Indian Mounds on the Trace

I was surprised at all the mounds along the trace. I guess it makes sense given the trace was a path between Native American villages. But there was more than I expected.  The mounds were built from 400 to 2000 years ago and varied between ceremonial and burial mounds.

We visited Emerald Mound in November 2011, but since it’s the 2^nd biggest mound in the U.S., we had to stop again.  It’s an eight acre mound built 1300-1600 CE by the ancestors of the Natchez Indians, the Mississippians.  The flat-topped mound was supposed to be used for different ceremonies. 

 

Mangum Mound - No information on this one.

Boyd Site – Built 500-700 CE.  This one is a burial mound with 41 remains.  It was built in three sections over time.  One part we found disappointing is that you can’t see any of the pottery or other items found in the mounds.  I suppose they are worried about vandalism at the actual sites since no rangers are there.  But even the visitor center didn’t have any artifacts, just reconstructions.  Apparently this is due to needing special environments (air and light) along with objections by Native Americans to displaying ceremonial items.

 

Bynum Mounds were built between 50 BCE and 200 CE.  There were originally 6 mounds here but most were completely excavated in a dig during the 1940's.  These are restorations.  Today digging by archeologists is much more limited.

Owl Creek Mounds were ceremonial and built 1000-1500 CE by the Mississippian culture.  Two of these mounds are on state property while 3 more are on private property. One of the smaller mounds was farmed until it was realized it was an Indian mound.

Pharr Mounds encompasses the largest area for mounds on the trace, 90 acres.  The eight mounds were built100-200 CE (you can see 4 mounds in the picture).  These were burial mounds.

Bear Creek Mound is a ceremonial mound and was built sometime between 0 – 1000 CE.  Did I say there are a lot of mounds along the trace?