TOLTEC MOUNDS ARCHEOLOGICAL STATE PARK - Archaeological sites call for a vivid imagination. To a non expert’s eye, they’re generally just piles of stones - or in the case of Toltec Mounds, a grassy expanse of green with a few verdant hillocks and the scant remains of an earthen wall set amid the flatness.
Strolling Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park’s paved Knapp Trail on a recent sunny afternoon, just 15 miles or so east of downtown Little Rock, I imagined a scenario spun from information in one of the brochures available free at the visitor center.
Toltec Mounds, I mused, might have been a primitive version of our present-day gated communities for the mysterious Plum Bayou people who lived here from about A.D. 650 to 1050 before abandoning the site for reasons unclear.
That notion may seem loopy, and it probably is. So little is known about the builders of these mounds, one of Arkansas’ most prominent pre-Columbian sites, that the misnomer “Toltec” was attached in the 19th century - although that more complex civilization existed far to the south in Mexico.
According to the Knapp Trail brochure, “Archaeologists believe only about 50 people lived within the boundaries of this site. These individuals who actually lived within the boundaries of the embankment wall are thought to have been the religious and civic leaders of the Plum Bayou people. The general population, it is believed, lived in scattered villages and farmsteads in the surrounding area.”
It sounds like the local big shots dwelt privately enclosed by their 10-foot-high earthen wall in a secluded setup something like our gated neighborhoods. Only several times a year would ordinary citizens have been admitted “for special ceremonies and to renew social and family ties.” Social rank, then as now, had its privileges.
The two tallest of the 18 Toltec Mounds, rising to 49 feet (Mound A) and 39 feet (Mound B), are flat on top and believed to have served as platforms for temples or houses. Visitors are urged to resist a natural impulse by signs exhorting: “Please stay off mounds.”
Exploration of the site by the Arkansas Archeological Survey of the University of Arkansas continues in cooperation with Arkansas State Parks. Off-limits for digging is Mound C, much lower and with a rounded top. Probing a century ago determined that it was a burial site, and a state law passed in 1991 forbids excavating or otherwise disturbing American Indian graves.
Mound H, known as the observational mound, will be a center of attention from 4 to 8:30 p.m. June 22 at Toltec’s annual Summer Solstice Celebration.
From that mound, used by the Plum Bayou people to mark the changing of the seasons, the sun will set on the first day of summer directly behind Mound A. It’s not as big a deal as England’s Stonehenge, to be sure, but still a festive occasion.
More than a millennium newer than Toltec Mounds, but also a fascinating journey into the past, is Morris Antiques in nearby Keo. Boasting nine showrooms spread across 60,000 square feet, this trove of vintage treasures justly advertises itself as “a place to look again and again.”
Items on display but not for sale include a horse drawn hearse built in 1913 for an El Dorado funeral home, a10-foot-long bellows camera taken from a printing shop, and a wooden wringer washing machine serving as a reminder that the good old days weren’t always so good.
Morris’ most awesome object that’s actually for sale is listed at a heart-stopping $55,000. It’s an immense wood conference table custom-built around 1940 for a bank in The Netherlands. Some 8 feet wide and 41 feet long, it comes complete with21 matching chairs. More likely to ring up a sale to us day-trippers is one of the old-time soda bottles marked down from their regular $15.95 to $9.95 each.
Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park, on Arkansas 386 off U.S. 165 between Scott and Keo, is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday.
There’s no charge for the Visitor Center’s exhibit gallery or a self-guided walking tour. Guided walking tours cost $3 per adult, $2 per child 6-10, $10 per family. Tours in a tram, by advance reservation. Call (501) 961-9442 or visit arkansasstateparks.com/toltecmounds/.
Morris Antiques, 306 Arkansas 232 West in Keo, is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Call (501) 842-3531 or visit morrisantiques.com.
Two popular lunch spots are Cotham’s Country Store & Restaurant in Scott, (501) 961-9284, famous for its hubcap burger, and Charlotte’s Eats & Sweets in Keo, (501) 842-2123, renowned for its pies.
Style, Pages 19 on 05/28/2013