A long time ago, I tried to make writing weekly posts on classic books on southwest Arkansas archeology a habit. Frankly, it didn’t take, but let’s take another shot at it.
What are we reading?
In 1970, Hester Davis edited Archeological and Historical Resources of the Red River Basin. It remains an important book, because covered what archeologists knew about the history of the Red River Valley at that point. It gave a generation of archeologists something to work from. Also, it focused on more than Arkansas. It had chapters on the Red River region in Texas (by E. Mott Davis), Louisiana (by Robert Neuman), and Oklahoma (by Don Wykoff). Michael Hoffman wrote the section on Arkansas.
Also, it was the first of the Survey’s Research Series, which now numbers 67(!) books.
Obviously, we know more about the region now than we did then. The authors in the book did not know much about the Archaic period, for instance. This would be a much longer book today, if we were to rewrite it. But, that is the nature of research and science.
How do you get one?
There are a few copies left at the Coordinating Office in Fayetteville. Check out our publications catalog to get your own copy.
