Etowah Indian Mounds

We’ve been to many different Native American mounds. We always seem to learn something new plus repeating the ‘lesson’ helps us too. This 54-acre site is considered the most extensive Mississippian site in the southeast. The site was used from around 1000 – 1500 CE and up to 2,000 people lived here at a time. The three large mounds were used for ceremonies. Of course, archeologists always seem to say that everything was ceremonial. Didn’t people just relax and have fun without ceremonies? Will future archeologists think iPad’s were ceremonial? Now that I think of it, maybe it’s true. They seem to grab and hold our souls.

Back to being less philosophical….They say that only 9% of the site has been excavated, but some of the things found were pretty spectacular. This is one of two large (24") marble statues found in one of the smaller mounds. There were lots of copper pieces found, even though the copper had to be traded from the Great Lakes area.

The largest mound is tall with lots of steps. Once up there, the view is pretty nice with mountains in the background along with a view of the other mounds. In the past, the plaza and village were all within view from these mounds.

Surrounding all this is a defensive ditch / borrow pit. The dirt came from this ditch to make the mounds plus it was believed to be defensive.

My favorite part was the fish trap. Native Americans would build up stones into a V-shape within the river. This would funnel the fish to a small area so they could be captured in nets and baskets. Now, the reconstructed fish trap only seems to capture canoes and kayaks.