| Endangered List: Back To Main Page |
| City/County/Congressional District: • Scott , Lonoke County (District 1 ) |
| Location Class: • Government |
| Year Built: |
| Historic Designation: • National Register of Historic Places (1973) • National Historic Landmark (1978) |
| Status: • Restored |
The Plum Bayou Mounds are one of the largest and most impressive archeological sites in the Mississippi River Valley. With 3 mounds on 100 acres, the site is large in area and in the number of mounds. People started living at this place well before 700 A.D. Distinctive aspects of the culture of the people who lived here are the arrangement and construction of the mounds, the style and decoration of the pottery, and kinds of stone tools. The distinctive culture here is given the name Plum Bayou, which is the name of a local stream. We know that some of the mounds were arranged to line up with each other and the positions of the sun on the horizons on the solstices and equinoxes. The position of the sun on the horizon marks seasons and signals activities such as planting crops and holding ceremonies.
It is now a popular state park that interprets the site and offers guided tours and a visitors center; however, work continues to stabilize the mounds due to damage from erosion and engage with nearby landowners to preserve the viewshed.