Arnold E. A. Roitsch Archeological Site
Blakeney, Red River County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In this vicinity archeologists have located a large village and ceremonial center occupied between A.D. 1000 and A.D. 1700 by ancestors of the Caddo Indians. Sedentary farmers, the Caddos built villages and farms on alluvial terraces of the Red River. Evidence from the site has revealed a number of scattered farmsteads and two earthen mounds which served as religious or ceremonial centers. The site also has yielded Caddo ceramics, plus glass beads, and metal weapons and tools, indicating the tribes in this area traded with European explorers.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Along the alluvial terraces of the Red River, ancestors of the Caddo people built a substantial village and ceremonial center that thrived from about A.D. 1000 to 1700. These were settled farmers who raised crops and gathered around two earthen mounds for religious life; the ceramics, glass beads, and metal tools unearthed here show a society that was trading with the first European explorers to reach the region.
Why it matters
The site preserves centuries of sophisticated Caddo civilization and captures the very moment of first contact between Native nations and Europeans on the southern Plains.
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