Hernando de Soto expedition records are the only historical records of Chief Pacaha and his people. Their later history remains uncertain. By the time of the next documented European presence in the area in 1673 by the Marquette
and Jolliet
expedition, the region was populated sparsely by the Quapaw
. The introduction of European diseases such as smallpox
and measles
and the upsetting of the local balance of power by the Spaniards is thought to have contributed to the depopulation of the region described by the de Soto expedition as the most populous they had seen in La Florida.
Attempts have been made to link the Nodena people to historic groups by analyzing words recorded in the de Soto narratives and pottery from archaeological sites. Because of their presence in the area, the Quapaw were long considered a viable candidate. More recent analysis has focused on the Tunica people
, who were living in the Lower Yazoo River
valley by the late 17th century.
Archaeological phase
Archaeological phase and phasing refers to the logical reduction of contexts recorded during excavation to near contemporary archaeological horizons that represent a distinct "phase" of previous land use. These often but not always will be a representation of a former land surface or occupation...
in eastern 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...
and southeastern Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
of the Late Mississippian culture
Mississippian culture
The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....
which dates from about 1400–1650 CE. The Nodena Phase is known from a collection of villages along 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...
between the Missouri Bootheel and Wapanocca Lake
Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge
The Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge is a 5,484 acre wildlife refuge in Crittenden County, Arkansas, managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service....
. They practiced extensive maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
agriculture and artificial cranial deformation
Artificial cranial deformation
Artificial cranial deformation, head flattening, or head binding is a form of permanent body alteration in which the skull of a human being is intentionally deformed. It is done by distorting the normal growth of a child's skull by applying force...
and were members of a continent wide trade and religious network known as the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex is the name given to the regional stylistic similarity of artifacts, iconography, ceremonies, and mythology of the Mississippian culture that coincided with their adoption of maize agriculture and chiefdom-level complex social organization from...
, which brought chert
Mill Creek chert
Mill Creek chert is a type of chert found in Southern Illinois and heavily exploited by members of the Mississippian culture . Artifacts made from this material are found in archeological sites throughout the American Midwest and Southeast. It is named for a village and stream near the quarrys,...
, whelk
Whelk
Whelk, also spelled welk or even "wilks", is a common name used to mean one or more kinds of sea snail. The species, genera and families referred to using this common name vary a great deal from one geographic area to another...
shells, and other exotic goods to the area.
The Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Hernando de Soto Expedition is believed to have visited several sites in the Nodena Phase in the early 1540s, which is usually identified as the Province of Pacaha
Pacaha
Pacaha was a Native American tribe encountered in 1541 by the Hernando de Soto expedition. This tribe inhabited fortified villages in what is today the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Arkansas...
.
Settlement pattern
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....
-Joiner
Joiner, Arkansas
Joiner is a city in Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 540 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Joiner is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land....
, the Wapanocca Lake
Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge
The Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge is a 5,484 acre wildlife refuge in Crittenden County, Arkansas, managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service....
, and the Blytheville
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....
subdistricts.
Wilson-Joiner subdistrict
- Nodena SiteNodena SiteThe 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 the type siteType siteIn archaeology a type site is a site that is considered the model of a particular archaeological culture...
for the Nodena Phase, located east of Wilson, ArkansasWilson, ArkansasWilson 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....
in Mississippi County on a meanderMeanderA 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 RiverMississippi RiverThe 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...
. The Nodena site was discovered and first documented by Dr. James K. Hampson, archaeologist and owner of the plantation on which the site is located. ArtifactsArtifact (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 ParkHampson Museum State ParkThe 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....
in Wilson.
- Pecan Point Site (3 Ms 78) - Excavated by Clarence B. MooreClarence Bloomfield MooreClarence Bloomfield Moore was an American archaeologist and writer...
in 1910 or 1911.
Wapanocca Lake subdistrict
The largest site in the Wapanocca Lake district is the Bradley Site (3 Ct 7). The Bradley Site and its nearby cluster of towns and villages (3 Ct 9, 3 Ct 43, 3 Ct 14, 3 Ct 17, Banks Site) are considered good candidates for the PacahaPacaha
Pacaha was a Native American tribe encountered in 1541 by the Hernando de Soto expedition. This tribe inhabited fortified villages in what is today the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Arkansas...
capital and the other nearby villages visited by the de Soto expedition.
Blytheville subdistrict
- Campbell Archeological SiteCampbell Archeological SiteThe Campbell Archeological Site , is an archaeological site in Southeastern Missouri occupied by the Late Mississippian Period Nodena Phase from 1350 to 1541 CE. The site features a large mound and village, as well as a cemetery area. The site was excavated by amateur archaeologist Leo O...
(23 Pm 5) - The site is in southeastern MissouriMissouriMissouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
and was occupied from 1350 to 1541 CE. It features a large mound and village, as well as a cemetery area. The site was excavated by amateur archaeologist Leo O. Anderson and Professor Carl Chapman from 1954 to 1968, they published the first material on the site in 1955. The site has yielded the largest number of Spanish artifacts of any prehistoric site in Southeastern Missouri. Finds at the site included glass chevron beadChevron beadChevron beads are special glass beads, the first specimens of this type were created by glass bead makers in Venice and Murano, Italy, towards the end of the 14th century. They may also be referred to as Rosetta, or star beads...
s, a Clarksdale bell, iron knife fragments and part of a brass book binder.
- Chickasawba Mound (3M55), also known as the Blytheville Mound, Chickasaw Mound, Gosnell Place and the Big Mound. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
- Eaker SiteEaker SiteEaker Site is an archaeological site on Eaker Air Force Base near Blytheville, Arkansas that was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1996....
(3 Ms 105) - A site on Eaker Air Force BaseEaker Air Force BaseEaker Air Force Base was a front-line United States Air Force base for over 40 years. It was located 3 miles northwest of central Blytheville, Arkansas...
near Blytheville, ArkansasBlytheville, ArkansasBlytheville 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....
that is the largest and most intact Late Mississippian Nodena phase village site within the Central Mississippi Valley. It also shows evidence of later QuapawQuapawThe Quapaw people are a tribe of Native Americans who historically resided on the west side of the Mississippi River in what is now the state of Arkansas.They are federally recognized as the Quapaw Tribe of Indians.-Government:...
occupation. Like many Mississippian settlements, it is located on the bank of a river, the Pemiscot Bayou in the St. Francis BasinSt. Francis RiverThe Saint Francis River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, about long, in southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas in the United States...
. The Eaker site is large but has no known moundPlatform moundA platform mound is any earthwork or mound intended to support a structure or activity.-Eastern North America:The indigenous peoples of North America built substructure mounds for well over a thousand years starting in the Archaic period and continuing through the Woodland period...
, although it is rumored to have once had one.
Pottery
Most pottery found at the Nodena sites is of the Mississippian Bell Plain variety. It was buff colored, contains large fragments of ground musselMussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
shell as a tempering agent, and is not as smooth and polished as other varieties. Other examples found there are much finer, with a finer ground shell as a temper, some instances being so finely ground as to look untempered. Shapes and decoration were varied in the mortuary pottery, from brighly colored abstract spiral designs, to elaborate effigy
Effigy
An effigy is a representation of a person, especially in the form of sculpture or some other three-dimensional form.The term is usually associated with full-length figures of a deceased person depicted in stone or wood on church monuments. These most often lie supine with hands together in prayer,...
vessels depicting human heads, animals, and hunters and their prey. Pottery made by the Nodena people was built up from strips of clay, and then smoothed out by the potter, much like other pottery
Native American pottery
Native American pottery is an art form with at least a 7500-year history in the Americas. Pottery is fired ceramics with clay as a component. Ceramics are used for utilitarian cooking vessels, serving and storage vessels, pipes, funerary urns, censers, musical instruments, ceremonial items, masks,...
in the Eastern America area where the potters wheel was unknown. Slips using galena
Galena
Galena is the natural mineral form of lead sulfide. It is the most important lead ore mineral.Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms...
for white, hematite
Hematite
Hematite, also spelled as haematite, is the mineral form of iron oxide , one of several iron oxides. Hematite crystallizes in the rhombohedral system, and it has the same crystal structure as ilmenite and corundum...
for red, and sometimes graphite
Graphite
The mineral graphite is one of the allotropes of carbon. It was named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789 from the Ancient Greek γράφω , "to draw/write", for its use in pencils, where it is commonly called lead . Unlike diamond , graphite is an electrical conductor, a semimetal...
for black were used to paint the pottery, with a red on white swastika design being particularly popular. Sometimes incising was used (an example is the incised raptor
Hawk
The term hawk can be used in several ways:* In strict usage in Australia and Africa, to mean any of the species in the subfamily Accipitrinae, which comprises the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis and Megatriorchis. The large and widespread Accipiter genus includes goshawks,...
image on the effigy head pot pictured), although it is rare in Nodena pottery. Women were probably the makers of pottery, as in most other Native American cultures. The grave of a woman at the Nodena Site contained 11 polishing pebbles and a mushroom shaped pottery anvil.
Lithic Industry
Nodena Phase peoples traded with other groups to the west and northwest in the Crowley's RidgeCrowley's Ridge
Crowley's Ridge is an unusual geological formation that rises 250 to above the alluvial plain of the Mississippi embayment in a line from southeastern Missouri to the Mississippi River near Helena, Arkansas. It is the most prominent feature in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain between Cape...
and Ozark Highlands areas for usable stone to make tools. Because of the conditions of the floodplain geography where they lived, no stone was available locally. Chert
Mill Creek chert
Mill Creek chert is a type of chert found in Southern Illinois and heavily exploited by members of the Mississippian culture . Artifacts made from this material are found in archeological sites throughout the American Midwest and Southeast. It is named for a village and stream near the quarrys,...
, basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
, and sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
were turned into a variety of tools such as celts
Celt (tool)
Celt is an archaeological term used to describe long thin prehistoric stone or bronze adzes, other axe-like tools, and hoes.-Etymology:The term "celt" came about from what was very probably a copyist's error in many medieval manuscript copies of Job 19:24 in the Latin Vulgate Bible, which became...
, chisels, adzes, abraders, hammerstones, hoe
Hoe
Hoe may refer to:* Hoe , a hand tool used in gardening* Hoe , a Korean dish of raw fish* Plymouth Hoe, a public space in Plymouth, England* Hoe, Norfolk, a village in Norfolk, England* USS Hoe , a World War II US submarine...
s, drillbits, mortar and pestle
Mortar and pestle
A mortar and pestle is a tool used to crush, grind, and mix solid substances . The pestle is a heavy bat-shaped object, the end of which is used for crushing and grinding. The mortar is a bowl, typically made of hard wood, ceramic or stone...
s, spear points, and arrow heads. A popular arrow head style is known as the Nodena point, a delicate leaf like shape. Sandstone was also ground and polished into a discoidal shape for use in the game of chunkey
Chunkey
Chunkey is a game of Native American origin. It was played by rolling disc shaped stones across the ground and throwing spears at them in an attempt to place the spear as close to the stopped stone as possible...
.
Nodena points are a exquisitely made willow leaf-shaped flint blades named for the Nodena Site that are diagnostic of the Late Mississippian and Protohistoric
Protohistory
Protohistory refers to a period between prehistory and history, during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted its existence in their own writings...
periods over a large section of the American Midwest and South. Examples have been found in Dallas Phase
Dallas Phase
Dallas Phase is an archaeological phase, within the Mississippian III period, in the South Appalachian Geologic province.-Geography:Dallas peoples moved into southwest Virginia from northeastern Tennessee in the early 13th century...
sites in 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...
, Oneota
Oneota
Oneota is a designation archaeologists use to refer to a cultural complex that existed in the eastern plains and Great Lakes area of what is now the United States from around AD 900 to around 1650 or 1700. The culture is believed to have transitioned into various Macro-Siouan cultures of the...
sites in Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
and Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, Caborn-Welborn culture sites in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, and Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, protohistoric Quapaw sites in Arkansas, as well as sites in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Two different types of Nodena points were made, the Nodena Elliptical and the Nodena Banks varieties. The Banks variety has a straight base, as opposed to the bi-point shape of the Nodena Elliptical. The Banks variety is named for the Banks Site, near Wapanocca Lake.(See illustration for distribution and diagram of types).
Agriculture and Food
The people of Nodena were intensely involved in maizeMaize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
agriculture, as well as other food crops originating in the Americas, such as beans, squash, sunflower
Sunflower
Sunflower is an annual plant native to the Americas. It possesses a large inflorescence . The sunflower got its name from its huge, fiery blooms, whose shape and image is often used to depict the sun. The sunflower has a rough, hairy stem, broad, coarsely toothed, rough leaves and circular heads...
s and gourds. They also gathered wild foodstuffs such as pecan
Pecan
The pecan , Carya illinoinensis, is a species of hickory, native to south-central North America, in Mexico from Coahuila south to Jalisco and Veracruz, in the United States from southern Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana east to western Kentucky, southwestern Ohio, North Carolina, South...
s and persimmon
Persimmon
A persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros in the ebony wood family . The word Diospyros means "the fire of Zeus" in ancient Greek. As a tree, it is a perennial plant...
s. The de Soto choroniclers described the area as being under heavy cultivation, and the most populous they had seen in La Florida. The Spaniards described groves of wild fruit and nut bearing trees, implying that the Nodena must have left them standing when clearing other trees for the cultivation of maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
. The hunting of whitetail deer
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
, squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...
, rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
, turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, and mallard
Mallard
The Mallard , or Wild Duck , is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia....
was practiced as well as fishing for alligator gar
Alligator gar
The Alligator Gar , Atractosteus spatula, is a primitive ray-finned fish. Unlike other Gars, the mature Alligator Gar possesses a dual row of large teeth in the upper jaw. Its name derives from the alligator-like appearance of these teeth along with the fish's elongated snout...
, catfish
Catfish
Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...
, drum
Sciaenidae
Sciaenidae is a family of fish commonly called drums, croakers, or hardheads for the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make...
, and mussel
Mussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
s.
Head deformation
Artificial cranial deformation
Artificial cranial deformation, head flattening, or head binding is a form of permanent body alteration in which the skull of a human being is intentionally deformed. It is done by distorting the normal growth of a child's skull by applying force...
or head flattening. Shortly after infants were born, they were strapped to a special carrier which deformed their skulls as they grew. Many of the skeletal remains found at the Nodena Site had deformed skulls, of the type defined as fronto-occipital deformation, flattening of the forehead and the back of the head. Of 123 skulls found by Dr. Hampson, only six could be considered "normal", meaning they did not show the signs of head deformation. The functioning of the brain is not affected by cranial deformation, but the overall shape of the skull bones are. This practice was performed by many Native American tribes into historic times, including the Choctaw
Choctaw
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...
, although it later fell out of favor.
Burial customs
Family cemeteries with burials occurring in groups of 15 to 20 or more were found at some Nodena phase sites. Burials were in the extended position, lying on their backs, with most oriented on a north-south axis. The Nodena Phase people also left grave offerings for the afterlife with their deceased. Graves included a bowl and a bottle near the heads of the deceased, usually of the finer variety of effigy pottery. Sometimes tools were also included, as one womans grave contained pottery making implements.Language
The peoples of Nodena were probably TunicanTunica language
The Tunica language was a language isolate spoken in the Central and Lower Mississippi Valley by in the United States by Native American Tunica peoples. There are no known speakers of the Tunica language remaining.When the last known fluent speaker Sesostrie Youchigant died, the language became...
or Siouan
Siouan languages
The Western Siouan languages, also called Siouan proper or simply Siouan, are a Native American language family of North America, and the second largest indigenous language family in North America, after Algonquian...
speaking. It is known that the Tunica were in the area at the time of the de Soto Entrada, and the related group of phases present in the region may have all been Tunican speakers, with Caddoan
Caddo language
Caddo is the only surviving Southern Caddoan language of the Caddo language family. It is spoken by the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma. Today, only 25 elderly speakers are estimated to remain, none of whom are monolingual Caddo speakers, making Caddo a critically endangered language...
speakers to their west and south. But by the time of later European contact in the 1670s
Jacques Marquette
Father Jacques Marquette S.J. , sometimes known as Père Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. Marie, and later founded St. Ignace, Michigan...
and the beginning of the historic period, the area was occupied by the Dhegiha Siouan
Dhegihan
The Dhegihan languages are a group of Siouan languages that include Kansa–Osage, Omaha–Ponca, and Quapaw. Their historical region included parts of the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys, the Great Plains, and southeastern North America....
speaking Quapaw
Quapaw
The Quapaw people are a tribe of Native Americans who historically resided on the west side of the Mississippi River in what is now the state of Arkansas.They are federally recognized as the Quapaw Tribe of Indians.-Government:...
. Attempts have been made to connect pottery styles and words from the de Soto narratives with historic tribes, but have so far been unsuccessful.
Relationship with neighboring peoples
Tipton Phase
The Tipton Phase is an archaeological phase in southwestern Tennessee of the Late Mississippian culture. Other contemporaneous groups in the area include the Parkin Phase, Walls Phase, Menard Phase, and the Nodena Phase. The Tipton Phase is the last prehistoric people to inhabit the area before the...
, Menard Phase
Menard-Hodges Site
The Menard-Hodges Site , is an archaeological site in Arkansas. It includes two large mounds as well as several house mounds. It is the type site for the Menard phase, a protohistoric Mississippian culture group. It is considered as a possible candidate for the Province of Anilco encountered by the...
, Belle Meade Phase and the Walls Phase
Walls Phase
The Walls Phase is an archaeological phase in southwestern Tennessee and northwestern Mississippi of the Late Mississippian culture. Chucalissa Indian Village is a Walls Phase mound and plaza complex located on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. Other contemporaneous groups in the area...
. The archaeological and ethnohistorical records suggest that the groups were rival and/or politically allied polities, with no neutral parties, engaged in internecine conquest warfare. The presence of 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...
s, earthen embankments and moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
s and the absence of isolated single family dwellings and smaller hamlets among the local phases suggests such a state of endemic warfare
Endemic warfare
Endemic warfare is the state of continual, low-threshold warfare in a tribal warrior society. Endemic warfare is often highly ritualized and plays an important function in assisting the formation of a social structure among the tribes' men by proving themselves in battle.Ritual fighting permits...
existed. According to the de Soto narratives, Pacaha had been at war for some time with a neighboring group, the Casqui
Casqui
Casqui was a Native American tribe discovered in 1541 by the Hernando de Soto expedition. This tribe inhabited fortified villages in eastern Arkansas....
. The Casqui are thought to have had their principal town at a site near 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 ....
at the location of the present-day Parkin Archeological State Park
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...
. Differences in pottery manufacture and burial customs found by archaeologists suggest the two groups had been isolated from each other for quit some time. The narratives record that the Pacaha and Casqui claimed they had been at war for many generations. The many years of fighting had led to a stalemate, where neither group was able to get the upper hand. Attacks were only carried out when the aggressor felt confidant of success. The Pacaha controlled more territory and had a larger population than the Casqui. Chief Pacaha was younger than the Casqui chief, however, and seemingly had more to lose from the continued aggressive Casqui attacks.
Other groups mentioned in the narratives were clearly vassal state
Vassal state
A vassal state is any state that is subordinate to another. The vassal in these cases is the ruler, rather than the state itself. Being a vassal most commonly implies providing military assistance to the dominant state when requested to do so; it sometimes implies paying tribute, but a state which...
s of the Pacaha polity. Two such groups were the Aquixo and the Quizquiz, now identified as the Belle Meade and Walls Phase peoples.
Effects of European contact
De Soto contacted Chief Pacaha and convinced him that he had nothing to do with the attack and that the expedition's intentions were peaceful. De Soto even assured the Pacaha that the expedition would help the Pacaha attack the Casqui to punish them for their subterfuge. The Casqui received advance warning of the planned attack and decided to return the looted items and issue an apology in order to stave off retribution from the combined Spanish and Pacaha force. De Soto arranged a dinner for the two leaders and arranged a peace treaty between the two groups. As a gesture of gratitude for the arrangement of peace and also to outdo his rival, who had only presented a daughter to de Soto, Chief Pacaha presented de Soto with one of his wives, one of his sisters, and another woman from his tribe. The de Soto expedition stayed at Pacaha's village for approximately 40 days.
The Hernando de Soto expedition records are the only historical records of Chief Pacaha and his people. Their later history remains uncertain. By the time of the next documented European presence in the area in 1673 by the Marquette
Jacques Marquette
Father Jacques Marquette S.J. , sometimes known as Père Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. Marie, and later founded St. Ignace, Michigan...
and Jolliet
Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet , also known as Louis Joliet, was a French Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America...
expedition, the region was populated sparsely by the Quapaw
Quapaw
The Quapaw people are a tribe of Native Americans who historically resided on the west side of the Mississippi River in what is now the state of Arkansas.They are federally recognized as the Quapaw Tribe of Indians.-Government:...
. The introduction of European diseases such as smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
and measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
and the upsetting of the local balance of power by the Spaniards is thought to have contributed to the depopulation of the region described by the de Soto expedition as the most populous they had seen in La Florida.
Attempts have been made to link the Nodena people to historic groups by analyzing words recorded in the de Soto narratives and pottery from archaeological sites. Because of their presence in the area, the Quapaw were long considered a viable candidate. More recent analysis has focused on the Tunica people
Tunica people
The Tunica people were a group of linguistically and culturally related Native American tribes in the Mississippi River Valley, which include the Tunica ; the Yazoo; the Koroa ; and possibly the Tioux...
, who were living in the Lower Yazoo River
Yazoo River
The Yazoo River is a river in the U.S. state of Mississippi.The Yazoo River was named by French explorer La Salle in 1682 as "Rivière des Yazous" in reference to the Yazoo tribe living near the river's mouth. The exact meaning of the term is unclear...
valley by the late 17th century.
See also
- History of the Tunica people
- Mississippian cultureMississippian cultureThe Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....
- Southeastern Ceremonial ComplexSoutheastern Ceremonial ComplexThe Southeastern Ceremonial Complex is the name given to the regional stylistic similarity of artifacts, iconography, ceremonies, and mythology of the Mississippian culture that coincided with their adoption of maize agriculture and chiefdom-level complex social organization from...
- List of Mississippian sites
- List of sites and peoples visited by the Hernando de Soto Expedition