This valley story is duplicated west of the area known locally as Crowley’s Ridge where the Mississippi River flowed during the waning of the ice age. Crowley’s Ridge, it should be noted here, is an old land surface that was not eroded by the late glacial run-off waters. It is this relatively unaltered ridge of land that originally separated the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers during the formative age of the present alluvial valley. This ridge, only a few miles west of Monette, Arkansas, offered a totally different environment and was, presumably, one which the Lawhorn people made, at least, seasonal use of. The St. Francis River channel, lying close to the eastern edge of Crowley’s Ridge is the end result of these early braided Ohio River channels while today the Black River has replaced the Mississippi in the western valley.

By 2000 B.C. the Mississippi River had moved to the east side of Crowley’s Ridge and well east of the Monette area. The Ohio River was then in the vicinity of the present Mississippi River. During the next 1000 years the Mississippi channel moved gradually eastward until it was flowing close to the Ohio River and roughly parallel to it, merging in the vicinity of Helena, Arkansas. By the beginning of the Christian era, the two rivers had joined near Cairo, Illinois and so began the modern alluvial valley pattern (Fisk, 1944).

If the interpretation of the time of geological developments is correct the story of mankind in this region would be limited to something less than 6000 years. Early Man may have wandered the shoreline of the ancient river channels, but if he did there is very little likelihood that any of his remains would be found today in this valley area since they would have been washed away or covered with the refilling of the valley.

Further complicating the picture there has been a tremendous amount of recent geological disturbance in this area due to the New Madrid earthquake and possibly others of earlier date. These geological developments set part of the environmental state for the users of the Lawhorn site. Later developments contrived to destroy much of the evidence left by man as a series of earthquakes changed the face of the land (Humphries, 1960, p. 32).

Another factor that must be taken into account is the recent work of the United States Army Engineers in protecting the higher lands from the floods of the St. Francis River Sunken Lands and in draining this entire region. Within the last five years a new ditch has been dug parallel to a new levee on the east side so that it cut through a section of the Lawhorn archaeological deposit. This work laid bare many skeletons and considerable occupational debris. Harmful as this activity is to archaeological sites it was nevertheless an important factor in bringing this site to the attention of the writer. It is unfortunate that most sites thus destroyed, in whole or in part, by drainage and levee building excavations cannot be similarly salvaged. Governmental machinery is available for this work but unfortunately there has been no institutional agency ready, willing and able to accept the burden in this area.

The first evidences of man at the Lawhorn site are sand tempered pottery and associated dart points. These show that this site was occupied by man long enough to produce an archaeological deposit judged to be Woodland or Baytown. The deposit is thin and gives little evidence of ever having been much deeper. Above this thin evidence were shell tempered pottery and related stone, bone and shell artifacts that indicated a more intensive use of the site at a later time by Mississippian people.