Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center
Oklahoma Historical Society Archaeological Park; Mississippian Ceremonial Centre Occupied About 850 1450 AD · Spiro, Oklahoma
Oklahoma's only archaeological park open to the public, protecting twelve earthen mounds on the Arkansas River floodplain that were the ceremonial centre of a Mississippian city between about 850 and 1450 AD, trading with cultures from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes. Spiro's Craig Mound held one of the richest deposits of pre-Columbian art ever found in North America: engraved shell cups, copper plates, carved stone effigies and textiles preserved in a hollow chamber. In the 1930s a commercial mining company dynamited into it and sold the contents, a loss that helped drive the first American antiquities laws. What remains is quiet grass and mounds, an interpretive centre and about two miles of trails with signs, run by the Oklahoma Historical Society. Descendant nations, including the Caddo and Wichita, hold the site sacred.
18154 First Street, Spiro, Oklahoma, 74959, United States
Tuesday-Saturday 9 AM-4 PM; CLOSED SUNDAY AND MONDAY, and closed 11 November, 26-28 November and 24-26 December 2026. The trails are only reachable through the visitor centre, and limited staffing can cause unplanned closures — call 918-962-2062 (check okhistory.org/sites/visit-spiro-mounds).
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