Oklahoma entered into a golden age around 800 A.D., where civilization thrived and prehistoric empires divided East from West. To the east was the Caddoan empire, consisting of the Mississippian River Valley culture centered around Spiro Mounds in Eastern Oklahoma. To the west were small villages that dotted the landscape, forming a strong but loose confederation known as the Plains Village Farmers.
This confederation laid the foundations for future civilizations, such as the Wichita, known as The First People. The Plains Village Farmers were sophisticated for their time. Found mostly along the Washita River, they founded around 200 villages, each with around 12 dwellings. Other sites have been found along the north fork of the Red River and Beaver River. These sites were established where soil was easily cultivated, which helped create strong agricultural society.
Advanced Prehistoric Settlements
Since these early people no longer had to roam great distances for the hunt, they began developing more permanent hamlets. Typically, there would be 10 to 15 houses in each hamlet, consisting of around 100 people. There was little distance between each hamlet, some being within sight of each other.
Each house was typically square with stick walls and then plastered with clay and grass. Communal gardens were located nearby, consisting of crops such as corn and squash. These were tended by the women, who used bone, stone, and wood tools.
The women also began creating pottery. Bowls were created using the coil method, where clay from nearby rivers was collected, coiled, then formed and hardened. Small figurines were found in cemetery sites as well.
Men still hunted. By this time they had mastered the bow and arrow and typically hunted bison as well as small game such as rabbit, squirrel, duck, wolf, and beaver. Later on, as the first Europeans arrived, trade became highly important to the culture.
Interaction Among Tribes
This was a time when small roaming tribes began to be highly social. As they became more communal, trade began to flourish. Artifacts show that they traded with other societies like the ones found in Spiro Mounds and beyond. The Plains Village Farmers consisted of some of the more permanent societies, which flourished through the 1400’s. It is possible that Spanish Conquistador, Don Juan de Oñate passed through some of the sites in 1599.
The decline of the culture came about because of the changing climate. Drought destroyed the crops that sustained the farmers. Many of the villages returned to a hunting lifestyle while others tried to hold on through help from the early European traders.
What The Plains Village Farmers Left Behind
Evidence of these sites still exist. One of the most famous, and most fascinating, is the Roy Smith site in Beaver County. This village is one of the only ones with stone foundations. It existed from around 1250 A.D. to around 1450 A.D. Other sites include the Hedding Site and the Richards Site near Mooreland Oklahoma.