Originally, the name Plum Bayou was borrowed from a nearby waterway and applied to the distinctive culture of the site, discussed below.

The site was officially renamed in November 2022 following consultation with the Quapaw Nation and the Arkansas Archaeological Survey.

Plum Bayou Mounds itself had a small population, made up primarily of political and religious leaders of the community and their families.

Located on the banks of an oxbow lake, the archaeological site once had an 8–10-foot-high (2.4–3.0 m) and 5,298-foot-long (1,615 m) earthen embankment and ditch on three sides.

Mounds were placed along the edges of two open areas (plazas) which were used for political, religious, and social activities attended by people from the vicinity.

Mound locations seem to have been planned using principles based on the alignment with important solar positions and standardized units of measurement.

The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1978.,[2][9] Table taken from "Emerging Patterns of Plum Bayou Culture:Preliminary Investigations of the Toltec Mounds Research Project", by Martha Ann Rolingson, 1982.