Thursday, October 11, 2012

Social Media

Hello,

I'm going to try and really work with my social media accounts to bring you some good information about things I like to write about.  Right now, on my facebook, I'm listing some links from my blog as well as listing some links to some very interesting news articles and sites.  Sign up to get the updates on your facebook by clicking the like button on my facebook account:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rita-Jean-Moran-The-Library-Kids/250328445032365

I'm also going to keep up with my twitter and pinterest as well as work on some new videos for youtube.  I will also continue to post interesting articles on my blog.

http://twitter.com/ritajeanmoran

http://pinterest.com/ritajeanmoran/



So keep up with me, it's going to be an interesting 2013 and don't forget that The Library Kids books make great Holiday Gifts.  Thanks.


by Rita Jean Moran (www.thelibrarykids.com)


Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Ka-Do-Ha Indian Village

Ka-Do-Ha is an archaeological site in Arkansas in the town of Murfreesboro.  The site has some replicas of opened mounds on display.  The original remains of the people buried there, were re-burried after being studied and the plastic replicas of the skeletal remains are what is on display in the pits.

The people that lived at or near these mounds belonged to the Caddo people.  The remains are believed to be from 800 years ago or even older than that.  This would place them around the time period of 1200 AD or before.  The site has a small museum with artifacts on display.  Here are some pictures from the museum:


 

 
 
 
Now here are some pictures of the re-created opened mounds:
 
 
 
 
 
 
Some of these skulls have elongated heads.  It is believed they were made this way with head binding techniques.  An elongated skull was a sign of royalty.  To me these skulls are very similar to the skulls of the Pharaohs and European Kings and Queens.
 
 


As indicated in the sign, the mounds were built over a period of hundreds of years.  When a chief died, the temple on top of the mound was destroyed by fire and a new layer of Earth was added on top and a new temple was constructed.  A ceremonial fire burned continuously on top of the mound.

I didn't see evidence of it, but I would bet that these mounds may have been aligned to capture the sun light during solstices and equinoxes.




 
 
A butcher site was also dug up and on display. 




by Rita Jean Moran (www.thelibrarykids.com)


Links:

http://www.caddotc.com/index.html

Toltec Mounds



Toltec Mounds is an archaeological state park in Arkansas.  The site has been damaged from previous farming; however, it is now under protection and much has been learned from the site as well as much has yet to be learned from it.  There are 18 mounds on the site and 3 of the mounds are very large and identifiable.  The mounds are bordered by Mound Pound behind them and previously by an embankment with a trench on the remaining three sides.

They are placed in such a way that the sun sets behind what is known as Mound B on the summer solstice and behind Mound S during the winter solstice..  During the spring and fall equinoxes, the sun sets behind Mound A.  These alignments are observed from Mound  H.  From what I've observed of the mound map, the mounds appear to be in a circular placement.

The area has been inhabited on and off, but the mounds were built from the Plum Bayou time period from 650 AD to 1150 AD.  The site was inhabited by a few people who perhaps were priests or high ranking individuals.  Their remains are burried on the site, still.  The general population lived in scattered villages around the site.

The existance of copper from Michigan and shells from the Gulf of Mexico have been found on the site so it is evident that trading existed at this site with its neighbors north and south of them.  The ditch that encirced the mound site was once filled with water.  This site is believed to be a religious ceremonial site.  All though the occupation of the site occurred during the Mississippian culture time period, the site is not considered part of the Mississippian culture by some professionals.

In my opinion this site was a giant calendar as most mounds and pyramids have been set up to be.  It was probably maintained by a sacred priesthood and chief.  Here are some pictures from Toltec Mounds.

 
 
 








by Rita Jean Moran (www.thelibrarykids.com)

Arkansas

I just finished a wonderful trip to Arkansas and have a lot ot share.  I started off in Little Rock, then Murfreesboro, and then Hot Springs.  There was much to see and do in Arkansas.  Outside of Little Rock were the Toltec Mounds. 

 
 
This area of Arkansas was occupied on and off for thousands of years, but the mounds have been attributed to the people labelled as the Plum Bayou Culture.
 
We stopped at the Clinton Museum next.  Inside the museum are binders with the schedule of the President for every day of the year, that he was president.
 
 
 
 
There were many artifacts including the limo and oval office furniture.
 

 
 
 
I had heard that President Clinton's biological father died in an automobile accident before he was born.  His mother remarried and Bill took the Clinton name.  Below is a picture of his biological father:
 
 
 
 
In Murfreesboro, we hunted for diamonds at Crater of Diamonds.  We didn't find any, but it was fun.
 
 
 
 
We also found another Native American site.  This one had dug up pits with replicas of the remains that were found.  The actual remains have been re-burried underneath the pits.
 
 
 
 
I will be writing more on the two mound sites we visited, on this blog.
 
In Hot Springs, we tried out the mineral baths and visited the many little museums in Little Rock.
 
 
 
 
One of the best little museums was a rock shop called Central Park Mining.  The man at the shop was very nice and explained all of the gems and rocks found in the mining kit to us.  They also had a very neat part of the mining experience.  It was a crystal cave lit by black lights in which you would have 7 minutes to dig through a sand pit and find gems, rocks, and possibly a valuable coin. 
 

 
 

We finished up with a visit to Lake Catherine State Park, which is one of fifty-two state parks in Arkansas.  It reminded me of the land I grew up on in the 1960s.


 


It was a very fine visit.  I would highly recommend visiting Arkansas.

by Rita Jean Moran (www.thelibrarykids.com)