Episode 54 — Spiro Mounds: “King Tut’s Tomb in the Arkansas Valley.”

The Spiro Mounds are one of the United States’ most important ancient Native American sites, as well as an archaeological find unmatched in modern times. Yet, despite creating a sophisticated ancient culture, the Spiro people are nearly forgotten in the pages of history books. How did these incredible works of art and other treasures from all over North America end up hidden for hundreds of years, and why? Now open through May 9, 2021 at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, “Spiro and the Art of the Mississippian World” will seek to answer these questions and more in the first major presentation on the Spiro Mounds ever undertaken by a museum, representing the first, and possibly last, time these artifacts will be reunited from various collections across the country. This exhibition is presented with support from Spiroan descendants, the Caddo Nation and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, and funded through the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Henry Luce Foundation and the Kirkpatrick Foundation.