"Indian mounds" --What was the purpose?

So what was the reason Native Americans built all these mounds?

In article after article in various archaeology and science publications, I see experts saying that the mounds were “ceremonial” or that the reasons the mounds were built are “unknown”.

Well, I have a theory:

All of the mounds of which I am aware are located near rivers, on flood plains. Flood plains. Hmm… Let’s think about that for a moment. Could it be that these mounds were built as a refuge during, oh, I don’t know…floods???

Seems to me like I even read about one set of mounds in Louisiana that has elevated walkways between the mounds. (Let’s put two and two together, here…)

So, my general questions are:

Does anyone here know of any “Indian mounds” which are not on a flood plain (or in a low-lying area)? Or for that matter, mounds which are on a flood plain. Does anyone here know of any other theories, or even better, evidence as to why these mounds were built? Is there any theorized or proven connection between the mound-building cultures and the pyramid-building cultures in Mexico and Central America? Anyone?

It’s pretty simple; Mounds have the same basic taste, but lack the nuts that Almond Joy has. By having Mounds, you can get that coconut and chocolate taste even if you’re allergic to (or just don’t like) almonds. I wasn’t aware that there was a version of Mounds specifically for Indians, but I assume it’s pretty similar.


Kevin Allegood,

“At least one could get something through Trotsky’s skull.”

  • Joseph Michael Bay

The theory I remember hearing was that they are debris left over from Native American copper mining. The proximity to the river was necessary for panning or sluicing the copper from the dirt. I’ve seen similar mounds in California that were left by 19th century goldminers. The “ceremonial” aspect of the mounds could have been the result of later Indians with no knowledge of mining techniques speculating on the mounds’ (supernatural) origins.

Ursa

The mounds with which I am familiar are in the Southeast. They are not close to any source of copper of which I am aware, and they seem awfully large to be mining refuse. I didn’t think Native Americans used copper at all prior to the arrival of Europeans. Am I wrong about that?

I dunno. I think I’m sticking with my “flood refuge” theory for now, but I could be persuaded otherwise.

I do agree with you, though, that later Indians might have used the mounds for ceremonial purposes, though that might not have been their originally intended use.

Simple: the mounds were built by the Jaredites (see the “Book of Mormon”) to escape the Noachian flood…wait a minute, they were made by space aliens, no…I’ve got it! They were made by Louis and Clark’s men (something to do to pass the time)!@

http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www.vashti.net/taltrust/lkjacksn.htm

This site says that copper breast plates were found near mounds in Florida. Not that that indicates anything about the mounds’ origins, but it does appear that pre-columbian Indians did mine and forge copper. The site also claims that the mounds were built for religios reasons. How they can be so sure, I don’t know.

First, we might have to establish just which mounds we’re talking about. The mounds I’m familiar with are located in the US mid-west. The Serpent Mound is in Ohio. This site says the mound is built on a plateau - so there was apparently no need for these builders to create higher ground just to keep their feet dry.

As for use of copper, Encyclopedia.com says this of mound builders: " peoples who built mounds in E central North America, concentrating in the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys, from the early 6th cent. to historic times. Probably ancestors of Native Americans found in that region by Europeans, they were politically diverse and developed distinct cultures. Artifacts indicate fine stone carving, pottery making, and weaving, as well as widespread trade in copper, mica, and obsidian."

My best guess would be that they are essentially foundations for buildings, or burial sites. Having done archaeology in the Maya world, I can tell you that they used their mounds for foundations. However, in other parts of the world mounds were often used for burial crypts, particularly the mounds of the British Isles.


Sometimes you feel like a coconut, sometime you feel like a yak.

aseymayo-

Thanks for the link. I would like to assemble info on as many mounds as possible and then try to draw some conclusions.

The mounds with which I am most familiar are the Etowah Mounds in Georgia (linked below). As you can see, these mounds are hard against the Etowah River.
http://www.dnr.state.ga.us/dnr/parks/ppage2.cgi

I’m just wondering: If the natives didn’t use these mounds when floods came, then what did they do? I mean, they were living on a flood plain!

The serpent mound is interesting. I had read about it before, but I appreciate the detail provided in your link. That particular edifice appears to be more ceremonial (or artistic) than practical. But then, I’m not sure it really qualifies as a “mound” in the sense I mean. We also have some monumental animal sculptures down this way. “Rock Eagle” is the best known – a huge eagle, in relief, made of piled rocks assembled on the ground. Same deal. I wouldn’t classify that as a “mound” either, in the sense that I mean.

Does anyone else have info on other mounds?

Let me try that Etowah Mound link again:
http://ngeorgia.goldenink.com/parks/etowah.html

Most of the links have already provided a good amount of information. Regarding one aspect of the OP: Southeast Michigan used to have quite a few mounds. The Ojibway faded back before the white settlers and (once the wars were out of the way) there was not a lot of white/Indian interaction in that region.

When the settlers started farming, they often just plowed through the mounds, destroying the majority. (Obviously, these were not among the larger mounds.)

I saw a nineteenth century map of SE Michigan noting the location of known mounds and the majority were up on the glacial moraine in the Clinton and Huron river basins–but quite a distance from the actual river valleys (which are not very deep or wide, anyway). I’m guessing these were burial sites or the remains of long-deserted villages.


Tom~

Effigy Mounds North of Marquette Iowa are on a bluff about 150 feet above the Mississippi.
Well there goes the flood plain idea as a general statement.
In Eastern Iowa there are several places that were inhabited by moundbuilders and all that I know of are on bluffs. There is a spot near Rome on a bluff over ths skunk river. That is the only one I know of that is not on the Mississippi.
All of these are burial mounds.

Found a little more info .
Effigy Mounds National Monument
191 preserved prehistoric Indian burial mounds are built in the shapes of animals and birds and are estimated to be 2500 years old.

IIRC the there were “ceremonial” mounds in Hopewell(of Hopewell Tradeing Sphere fame) and that is also not on a floodplain. But if you can’t even come up with a better name for this culture than some european guy who lived there long after, how can you know the mounds are ceremonial?

Unfortunatly, yes, the Natives did have metalworking skills. Gold and silver are valuable because they are soft metals. Easier to shape with ancient tools. They were commonly used for decoration. When europeans showed up, they were excited by these trinkets.
De Las Casas tells of Native tribes who dumped their gold in the rivers rather than let their conquerors have it.
Iron Mountain, MI excuse me: Iron mountain,UP-MI was mined before europeans showed up.

For the record I am 1/8 Potawatamie. But I know nothing of my Native culture. Only around 300 elders still speak the old tongue. In the 2nd century of the Brave New Millenium, there will be none.
_____________________________Salaam

Why assume that they had a useful purpose? They could have been built for purely cosmetic reasons. (Hey, wouldn’t it look cool if we did this?) It’s landscaping!

There were two distinct major mound building cultures in the United States. The oldest was the Adena-Hopewell. The Adena were located along the middle Ohio. Their time in the sum was 1000 BC until 100 AD. To me, they are THE big mystery of precolumbian America. They seemed to come out of nowhere. They were round headed while most of their neighbors were long headed. There are reported stone tables with letters carved on them, 7’ tall skeletons with similar genetic defects. Very Art Bellish.

Their mounds were mostly conical and predominantly used for burial purposes. (They were also into making “sacred enclosure” circular mounds, long raised avenues and various other earthworks including effigy mounds like the above mentioned Serpent Mound.) Every Adena site that I know of (they were only religous sites not towns) is located next to a river. However, this is most likely a transportation requirement. The earthworks are usually on the second or third terrace above the river however. This is a nice tradeoff to avoid flooding but have access to a level area and lots of sand and clay.

The Hopewell people were probably the original inhabitants of the areas from western Penn. all the way to the Mississippi river. Those who were neighbors to the Adena in Ohio apparently adopted the Adena’s mound building religion and were dominant from 150 BC to 500 AD, centered in the Scioto Valley of south central Ohio. For some reason they never went south of the Ohio.

Excavations of both Adena and Hopewell mounds show a basal clay foundation and a fire area. This is usually explained as a preliminary preparation for the mound site but I always thought it more likely that this was the floor and firepit of the dead person’s “home”, the mound being built over the dwelling of the important deceased. The burials (about 20% were cremations) are accompanied with elaborate grave goods. Notable among these ARE copper ornaments. But the copper is from the upper peninsula of Michigan where it is found as native metal on the surface. There was mica from North Carolina, grizzly bear teeth from the plains, conch sheels from the Gulf, these guys got around. Anyway they disappeared but not before building walled enclosures in defensible locations which look for all the world like forts. My guess is that the proto-Iroquois/Cherokee marched eastward through this area and ended their culture.

What you are talking about at Etowah are the Mississippian mound builders. They started out about 700 AD, probably near St Louis where the largest mound, Monk’s Mound at Cahokia, is located. Mississippian mounds are sites of bona fide towns (some of the towns were actually palisaded.) These mounds are usually pyramidal and flat topped. While there are some burials in them, Mississippian mounds are predominantly platforms for the top guy’s house and maybe a temple or two. At its height, the Mississippian culture had spread up to southern Wisconsin, up the Ohio to southwest Indiana, down the Mississippi to Lousiana, up the Arkansas River to Oklahoma, across the south into Georgia amd down to the Florida Gulf Coast. It is very unlikely that these were all the same people but they did have very similar cultural patterns. Trade was a major factor for the location of these mound site towns. Again, they were always on rivers but since the people actually lived at these sites, it was unlikely that they flooded. They were agriculturalists (the Adena-Hopewell were not) and farmed the bottomlands probably intensively (there was probably over 10,000 people living at Cahokia). Again, the sites contain copper from the upper peninsula of Michigan, shells from the Gulf Coast, flint hoes from Illinois, these guys got around too.

I usually avoid cultural diffusionist theories but I think it likely that the similar shape of the Mississippian mounds to the Mexican pyramids shows some kind of interaction. However, if so, it was very early, possibly Teotihuacan traders. It is a big jump from Mexico City to St Louis, but Teotihuacan did fall just about when the Mississipian culture started and in the later Totltec and Aztec times there was an established tradition of long distance trading.

By 1250, Cahokia was no longer the dominant focus. There are indications that a number of smaller mound towns were founded south along the Mississippi River about this time probably by Cahokia immigrants.

De Soto marched through their territory and skirmished with Indians still living in palisaded mound towns in 1541-1542. The last surviving mound people were the Natchez at Natchez, Mississippi. The French occupied their territory and from their records of the Natchez we have a small idea of what Mound culture might have been like. The Natchez rose up against the French in 1729 but within two years were defeated and most sold as slaves in Santo Domingo. A few fled to the Chikasaws, Creeks, and Cherokees (themselves probably the descendants of the Georgia and Alabama mound builders).

The ghosts lie thick on any mound site if you want to get a sense for these people. But, if you are not familiar with this facet of Indian culture and civilization, go to Cahokia in East St Louis and you will have your socks knocked off.

Way to go, Mipsman!

Didn’t Thomas Jefferson attempt a fairly decent archealogical dig on mound near his home?


Are you driving with your eyes open or are you using The Force? - A. Foley

Well, the mounds here in the Bay Area are pretty much trash heaps.


-Dave
“Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.”
-Albert Einstein

Wow! Great post mipsman. Is this stuff an avocation or a career for you?

I do have one quibble.

I’m not sure the fact that people lived in these areas proved that they didn’t flood. People have always lived in flood-prone areas, for several reasons. First, as you point out, the rivers provided a handy transportation network. Second, proximity to the rivers meant plentiful fish and game. Third, the flood plain of a river provides the most fertile soil available.

So, I guess that my thought is that the advantages of living near a river (listed above) outweighed the risk (flood). Now, if you have chosen to live near a river, and you are aware (as the Indians must have been) of the risk of periodic flooding, it seems only logical that you might take some precautions.

One thing we have to remember is that the rivers we know today have been tamed. Dams and dikes in place today help control and prevent flooding, at least to some degree. In fact, one of the stated goals of Roosevelt’s TVA project was to help control the floods that used to ravage the Southeast. The rivers the Indians knew would have been much wilder, much more prone to flooding.

What’s more, floods would have been unpredictable occurrences. A river can flood even on a sunny and clear day, if there has been torrential rain somewhere upstream. It seems to me like the Indians would have needed some way to respond to sudden, unexpected flooding.

I may be dead wrong. Obviously, I am not as well informed as you in the matter. I am just trying to apply some intuitive hypotheses to the evidence that I have seen. The Etowah mounds are very definitely in a flood plain. I don’t know about others, but you do confirm that Mississippian mounds were near rivers.

One other point. I was aware that when DeSoto passed through, that chiefs and/or priests lived on top of the mounds. But that does not mean that they would not have been places of refuge for all in times of flood. (Not that you were suggesting otherwise.) Also, the ceremonial use observed by DeSoto does not mean that the mounds were not originally built as a response to flooding.

Thanks for the really informative post. Incidentally, you mentioned trade of flint. There is a pretty good deposit of flint near my Dad’s house in north Georgia. There are lots of flakes around, and what appear to be some failed attempts at arrowheads, so it looks like the site was worked by the Indians in the area. Don’t know if that flint was traded.

Oldest burial in the Americas is the Point Amour burial mound in southern Labrador. In a wide valley stream, but definitely not a flood plain.


Dee da dee da dee dee do do / Dee ba ditty doh / Deedle dooby doo ba dee um bee ooby / Be doodle oodle doodle dee doh http://members.xoom.com/labradorian/