Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Hernando De Soto's Route from Chicaça through Northeast Arkansas: A Suggestion

2009; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 28; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

2168-4723

H. Terry Childs, Charles H. McNutt,

Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies

As a result of excavations in the protohistoric component at Chickasawba (3MS5) in Mississippi County, Arkansas, the authors were led to examine current interpretations of De Soto's route through northeast Arkansas. Certain difficulties appear to exist. This article provides a suggested alternative that does much to resolve these problems. Chickasawba is a multimound center located on Pemiscot Bayou, in Mississippi County, Arkansas (Figure 1). At least three mounds were located around a plaza area; other smaUer mounds also existed. Limited excavations (Childs and McNutt 2009) produced evidence of three superimposed house floors and associated features. Single radiocarbon determinations were determined from each of these floors; they did not differ significantly at the 0.05 level and produced an average of cal. A.D. 1521-1576 (1 sigma), with a median probabtiity date of A.D. 1564. With the assistance of Debbie Shaw, then a graduate student at the University of Memphis, the authors examined a large number of specimens from Chickasawba held in museums and private coUections. Several of the items are particularly relevant to estabUshing the very late prehistoric and early protohistoric occupation at Chickasawba. These include two (probably three) head-pots, several CampbeU appUque vessels, a number of compound vessels, a circular stone palette with scaUoped edges, a rectangular stone palette with scaUoped edges and engraving, and a large number of end scrapers (Shaw et al. 2001). In 1989 an eUte burial containing four individuals produced, in addition to 12 Nodena Red and White bottles, three Siouan disk pipes, and an unidentified iron object (Figure 2), possibly a portion of a sickle or drawknife. Another iron object was among die artifacts excavated at Chickasawba by Curtis J. Little between 1901 and 1904; his coUection was subsequently obtained by the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago (catalog number 7935). Given die location and protohistoric date of this component at Chickasawba, some discussion of the De Soto entrada is unavoidable. It is with great trepidation that we enter this area of scholarly expertise and debate. Our cursory examination of the chronicles (Clayton et al. 1993), however, indicates difficulties with certain interpretations of De Soto's itinerary west of the Mississippi (Hudson 1993; Hudson et al. 1990), and this has led us to provide an alternative suggestion. (Specifics wiU be presented after the expedition reaches die Mississippi River.) Accurate determination of De Soto's route is more than a simple intellectual exercise. The expedition encountered diverse societies, many of which are grouped in die archaeological literature under the rubric Mississippian. Some of these societies were fairly complex and are described as poUtical entities (provinces) with leaders (caciques). The expedition journals provide an incredible view of the nature of these poUties and, frequently, of the relations between them. Some were obviously chiefdoms, some were not, some were tributary to others, many had traditional enemies, and warfare was not uncommon among them. It would be of the utmost interest to determine the archaeological correlates of Mississippian chiefdoms, tributary relationships, the effect of enmity over long periods of time, and evidences of warfare. But in order to begin this quest, we must know exactly which archaeological entity or entities correspond to the groups mentioned in the expedition chronicles. If our correlations are incorrect, our quest is obviously compromised. A brief summary of what we know can be given. Much of this general commentary is presented without specific references; the reader is referred to the many sources on the subject, nicely summarized in the contributions to Young and Hoffman (1993). Our basic knowledge of De Soto's journeys is derived from four chronicles. Three of these were written by people on the expedition (abbreviated here as Elvas, de Biedma, and Rangel), the fourth (de la Vega) was based on interviews with survivors of the expedition (Brain et al. …