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.