Looting Spiro Mounds: An American King Tut’s Tomb - Softcover

La Vere, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0806138130 ISBN 13: 9780806138138

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press, 2007

Synopsis

How an ancient North American civilization was plundered in the twentieth century

When a group of relic hunters drove their picks into a lost Indian burial crypt in eastern Oklahoma in 1935, they unearthed a vast treasure trove of Mississippian art―considered by many at the time to be America’s answer to King Tut’s Tomb. They also ignited a controversy that continues to have repercussions throughout archaeological and American Indian communities.

The Spiro Mounds contained some of the most impressive pre-Columbian Indian art ever found. In Looting Spiro Mounds, David La Vere takes readers behind the scenes of this discovery to re-create a Great Depression–era archaeological adventure worthy of Indiana Jones.

The looting of the mounds is considered one of the major archaeological tragedies of all time. Today Spiro artifacts are scattered among the world’s museums, with some still circulating in the antiquities market and eagerly snatched up by collectors. La Vere weaves a compelling story of grave robbers and lost treasures as he pieces together the puzzle of the civilization that thrived at Spiro from A.D. 800 to 1450. He plumbs the mystery of why the people of Spiro abandoned the site, leaving behind their treasures but no forwarding address.

Looting Spiro Mounds explains what the continuing mystique of Spiro artifacts is all about as the book uncovers a controversy―and a mystery―that lives on to this day.

About this title

About the Author:

David La Vere is Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and author of the award-winning Contrary Neighbors: Southern Plains and Removed Indians in Indian Territory.

Review:

"Looting Spiro Mounds is no dry summation of some obscure archaeological site. It's a rollicking account of the seemingly inexplicable looting of a once-great ancient American Indian town. La Vere weaves together the historical facts of the ancient American Indian mound Builders with the more recent backstory of the grave robbers and the archaeologists involved, making this book an entertaining read and a valuable resource." Timothy R. Pauketat, author of Ancient Cahokia and the Mississippians "This is one of the most riveting stories I've ever read. Every Oklahoman and every student of Indian history will be richer for reading this gripping and detailed account of the looting of Spiro Mounds." D. L. Birchfield, author of Black Silk Handkerchief: A Hom-Astubby Mystery

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0806138130
• ISBN 13: 9780806138138
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256