Newark Earthworks Center's Blog: Indian Mounds of Mississippi

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Indian Mounds of Mississippi

Representation of some of the hundreds
of earthen monuments built by American Indians.
Courtesy of the Southeast Archaeological Center.

"On behalf of the Historic Preservation Division, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and the Southeast Archeological Center, NPS, we invite you to explore 11 publicly accessible American Indian mound sites in Mississippi and experience these impressive ancient structures.

At some point over two thousand years ago the first artificial mound was built in Mississippi. Eventually there were thousands constructed for various purposes by the State's precontact inhabitants. Today, only a small percentage of these remain. The 11 included in this travel itinerary date from approximately 100 B.C. to 1700 A.D. and are representative samples of sites that were originally so numerous.

This virtual tour allows you to learn about how the Middle Woodland (100 B.C. to 200 A.D.) and Mississippian Period (1000 to 1700 A.D.) mounds were built and examine the artifacts and other clues archeologists use to understand the cultures that made them. These mound sites offer much more than a tour through thousands of years of Mississippi history. They stand as testaments to the American Indian presence on the landscape and as monuments to the first inhabitants of the southeastern United States. We hope that after you have traveled to these mound sites online, you will visit them in person and see these awe-inspiring memorials that were once the center of life for some of the most highly organized civilizations in the world."

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