Archaeology

The 3,000,000 prehistoric artifacts housed in the Robert E. Bell Collections area comprise the largest collection in the Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. They also represent Oklahoma's largest accumulation of evidence for the state's prehistoric and early historic Native American residents. Besides Oklahoma, small but notable collections come from elsewhere on the Plains as well as the American Southwest and such countries as Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Ecuador, and Japan. The Oklahoma materials are organized by specific archeological sites identified in each of Oklahoma's 77 counties. Among the significant Oklahoma collections are those emanating from the W.P.A. excavations at the Spiro Mounds site in LeFlore County, the Oklahoma Archeological Survey's investigations at the Cooper Folsom site in Harper County, and University of Oklahoma field schools at prehistoric sites in Beaver, Washita, Marshall, McCurtain, and LeFlore counties.

History of Archeological Research

Almost since its inception in 1892, the University of Oklahoma has had faculty interested in Oklahoma's archaeological heritage. Serious research on the state's archaeological sites and materials began in 1936 when the university joined with state and private agencies to sponsor WPA excavations across the state. Kenneth Orr studied WPA recovered materials from the Spiro mounds site and published early reports on this most famous archaeological site in Oklahoma. Dr. Orr became the first Curator of Archaeology with the Oklahoma Museum of Natural History in 1943. In 1947, he was succeeded by Dr. Robert E. Bell.

Dr. Bell's work is the foundation of Oklahoma prehistory. Trained in New Mexico and Chicago, Dr. Bell brought a rigorous and wide frame of reference in anthropology and archaeology to the University of Oklahoma. His specific research interests on the Plains and in the Midwest included dating techniques, lithic analysis, Early Man studies, artifact typology, field methods, and photography. Dr. Bell played a key role in developing the University Department of Anthropology (1947) and the Oklahoma Archeological Survey(1970). His other statewide accomplishments include the development of the Oklahoma Anthropological Society (1952), the Oklahoma Highway Salvage Project (1956), and the Oklahoma River Basin Surveys Project (1962). As an educator, and through numerous publications and a four year stay as Editor of American Antiquity, Dr. Bell made significant contributions to Oklahoma and American archaeology. Dr. Bell retired as Head Curator of Social Sciences and Curator of Archaeology in 1980.

On July 1, 1996, Dr. Don G. Wyckoff was hired as Associate Curator of Archaeology for the Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. He also holds the position of Associate Professor with the Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma. Dr. Wyckoff has a long career association with archaeological studies in Oklahoma, including obtaining his B.A. and M.A. degrees in anthropology at OU, serving as staff archaeologist for the Oklahoma River Basin Survey Project from 1962 to 1968, and as State Archeologist and Director of the Oklahoma Archeological Survey from 1968 to 1996. During these years he conducted excavations at over 50 prehistoric sites in various parts of the state with special interests in the Caddoan archaeological tradition in both the Arkansas and Red river basins of eastern Oklahoma, and ancient hunter-gatherer camps in eastern Oklahoma. He received his Ph.D. in 1980 from Washington State University where he specialized in the Quaternary Studies Program. Since 1985 he has used that knowledge to develop research on early Holocene-late Pleistocene archaeological, paleontological, and geological sites eastern and northwestern Oklahoma. His research findings are published in such journals as Geoarchaeology, Current Research in the Pleistocene, Southeastern Archaeology, Journal of American Archaeology, Plains Anthropologist, and the Bulletin of the Oklahoma Anthropological Society. He has long advocated positive working relationships with avocational archaeologists and served many years as Bulletin Editor of the Oklahoma Anthropological Society.

Personnel

Dr. Don G. Wyckoff, Curator

Liz Leith , Collection Manager

Miranda Alexander, Graduate Student

Elsbeth Dowd, Graduate Student

Luther Leith, Graduate Student

Linday Maass, Graduate Student

Justin Moe, Graduate Student

Research Associates

Dr. Tom Pluckhahn, Affiliated Research Associate