Mound Builders

I

Introduction

Mound Builders, name given to Native Americans who built numerous earth mounds in what are now the eastern and central parts of the United States, particularly in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys. The Mound Builders spanned several thousand years and are classified in four basic cultural traditions: Poverty Point, Adena, Hopewell, and Mississippian. Early European settlers attributed their earthworks to a hypothetical race of people who predated Native Americans, a myth that persisted for many years. Archaeological research in the 19th century clearly indicated that the people who built these mounds were ancient Native Americans.

II

Types of Mounds

Mounds took many different forms depending on their purpose. The earliest mounds, known as middens, or midden mounds, were refuse heaps that resulted from hundreds of years of human habitation; they contained shells, bones, stones, ash from fire pits, and sometimes artifacts such as broken pottery. Mounds were also built as funerary monuments. Some burial mounds had a central chamber that contained the remains of notable people. Others were cemetery areas for less important people. Some peoples built platform mounds that served as bases for temples, buildings, and other structures. Effigy mounds were often made in the shape of animals or legendary beings. Mounds laid out in geometric shapes also served a symbolic purpose.

III

Poverty Point Culture

The earliest evidence of mound building in North America, other than middens, comes from the Poverty Point site in northeastern Louisiana. Mounds here were constructed between about 1700 bc and 700 bc. The largest mound at Poverty Point, resembling a bird, rises some 20 m (70 ft) above the ground and is about 210 to 240 m (about 700 to 800 ft) wide at the base. Its purpose was probably ceremonial. Another part of the complex consists of six concentric rows of earthen ridges with a large plaza at their center; archaeological evidence indicates the ridges held structures. The site also contains five smaller conical mounds of unknown purpose. None of the Poverty Point mounds were for burials. Poverty Point peoples, as well as other early Southeast peoples who made similar mounds, are thought to have been nonagricultural, but they may have engaged in some primitive farming. See also Poverty Point National Monument.

IV

Adena Culture

The Adena mound-building culture, centered in the Ohio River Valley, occupied parts of Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New York. It lasted from about 1100 bc to ad 200. The majority of Adena earthworks were dome-shaped burial mounds, in which beautifully crafted tools and ceremonial objects were placed with human remains. The mounds rose higher over time as layers of dirt were added for new burials. Other Adena earthworks form geometric or animal shapes. The Serpent Mound, an effigy mound in southern Ohio, is in the shape of a snake 411 m (1,348 ft) long. It is believed to be Adena because of artifacts found in a burial mound nearby; its purpose is unknown. Adena peoples were primarily hunter-gatherers, but they also practiced some farming, especially the growing of tobacco for ceremonial purposes.

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