Indian mounds Park ( Saint Paul, Minnesota ) - wikipedia Indian mounds Park ( Saint Paul, Minnesota ) For similarly named sites in the U.S., see Indian Mounds Park. Indian Mounds Regional Park Protected area Two of the park 's prehistoric burial mounds Country United States State Minnesota County Ramsey Location Saint Paul - elevation 876 ft ( 267 m ) - coordinates 44 ° 56 ′ 44 '' N 93 ° 3 ′ 13 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 44.94556 ° N 93.05361 ° W ﻿ / 44.94556 ; - 93.05361 Coordinates : 44 ° 56 ′ 44 '' N 93 ° 3 ′ 13 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 44.94556 ° N 93.05361 ° W ﻿ / 44.94556 ; - 93.05361 Area 79 acres ( 32 ha ) Founded 1893 Management Saint Paul Parks and Recreation Part of Mississippi National River and Recreation Area Location of Indian Mounds Regional Park in Minnesota Indian Mounds Park Mound Group U.S. National Register of Historic Places U.S. Historic district Location 1075 Mounds Boulevard, Saint Paul, Minnesota Coordinates 44 ° 56 ′ 45 '' N 93 ° 3 ′ 24 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 44.94583 ° N 93.05667 ° W ﻿ / 44.94583 ; - 93.05667 Area 3.6 acres ( 1.5 ha ) Built c. 1000 BCE -- 1837 NRHP reference # 14000140 Added to NRHP April 11, 2014 Indian Mounds Regional Park is a public park in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, featuring six prehistoric Native American burial mounds overlooking the Mississippi River. The oldest mounds were constructed 1,500 -- 2,000 years ago by people of the Hopewell tradition. Later the Dakota people interred their dead there as well. At least 31 more mounds were destroyed by development in the late 19th century. They were the tallest Native American mounds in Minnesota or Wisconsin ( except for the unique 45 - foot ( 14 m ) Grand Mound outside International Falls, Minnesota ), and comprise one of the northwesternmost Hopewellian sites in North America. Indian Mounds Regional Park is a component of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park System. The Mounds Group is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 2014 nomination document provides a description of the archaeology and the context. Contents 1 Early history 2 Excavation 3 Park development 4 Airway beacon 5 Recreation 6 See also 7 References 8 External links Early history There were once at least 18 mounds, plus another 19 a short distance to the northwest directly above Carver 's Cave. The mounds of the second group were all quite small, under 2 feet ( 0.6 m ) high. Anthropologists ascribe the oldest mounds to mound builders of the Hopewell Tradition, but later cultures also added to the mounds. No evidence of habitation has been found among the mounds, so the builders lived elsewhere nearby, probably in a village below the bluff. The Dakota village of Kaposia was established at the foot of the bluff before 1600 CE. English explorer Jonathan Carver described the site in 1766 and visited the recent burial of a Dakota leader among the mounds. Excavation The burial mounds were first excavated by Edward Duffield Neill in 1856, followed by a dig sponsored by the Minnesota Historical Society. In 1879 Theodore H. Lewis conducted a more thorough investigation. Both mound groups revealed a variety of burial styles. At least three mounds were built around log tombs, and two others contained multiple cists made of limestone slabs. Hopewellian grave goods included just mussel shells in the simplest and most common burials, but projectile points, perforated bear teeth, and copper ornaments in others. One burial contained a child 's skull with clay pressed onto it in an apparent recreation of the individual 's features. No other such death masks have ever been documented in contemporaneous Native American burials. Human remains in funeral bundles found in the upper parts of some mounds were interpreted as burials from more recent cultures. The early archaeologists exhumed around 20 mostly complete skeletons ( though many were missing their skulls ) and fragments of perhaps another 30 individuals. Since the burials were likely made over several generations, only a relatively small number of individuals were marked with mounds. Who was chosen for mound burial, and what was done with the rest of the dead, are unknown. These 19th - century archaeologists, `` some of them amateurs in their day, all of them amateurs by today 's standards, '' may have destroyed as much information as they preserved. Theodore Lewis was a sophisticated researcher for his time, but worked hastily -- once excavating seven mounds in one day -- and did n't make detailed descriptions of his finds. Most of his artifacts have since been lost, so it is impossible for modern archaeologists to identify more certainly the cultural affiliations and periods of the various mound users. In the late 19th century the bluff - face was successively demolished to widen the rail yard at its foot, destroying several mounds as well as the outer chamber of Carver 's Cave. In a time `` when digging into a mound was a respectable Sunday pastime, '' locals also repeatedly looted and vandalized the mounds. The mound site received a modern archaeological field survey in 1981 from the Minnesota Historical Society. Park development Interest in preserving the open land along the blufftop arose in the 1880s as the local population boomed. The City of Saint Paul struggled to buy the land from its various private owners, as some proved unwilling to sell and others sold to real estate speculators first. Enough property was assembled by 1896 for the city to begin landscaping and building visitor amenities. In sharp contrast to modern practices, 11 mounds were leveled on the grounds that they blocked the view of the river. Only the six largest mounds were left. The park was expanded to 82 acres ( 33 ha ) in 1900, and in 1914 a still - standing brick pavilion was built to house a refreshment stand, restrooms, and space for open - air concerts. Indian Mounds Regional Park received a major restoration in the 1980s using state and federal funds for developing the Great River Road. The pavilion was restored, new amenities added, and houses and a road were removed. The Dayton 's Bluff Community Council raised funds and placed decorative fences around the mounds as a protection from visitors. Airway beacon The Indian Mounds Park `` Airway '' Beacon Adjacent to the mounds is a 110 - foot - high ( 34 m ) airway beacon built in 1929 as part of a national network to aid pilots delivering airmail. The Indian Mounds Park `` Airway '' Beacon, as it is officially known, helped mark the route between Saint Paul and Chicago. There were once over 600 of these beacons, but electronic navigation systems rendered them obsolete. Restored to its historical black and chrome - yellow color scheme in the mid-1990s, the Indian Mounds Park beacon has been kept operational and flashes its rotating light every 5 seconds. It is one of the few remaining airway beacons in the United States. Recreation Currently Indian Mounds Regional Park provides two electrified picnic shelters which can be rented by private groups. Other visitor amenities in the park include a playground, barbecue grills, fire rings, restrooms and a drinking fountain, paved trails, and a ball field and tennis courts. See also List of Hopewell sites List of burial mounds in the United States Mississippi National River and Recreation Area National Register of Historic Places listings in Ramsey County, Minnesota References Jump up ^ `` Indian Mounds Park ''. Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. 1980 - 01 - 11. Retrieved 2011 - 04 - 21. ^ Jump up to : `` Indian Mounds Park ''. Mississippi National River and Recreation Area : Plan Your Visit. National Park Service. 2009 - 01 - 16. Retrieved 2001 - 04 - 21. Jump up ^ http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/feature/places/14000140.htm ^ Jump up to : Nelson, Paul D. ( 2008 - 05 - 20 ). `` St. Paul 's Indian Burial Mounds ''. Staff Publications. Paper 1. Retrieved 2001 - 04 - 21. Jump up ^ Anderson, Jim ( 13 July 2014 ). `` St. Paul mounds find their ground on National Register of Historic Places ''. Minneapolis Star - Tribune. Retrieved 13 July 2014. Jump up ^ https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/pdfs/14000140.pdf ^ Jump up to : `` The Indian Mounds Park Site ''. From Site to Story : The Upper Mississippi 's Buried Past. The Institute for Minnesota Archaeology. 1999 - 06 - 29. Retrieved 2011 - 04 - 21. ^ Jump up to : Woitas, Kay. `` Indian Mounds Park ( Regional ) ''. City of St. Paul. Retrieved 2011 - 04 - 21. ^ Jump up to : Trimble, Steve ( 2000 - 07 - 02 ). `` A Short History of Indian Mounds Park ''. Dayton 's Bluff District Four Community Council. Archived from the original on 2011 - 05 - 01. Retrieved 2011 - 04 - 21. ^ Jump up to : Garvey, Dennis W. `` Indian Mounds Park and Dayton 's Bluff Mound Groups ''. Ancestry.com. Missing or empty url = ( help ) ; access - date = requires url = ( help ) Jump up ^ `` Lower Phalen Creek ''. ^ Jump up to : Cosimini, Greg ( 1999 - 07 - 09 ). `` Indian Mounds Park `` Airway '' Beacon ``. University of Minnesota. Archived from the original on 2008 - 01 - 24. Retrieved 2011 - 04 - 21. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Indian Mounds Park ( Saint Paul, Minnesota ). Indian Mounds Regional Park Friends of Mounds Park Excavation Records for Indian Mounds Park Group Hopewellian peoples Woodland period List of Hopewell sites Mound builder ( people ) List of archaeological periods ( North America ) Ohio Hopewell Beam Farm Benham Mound Cary Village Site Cedar - Bank Works Dunns Pond Mound Ellis Mounds Ety Enclosure Ety Habitation Site Fort Ancient Fortified Hill Works Great Hopewell Road High Banks Works Hopeton Earthworks Hopewell Culture National Historical Park Indian Mound Cemetery Keiter Mound Marietta Earthworks Moorehead Circle Mound of Pipes Nettle Lake Mound Group Newark Earthworks Oak Mounds Orators Perin Village Site Pollock Works Portsmouth Earthworks Rocky Fork Enclosures Rocky Fork Mounds Seip Earthworks and Dill Mounds District Shawnee Lookout Stubbs Earthworks Tremper Mound and Works Williamson Mound Archeological District Crab Orchard culture Carrier Mills Archaeological District Cleiman Mound Hubele Site Mann Site O'byams Fort site Wilson Site Yankeetown Site Goodall Focus Goodall Site Norton Mound Group Havana Hopewell culture Albany Mounds State Historic Site Dickson Mounds Duncan Farm Golden Eagle - Toppmeyer Site Kamp Mound Site Mound House site Naples Archeological District Naples Mound 8 Ogden - Fettie Site Rockwell Mound Sinnissippi Mounds Toolesboro Mound Group Kansas City Hopewell Cloverdale archaeological site Renner Village Archeological Site Trowbridge Archeological Site Marksville culture Crooks Mound Grand Gulf Mound Marksville Prehistoric Indian Site Mott Archaeological Preserve Miller culture Bynum Mound and Village Site Ingomar Mound Miller Site Pharr Mounds Pinson Mounds Point Peninsula Complex Lewiston Mound Serpent Mounds Park LeVescounte Mounds Swift Creek culture Santa Rosa - Swift Creek culture Crystal River Archaeological State Park Etowah Indian Mounds Leake Mounds Kolomoki Mounds Historic Park Miner 's Creek site Pierce Site Swift Creek mound site Third Gulf Breeze Yearwood site Yent Mound Other Hopewellian peoples Armstrong culture Copena culture Fourche Maline culture Laurel Complex Saugeen Complex Old Stone Fort ( Tennessee ) Exotic trade items Copper Galena Mica Fresh water pearls Obsidian Pipestone Sea shells Related topics Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley Black drink burial mound Ceremonial pipe Effigy mound Hopewell pottery Horned Serpent Eastern Agricultural Complex Underwater panther Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indian_Mounds_Park_(Saint_Paul,_Minnesota)&oldid=810060483 '' Categories : 1893 establishments in Minnesota Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Dakota Hopewellian peoples Mississippi National River and Recreation Area Mounds in Minnesota National Register of Historic Places in Saint Paul, Minnesota Native American history of Minnesota Parks in Saint Paul, Minnesota Protected areas established in 1893 Protected areas on the Mississippi River Regional parks in Minnesota Religious places of the indigenous peoples of North America Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Hidden categories : Pages using web citations with no URL Pages using citations with accessdate and no URL Coordinates on Wikidata Pages using geobox with a locator map Geobox usage tracking for protected area type Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français Edit links This page was last edited on 13 November 2017, at 03 : 54. 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Question: who built most of the mounds in mounds park
Answer: prehistoric Native American