1. 23PM5
Campbell Site

2. Location
Pemiscot County, Missouri

3. Time Period and Culture
 AD 1350-1541 Late Mississippian Period
 Nodena Phase
-Villages in southeastern Missouri and eastern
Arkansas
-Extensive maize agriculture
-Pottery
-Spanish artifacts

4. Background
 Site was partially excavated by amateur
archaeologist Leo O. Anderson and Professor Carl
Chapman from 1954-1968
 At least 14 other Late Mississippian sites have
been discovered along or near the Pemiscot bayou.
Some sites are just a mile or two away from
Campbell.
 The village was probably no bigger than 40 acres
and most likely around 5 acres big based on the
distribution of surface artifacts found.

5. Features
Mound
 Louis Houck in his 1908 book “A History of
Missouri” claimed the mound was 150 ft long, 75ft
wide, and 15 feet high.
 Chapman and Anderson talked to a local who told
them that the mound was much smaller length and
width wise, and was only 10 feet high.

6. Features
Cemetery
 218 Skeletons were excavated by Anderson
 Many were found in burial pits
 Skeletons were found in clusters, possibly family
burials

7. Artifacts
Spanish Artifacts
 Anderson found an iron knife blade and glass beads
in two of the burials.
 Most of the Spanish items from the site were found
by relic hunters in the 1970s. Several Chevron
beads and Clarksdale bells were found.

8. Artifacts
Significance of Spanish objects
 More Spanish artifacts were found at the Campbell
site than any other site in the region.
 The villagers from this site could have possibly had
contact with Hernando de Soto, the Spanish
explorer who arrived in the region around 1541.
 Since burials were found with Spanish objects, this
proves that people were still being buried there up
until at least the 1540s

9. Artifacts
Lithic
 186 triangular Madison points
 147 Nodena points
 1 Scallorn point
 115 “snub-nose” scrapers
 All of these tools are indicative of the
Late Mississippian period

10. Artifacts
Pottery
 254 ceramic vessels were recovered by Anderson.
Thousands of vessels were found at the site which
are in private collections. Most of the burials on the
site were associated with vessels.
 A wide array of forms including jars, bowls, and
bottles have been found.


11. Artifacts
Pottery
 Sherds of almost every type of Late Mississippian
pottery were found at Campbell, including Nodena
red-and-white, Parkin punctated, Ranch
incised, and Vernon Paul appliqued.

12. Artifacts
Pottery
 Campbell punctated, Campbell incised, and
Campbell appliqued were three new styles of
decoration found at the site and named by
Anderson and Chapman. These three types are
great Late Mississippian markers and are only
found in Pemiscot county, extreme northern
Arkansas, and extreme western Tennessee.

13. Artifacts
Pottery
 24 head pots have been found at Campbell.

14. Artifacts
Significance of Pottery
 Very skilled in ceramic manufacture
 Ceramics were important to them since they were
found associated with burials. Also because of the
abundance of elaborately decorated vessels.
 The animal effigy bowls and head pots show that
ceramics may have been used for ceremonial and
religious purposes, not just for utilitarian purposes.

15. Conclusion
 Campbell is an excellent example of a Late
Mississippian period village.
 It is a significant site because more Spanish artifacts
were found there than any site in the region.
 It is also significant because of the number of elaborately
made ceramic vessels that have been found at the site.
References cited
Chapman, Carl H. and Leo O. Anderson 1955 The Campbell Site: A Late Mississippi town site
and cemetery in Southeast Missouri. Missouri Archaeologist 17(2-3).
O’Brien, Michael J. and W. Raymond Wood 1998 The Prehistory of Missouri. University
of Missouri press, Columbia.
http://users.stlcc.edu/mfuller/Campbell.html