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Fallen tree allows exploring at Toltec Mounds

By Ron Wolfe

Archaeologist Jane Anne Blakney-Bailey finds part of a scraper made from rock by American Indians at the site of an excavation at Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park near Scott. Rachel Ferguson (left), a University of Arkansas at Little Rock student, and Mallory Bader, an Americorps volunteer, continue the dig — the first look beneath the surface at the park site in almost 20 years. The work “tells a lot,” Blakney-Bailey says.

Photo by Rick McFarland

Archaeologist Jane Anne Blakney-Bailey finds part of a scraper made from rock by American Indians at the site of an excavation at Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park near Scott. Rachel Ferguson (left), a University of Arkansas at Little Rock student, and Mallory Bader, an Americorps volunteer, continue the dig — the first look beneath the surface at the park site in almost 20 years. The work “tells a lot,” Blakney-Bailey says.

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The first excavation in almost 20 years at Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park southeast of Little Rock is thanks to a fallen tree.

The circumstance is so rare, the park is offering tram tours Friday, Saturday and Nov. 20 and 21, to give people a chance to watch as bits of ancient history come to light. Visitors can hope to see - who knows?

The park’s name goes back more than a century to the idea that Arkansas’ prehistoric mound-builders were related to the Toltec kings of ancient Mexico. Current thinking disagrees. The chance of finding treasure might depend on what a person thinks is valuable. Park Superintendent Stewart Carlton wants information.

“There is no written record” to explain the ...

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This article was published November 10, 2009 at 3:09 a.m.

Style, Pages 27 on 11/10/2009

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