This paper summarizes previous investigations, brings new evidence to light, and raises new questions concerning Cavanaugh Mound, a late prehistoric earthen structure located in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Cavanaugh is mostly intact and well-preserved for a mound of this age in this region. There appears to be no associated village area, and no other associated mounds, making Cavanaugh somewhat unusual. It is likely that it was associated with the Spiro site, about 15 km to the west, but this has yet to be definitely established.

Several of the ideas I explore in this paper, including the organization of mounds in the Arkansas valley, and mound viewsheds, are more fully developed in my dissertation here.

This paper was originally published in Caddoan Archaeology Journal, Volume 14, pp. 35-63, 2005.

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