List of burial mounds in the United States
Mississippian culture burial mounds
Table:
Mound

Location

Date

Culture

Notes

Cahokia Mound 72

Mound 72, Cahokia
Collinsville, Illinois

650 to 1400 CE

Middle Mississippian culture

A ridge-top burial mound south of Monk's Mound, during excavations archaeologists found the remains of a man in his 40s who was probably an important Cahokian ruler. Archaeologists recovered more than 250 other skeletons from Mound 72. Scholars believe almost 62 percent of these were sacrificial victims, based on signs of ritual execution, method of burial, and other factors.[8]

Castalian Springs Mound 2

Castalian Springs Mound Site in Sumner County, Tennessee

1100 to 1450 CE

Middle Mississippian culture

Located on the eastern edge of a plaza, a 120 feet (37 m) in diameter 8 feet (2.4 m) tall mound which was found to contain over a hundred burials when excavated by William E. Myer in the early 1890s.[9]

Craig Mound

Spiro Mounds, Le Flore County, Oklahoma

800-1200 CE

Caddoan Mississippian culture

Also called the "Great Mortuary", it is the second-largest mound on the site and the only burial mound. A hollow chamber that began as a burial structure for Spiro's rulers became a cavity within the mound, about 10 feet (3.0 m) high and 15 feet (4.6 m) wide, and allowed for almost perfect preservation of fragile artifacts made of wood, conch shell, and copper. The conditions in this hollow space were so favorable that objects made of perishable materials such as basketry, woven fabric, lace, fur, and feathers were preserved inside it. Craig Mound has been called "an American King Tut's Tomb."

George C. Davis Mound C

Caddoan Mounds State Historic Site, Cherokee County, Texas

800-1200 CE

Caddoan Mississippian culture

Mound C, the northernmost mound of the three at the site, it was used as a ceremonial burial mound, not for elite residences or temples like the other two.[10] The site was the southwestern most ceremonial mound center of all the mound building cultures of North America.[10]

Etowah Mound C

Etowah Indian Mounds, Cartersville, Georgia

1000-1550 CE

South Appalachian Mississippian

Cyrus Thomas and John P. Rogan tested the site for the Smithsonian Institution in 1883, where they discovered the "Rogan plates". But, the first well-documented archaeological inquiry at the site did not begin until the winter of 1925, conducted by Warren K. Moorehead. His excavations into Mound C at the site revealed a rich array of burial goods. These artifacts, along with the collections from Cahokia, Moundville, Lake Jackson, and Spiro Mounds, would comprise the majority of the materials which archeologists used to define the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex.

Fatherland Site Mound C

Grand Village of the Natchez, Natchez, Mississippi

1400-1732 CE

Plaquemine Mississippian culture

Mound C was used as the Sun Temple and charnel house for the Natchez elite.

Gahagan Mound B

Gahagan Mounds Site, Red River Parish, Louisiana

1100-1450 CE

Caddoan Mississippian culture

The burial mound at the site was excavated twice, in 1912 by Clarence Bloomfield Moore and then in 1939 by Clarence H. Webb. Between the 2 excavations, three burial shafts with a total of fourteen burials and more than five hundred grave goods were discovered. The first shaft, found by Moore, was 11 feet in depth and 13 by 8 feet in width and height. The other two, found in the 1939 excavations, were 19 feet (5.8 m) by 15 feet (4.6 m) and 12 feet (3.7 m) by 11 feet (3.4 m) feet in dimensions.[11] Grave goods found included flaked flint knives known as Gahagan blades, a matched pair of Long-nosed god maskette earrings of copper,[12] Missouri flint clay statues,[13] greenstone celts and spuds, and caches of beads and arrow heads. Many of the grave goods were exotic imports from such distant places from across the continent.[14]

Mangum Mound

Mangum Mound Site, Claiborne County, Mississippi

1350 to 1500 CE

Plaquemine Mississippian culture

Located at milepost 45.7 on the Natchez Trace Parkway.[15] Various pottery fragments belonging to the Plaquemine culture, chunkey stones and several Mississippian copper plates, one with an avian design similar to other plates found Etowah in Georgia and Lake Jackson Mounds in Florida. These portray the Birdman motif important to the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (S.E.C.C.).[16]

Nacoochee Mound

Nacoochee Mound, White County, Georgia

1350-1600 CE

South Appalachian Mississippian culture

Nacoochee Mound, on the banks of the Chattahoochee River in White County, in the northeast part of the U.S. state of Georgia, at the junction of Georgia Georgia State Route 17 and Georgia State Route 75. First occupied as early as 100-500 CE, the site was later developed and occupied more intensively by peoples of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture (a regional variation of the Mississippian culture) from 1350 to 1600 CE.[17] One of their characteristic platform mounds is located at the site. A professional archeological excavation revealed a total of 75 human burials, with artifacts that support dating of the site.

Nodena Site Mound C

Nodena Site, Mississippi County, Arkansas

1400–1650 CE

Middle Mississippian culture

A circular mound, designated as "Mound C", was located at the other end of the chunkey field. It was roughly 93 feet (28 m) in diameter and 3 feet (0.91 m) high. A large number of male graves, 314 of 316, were found buried under it.

Pope County Mound 2

Kincaid Site, Pope County, Illinois

1050-1400 CE

Middle Mississippian culture

Adjacent to the Ohio River, the site straddles the modern-day counties of Massac County and Pope County in deep southern Illinois, an area colloquially known as Little Egypt. On the eastern edge of the site is a low circular mound which was used as a burial mound, as opposed to all other mounds at the site which were substructure platform mounds. The mound contained a number of stone box graves and log lined tombs similar to those frequently found to the south in the Middle Cumberland Valley of Tennessee.[18]

Shiloh Mound C

Shiloh Indian Mounds, Hardin County, Tennessee

1000-1450 CE

Middle Mississippian culture

Adjacent to the Tennessee River, the site has 6 or 7 substructure platform mounds and one burial mound, Mound C. This mound was excavated in 1899 by Cornelius Cadle, chairman of the Shiloh Park Commission. Amongst the discoveries was a large stone effigy pipe in the shape of a kneeling man. It has since become the site’s most famous artifact and is on display in the Tennessee River Museum in Savannah. The pipe is from a distinctive red stone in the same style as several statuettes from the Cahokia site in Collinsville, Illinois.[19]

By analysing the tabular data plus the context snippets provided.

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Mound 72 is a small ridgetop mound located roughly 850 meters ( 2,790 ft ) to the south of Monks Mound at Cahokia Mounds near Collinsville , Illinois . Early in the site 's history , the location began as a circle of 48 large wooden posts known as a woodhenge . The woodhenge was later dismantled and a series of mortuary houses , platform mounds , mass burials and eventually the ridgetop mound erected in its place . The mound was the location of the beaded burial , an elaborate burial of an elite personage thought to have been one of the rulers of Cahokia , accompanied by the graves of several hundred retainers and sacrificial victims .
The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site /kəˈhoʊkiə/ ( 11 MS 2 ) is the site of a pre-Columbian Native American city ( which existed circa 1050-1350 CE ) directly across the Mississippi River from modern St. Louis , Missouri . This historic park lies in western Illinois between East St. Louis and Collinsville . The park covers 2,200 acres ( 890 ha ) , or about 3.5 square miles ( 9 km2 ) , and contains about 80 mounds , but the ancient city was much larger . At its apex around 1100 CE , Cahokia covered about 6 square miles ( 16 km2 ) and included about 120 manmade earthen mounds in a wide range of sizes , shapes , and functions . In population , it may have briefly exceeded contemporaneous London . Cahokia was the largest and most influential urban settlement of the Mississippian culture , which developed advanced societies across much of what is now the central and southeastern United States , beginning more than 1,000 years before European contact . Today , Cahokia Mounds is considered the largest and most complex archaeological site north of the great pre-Columbian cities in Mexico . Cahokia Mounds is a National Historic Landmark and a designated site for state protection . It is also one of the 24 UNESCO World Heritage Sites within the United States . The largest prehistoric earthen construction in the Americas north of Mexico , the site is open to the public and administered by the Illinois Historic Preservation Division and supported by the Cahokia Mounds Museum Society . In celebration of the 2018 Illinois Bicentennial , the Cahokia Mounds were selected as one of the Illinois 200 Great Places by the American Institute of Architects Illinois component ( AIA Illinois ) and was recognized by USA Today Travel magazine , as one of AIA Illinois 's selections for Illinois 25 Must See Places .
Collinsville is a city located mainly in Madison County , and partially in St. Clair County , both in Illinois . As of the 2010 census , the city had a population of 25,579 , an increase from 24,707 in 2000 . Collinsville is approximately 12 miles from St. Louis , Missouri and is considered part of that city 's Metro-East area . It is the site of the Brooks Catsup Bottle Water Tower , the world 's largest ketchup bottle , and is the world 's horseradish capital . Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site , a National Historic Landmark and UNESCO World Heritage Site , extends beyond the boundaries of the city toward the west . This prehistoric urban complex is estimated to have had a population of thousands at its peak , long before European exploration in the area . Monks Mound , the largest man-made earthwork in North America , is part of this complex .
The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American civilization that flourished in what is now the Midwestern , Eastern , and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 to 1600 , varying regionally . It was composed of a series of urban settlements and satellite villages ( suburbs ) linked together by loose trading networks . The largest city was Cahokia , believed to be a major religious center . The Mississippian way of life began to develop in the Mississippi River Valley ( for which it is named ) . Cultures in the tributary Tennessee River Valley may have also begun to develop Mississippian characteristics at this point . Almost all dated Mississippian sites predate 1539-1540 ( when Hernando de Soto explored the area ) , with notable exceptions being Natchez communities that maintained Mississippian cultural practices into the 18th century .
Monks Mound is the largest Pre-Columbian earthwork in the Americas and the largest pyramid north of Mesoamerica . The beginning of its construction dates from 900-955 CE . Located at the Cahokia Mounds UNESCO World Heritage Site near Collinsville , Illinois , the mound size was calculated in 1988 as about 100 feet ( 30 m ) high , 955 feet ( 291 m ) long including the access ramp at the southern end , and 775 feet ( 236 m ) wide . This makes Monks Mound roughly the same size at its base as the Great Pyramid of Giza ( 13.1 acres / 5.3 hectares ) . The perimeter of its base is larger than the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan . As a platform mound , the earthwork supported a wooden structure on the summit . Unlike Egyptian pyramids which were built of stone , the platform mound was constructed almost entirely of layers of basket-transported soil and clay . Because of this construction and its flattened top , over the years , it has retained rainwater within the structure . This has caused slumping , the avalanche-like sliding of large sections of the sides at the highest part of the mound . Its designed dimensions would have been significantly smaller than its present extent , but recent excavations have revealed that slumping was a problem even while the mound was being made .
The Castalian Springs Mound State Historic Site ( 40SU14 ) ( also known as Bledsoe 's Lick Mound and Cheskiki Mound ) is a Mississippian culture archaeological site located near the small unincorporated community of Castalian Springs in Sumner County , Tennessee . The site was first excavated in the 1890s and again as recently as the 2005 to 2011 archaeological field school led by Dr. Kevin E. Smith . A number of important finds have been associated with the site , most particularly several examples of Mississippian stone statuary and the Castalian Springs shell gorget held by the National Museum of the American Indian . The site is owned by the State of Tennessee and is a State Historic Site managed by the Bledsoe 's Lick Association for the Tennessee Historical Commission . The site is not currently open to the public .
Sumner County is a county located on the central northern border of the U.S. state of Tennessee , in what is called Middle Tennessee . As of the 2010 census , the population was 160,645 . Its county seat is Gallatin , and its largest city is Hendersonville . The county is named for American Revolutionary War hero General Jethro Sumner . Sumner County is part of the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin , TN Metropolitan Statistical Area . The county is made up of eight cities , including Gallatin , Goodlettsville , Hendersonville , Millersville , Mitchellville , Portland , Westmoreland , and White House . Sumner County is 25 miles northeast of Nashville , Tennessee .
Spiro Mounds ( 34 LF 40 ) is a major Northern Caddoan Mississippian archaeological site located in present-day Eastern Oklahoma . The 80-acre site lies near the Arkansas River , seven miles north of the town of Spiro . Between the 9th and 15th centuries , the local indigenous people created a powerful religious and political center , culturally linked to the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex , also called the Mississippian Ideological Interaction Sphere ( MIIS ) . Spiro was a major western outpost of Mississippian culture , which dominated the Mississippi Valley and its tributaries for centuries . Spiro Mounds is under the protection of the Oklahoma Historical Society and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places . In the 1930s during the Great Depression , treasure hunters bought the rights to tunnel into Craig Mound - the second-largest mound on the site - to mine it for artifacts . They exposed a hollow burial chamber inside the mound , a unique feature containing some of the most extraordinary pre-Columbian artifacts ever found in the United States . These included works of fragile , perishable materials : textiles and feathers that had been uniquely preserved in the conditions of the closed chamber . The treasure hunters sold the artifacts they recovered to art collectors , some as far away as Europe . Some of these artifacts were later returned to regional museums and the Caddo Nation , but other artifacts have never been accounted for . This site has been significant for North American archaeology since the 1930s , especially due to its many preserved textiles and wealth of shell carving .
Le Flore County is a county located along the eastern border of the U.S. state of Oklahoma . As of the 2010 census , the population was 50,384 . Its county seat is Poteau . The county name honors a Choctaw family named LeFlore . Le Flore County is part of the Fort Smith , AR-OK Metropolitan Statistical Area . The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma is the federal district court with jurisdiction in Le Flore County .
The Caddoan Mississippian culture was a prehistoric Native American culture considered by archaeologists as a variant of the Mississippian culture . The Caddoan Mississippians covered a large territory , including what is now Eastern Oklahoma , Western Arkansas , Northeast Texas , and Northwest Louisiana . Archaeological evidence that the cultural continuity is unbroken from prehistory to the present ; that the direct ancestors of the modern Caddo Nation of Oklahoma included the speakers of the Caddo and related Caddo language in prehistoric times and at first European contact , is unquestioned today .
The lightning whelk , scientific name Sinistrofulgur perversum , is an edible species of very large predatory sea snail or whelk , a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Busyconidae , the busycon whelks . This species has a left-handed or sinistral shell . It eats mostly bivalves . There has been some disagreement about the correct scientific name for this species , which has been confused with Sinistrofulgur sinistrum Hollister , 1958 , and Busycon contrarium ( Conrad , 1840 ) , which is an exclusively fossil species .
Basket weaving ( also basketry or basket making ) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into two- or three-dimensional artifacts , such as mats or containers . Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets may be known as basket makers and basket weavers . Basketry is made from a variety of fibrous or pliable materials - anything that will bend and form a shape . Examples include pine , straw , willow , oak , wisteria , forsythia , vines , stems , animal hair , hide , grasses , thread , and fine wooden splints . There are many applications for basketry , from simple mats to hot air balloon gondolas . Many Indigenous peoples are renowned for their basket-weaving techniques .
Tutankhamun ( /ˌtuːtənkɑːˈmuːn/ , Ancient Egyptian : twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn ) , Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen ( British /ˌtuːtənkɑːˈmən/ ) ( c. 1342 - c. 1325 BC ) , was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the 18th dynasty ( ruled c. 1334 - 1325 BC in the conventional chronology ) during the New Kingdom of Egyptian history . His father was the pharaoh Akhenaten , believed to be the mummy found in the tomb KV55 . His mother is his father 's sister , identified through DNA testing as an unknown mummy referred to as ; The Younger Lady who was found in KV35 . Tutankhamun took the throne at eight or nine years of age under the unprecedented viziership of his eventual successor , Ay , to whom he may have been related . He married his half sister Ankhesenamun . During their marriage they lost two daughters , one at 5-6 months of pregnancy and the other shortly after birth at full-term . His names ; Tutankhaten and Tutankhamun are thought to mean ; Living image of Aten and Living image of Amun , with Aten replaced by Amun after Akhenaten 's death . There are Egyptologists [ who ? ] that believe the translation may be more like ; The-life-of-Aten-is-pleasing or One-perfect-of-life-is-Aten . Tutankhamun restored the Ancient Egyptian religion after its dissolution by his father , enriched and endowed the priestly orders of two important cults and began restoring old monuments damaged during the previous Amarna period . He moved his father 's remains to the Valley of the Kings as well as moving the capitol from Akhetaten to Thebes . Tutankhamun was physically disabled with a deformity of his left foot along with bone necrosis that required the use of a cane , several of which where found in his tomb as well as body armor and bows , having been trained in archery .
Caddo Mounds State Historic Site ( 41CE19 ) ( also known as the George C. Davis Site ) is an archaeological site in Weeping Mary , Texas . This Caddoan Mississippian culture site is composed of a village and ceremonial center that features two earthwork platform mounds and one burial mound . Located on an ancient Native American trail later named by the Spanish as El Camino Real de los Tejas , the settlement developed hundreds of years before the arrival of Europeans and Africans to the region . Archaeologists believe the site was founded in approximately 800CE , with most major construction taking place between 1100CE and 1300CE . The Caddo Mounds site is located in East Texas , 6 miles ( 9.7 km ) west of Alto , Texas on Texas State Highway 21 near its intersection with U.S. Route 69 in the Piney Woods region . Operated by the Texas Historical Commission , the museum at the site was reopened in October 2015 . The new museum offers visitors a chance to explore a replica Caddo village , and all exhibits are hands-on . Visitors can walk the 0.7 miles ( 1.1 km ) self-guided interpretive trail to see the Caddo burial , low temple , and ceremonial mounds . An additional trail along the El Camino Real is also available .
Cherokee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas . As of the 2010 census , its population was 50,845 . The county seat is Rusk . The county was named for the Cherokee , who lived in the area before being expelled in 1839 . Rusk , the county seat , is 130 miles southeast of Dallas and 160 miles north of Houston . Cherokee County comprises the Jacksonville , TX Micropolitan Statistical Area , which is also included in the Tyler-Jacksonville , TX Combined Statistical Area .
Etowah Indian Mounds ( 9BR1 ) are a 54-acre ( 220,000 m2 ) archaeological site in Bartow County , Georgia south of Cartersville , in the United States . Built and occupied in three phases , from 1000-1550 AD , the prehistoric site is located on the north shore of the Etowah River . Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site is a designated National Historic Landmark , managed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources . It is the most intact Mississippian culture site in the Southeastern United States .
Cartersville is a city in Bartow County in the U.S. state of Georgia ; it is located within the northwest edge of the Atlanta metropolitan area . As of the 2010 census , the city had a population of 19,731 . Cartersville is the county seat of Bartow County .
Cyrus Thomas ( July 27 , 1825 - June 26 , 1910 ) was a U.S. ethnologist and entomologist prominent in the late 19th century and noted for his studies of the natural history of the American West .
John P. Rogan was an archaeologist . Working under Cyrus Thomas in the early 1880s , Rogan conducted the first archaeological excavations on the Etowah Indian Mounds , near Cartersville , Georgia , for the Smithsonian Institution . He discovered a set of copper plates , the Etowah plates , several of which are the famous copper eagle dancer plates , which were later named the Rogan plates ( the plates are now Catalogue Nos . A91117 and A91113 in the collections of the Department of Anthropology , National Museum of Natural History , Smithsonian Institution ) . Rogan tested seven other archaeological sites in Georgia in Bartow , White , Habersham , Forsyth , Rabun , Elbert , and McIntosh counties . He resigned in 1886 to work in the mercantile business in Bristol , Tennessee .
The Smithsonian Institution ( /smɪθˈsoʊniən/ smith-SOH-nee-ən ) , also known simply as the Smithsonian , is a group of museums and research centers administered by the Government of the United States . It was founded on August 10 , 1846 , for the increase and diffusion of knowledge . The institution is named after its founding donor , British scientist James Smithson . It was originally organized as the United States National Museum , but that name ceased to exist as an administrative entity in 1967 . Termed the nation 's attic for its eclectic holdings of 154 million items , the Institution 's 19 museums , 21 libraries , nine research centers , and zoo include historical and architectural landmarks , mostly located in the District of Columbia . Additional facilities are located in Arizona , Maryland , Massachusetts , New York City , Pittsburgh , Texas , Virginia , and Panama . More than 200 institutions and museums in 45 states , [ note 1 ] Puerto Rico , and Panama are Smithsonian Affiliates . The Institution 's 30 million annual visitors are admitted without charge . Its annual budget is around $ 1.2 billion , with two-thirds coming from annual federal appropriations . Other funding comes from the Institution 's endowment , private and corporate contributions , membership dues , and earned retail , concession , and licensing revenue . Institution publications include Smithsonian and Air & Space magazines .
The Etowah plates , including the Rogan Plates , are a collection of Mississippian copper plates discovered in Mound C at the Etowah Indian Mounds near Cartersville , Georgia . Many of the plates display iconography that archaeologists have classified as part of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex ( S.E.C.C . ) , specifically Birdman imagery associated with warriors and the priestly elite . The plates are a combination of foreign imports and local items manufactured in emulation of the imported style . The designs of the Rogan plates are in the Classic Braden style from the American Bottom area . It is generally thought that some of the plates were manufactured at Cahokia ( in present-day Illinois near St Louis , Missouri ) before ending up at sites in the Southeast . The plates are similar to a number of other plates found in locations across the southeastern and midwestern United States , including the plates of the Wulfing cache found in southeast Missouri and the numerous plates found in the mortuary chamber of the Craig Mound at the Spiro site in eastern Oklahoma . The designs of the plates from these locations , together with the iconography found on artifacts at the Moundville Archaeological Site in Hale County , Alabama , were the basis from which archaeologists developed the concept of the S.E.C.C . beginning in 1945 .
Warren King Moorehead was known in his time as the 'Dean of American archaeology ' ; born in Siena , Italy to missionary parents on March 10 , 1866 , he died on January 5 , 1939 at the age of 72 , and is buried in his hometown of Xenia , Ohio . Moorehead is credited with excavating more ancient earthworks than all archaeologists before and after him . Due to Moorehead 's primary focus on artifact recovery in his early career , his often careless documentation of excavated sites , and the fact that he lost many of his own important field notes ( including those from 1891 at the Hopewell Site ) , Moorehead is often remembered as a destructive force among modern archaeologists . That said , Moorehead was influential in the preservation of some historical sites such as Fort Ancient .
Moundville Archaeological Site , also known as the Moundville Archaeological Park , is a Mississippian culture site on the Black Warrior River in Hale County , near the city of Tuscaloosa , Alabama . Extensive archaeological investigation has shown that the site was the political and ceremonial center of a regionally organized Mississippian culture chiefdom polity between the 11th and 16th centuries . The archaeological park portion of the site is administered by the University of Alabama Museums and encompasses 185 acres ( 75 ha ) , consisting of 29 platform mounds around a rectangular plaza . The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966 . Moundville is the second-largest site in the United States of the classic Middle Mississippian era , after Cahokia in Illinois . The culture was expressed in villages and chiefdoms throughout the central Mississippi River Valley , the lower Ohio River Valley , and most of the Mid-South area , including Kentucky , Tennessee , Alabama , and Mississippi as the core of the classic Mississippian culture area . The park contains a museum and an archaeological laboratory .
Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park ( 8LE1 ) is one of the most important archaeological sites in Florida , the capital of chiefdom and ceremonial center of the Fort Walton Culture inhabited from 1050-1500 . The complex originally included seven earthwork mounds , a public plaza and numerous individual village residences . One of several major mound sites in the Florida Panhandle , the park is located in northern Tallahassee , on the south shore of Lake Jackson . The complex has been managed as a Florida State Park since 1966 . On May 6 , 1971 , the site was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places as reference number 71000241 .
The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex ( formerly the Southern Cult ) , aka S.E.C.C. , is the name given to the regional stylistic similarity of artifacts , iconography , ceremonies , and mythology of the Mississippian culture that coincided with their adoption of maize agriculture and chiefdom-level complex social organization from 1200 to 1650 CE . Due to some similarities between S.E.C.C . and contemporary Mesoamerican cultures ( i.e. , artwork with similar aesthetics or motifs ; maize-based agriculture ; and the development of sophisticated cities with large pyramidal structures ) , scholars from the late 1800s to mid-1900s suspected there was a connection between the two locations . However , later research indicates the two cultures have no direct links . Obsolete names for this ceremonial complex , found in some anthropological sources , include Buzzard Cult and Southern Death Cult .
Grand Village of the Natchez , ( 22 AD 501 ) also known as the Fatherland Site , is a 128.1-acre ( 0.518 km2 ) site encompassing a prehistoric indigenous village and earthwork mounds in present-day south Natchez , Mississippi . The village complex was constructed starting about 1200 CE by members of the prehistoric Plaquemine culture . They built the three platform mounds in stages . Another phase of significant construction work by these prehistoric people has been dated to the mid-15th century . It was named for the historic Natchez people , who used the site in the 17th and 18th centuries . In the early 18th century , when the historic Natchez people occupied the site , they added to the mounds . The village was the Natchez tribe 's main political and religious ceremonial center in the late 17th and early 18th centuries , according to historical and archaeological evidence . It replaced the Emerald Mound Site in this role . After suffering a 1730 military defeat by French settlers , the Natchez abandoned the site and moved away . In the early 19th century , the land was privately owned and cultivated as part of the Fatherland Plantation . Archaeological excavations started in 1930 , and three mounds were found . ( They had been partially buried by loess soils , with some erosion due to St. Catherine 's Creek . )
Natchez ( /ˈnætʃɪz/ ) is the county seat and only city of Adams County , Mississippi , United States . Natchez has a total population of 15,792 ( as of the 2010 census ) . Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia in Concordia Parish , Louisiana , Natchez was a prominent city in the antebellum years , a center of cotton planters and Mississippi River trade . Natchez is some 90 miles ( 140 km ) southwest of Jackson , the capital of Mississippi , which is located near the center of the state . It is approximately 85 miles ( 137 km ) north of Baton Rouge , Louisiana , located on the lower Mississippi River . Natchez is the 25th-largest city in the state . The city was named for the Natchez tribe of Native Americans , who with their ancestors , inhabited much of the area from the 8th century AD through the French colonial period .
The Plaquemine culture was an archaeological culture ( circa 1200 to 1700 CE ) centered on the Lower Mississippi River valley . It had a deep history in the area stretching back through the earlier Coles Creek ( 700-1200 CE ) and Troyville cultures ( 400-700 CE ) to the Marksville culture ( 100 BCE to 400 CE ) . The Natchez and related Taensa peoples were their historic period descendants . The type site for the culture is the Medora Site in Louisiana ; while other examples include the Anna , Emerald , Holly Bluff , and Winterville sites in Mississippi .
The Natchez ( /ˈnætʃəz/ ; Natchez pronunciation [ naːʃt͡seh ] ) are a Native American people who originally lived in the Natchez Bluffs area in the Lower Mississippi Valley , near the present-day city of Natchez , Mississippi in the United States . They spoke a language with no known close relatives , although it may be very distantly related to the Muskogean languages of the Creek Confederacy . The Natchez are noted for being the only Mississippian culture with complex chiefdom characteristics to have survived long into the period after the European colonization of America began . Others had generally declined a century or two before European encounter . The Natchez are also noted for having had an unusual social system of nobility classes and exogamous marriage practices . It was a strongly matrilineal kinship society , with descent reckoned along female lines . The paramount chief named the Great Sun was always the son of the Female Sun , whose daughter would be the mother of the next Great Sun . This ensured that the chiefdom stayed under the control of the single Sun lineage . Ethnologists have not reached consensus on how the Natchez social system originally functioned , and the topic is somewhat controversial . Around 1730 , after several wars with the French , the Natchez were defeated and dispersed . Most survivors were sold by the French into slavery in the West Indies ; others took refuge with other tribes , such as the Muskogean Chickasaw and Creek , and the Iroquoian-speaking Cherokee . Today , most Natchez families and communities are found in Oklahoma , where Natchez members are enrolled in the federally recognized Cherokee and Muscogee ( Creek ) nations in Oklahoma .
The Gahagan Mounds Site ( 16RR1 ) is an Early Caddoan Mississippian culture archaeological site in Red River Parish , Louisiana . It is located in the Red River Valley . The site is famous for the three shaft burials and exotic grave goods excavated there in the early twentieth century .
Red River Parish ( French : Paroisse de la Rivière-Rouge ) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana . As of the 2010 census , the population was 9,091 , making it the fourth-least populous parish in Louisiana . Its seat is Coushatta . It was one of the newer parishes created in 1871 by the state legislature under Reconstruction . The plantation economy was based on cotton cultivation , highly dependent on enslaved African labor before the American Civil War . In 1880 , the parish had a population with more than twice as many blacks as whites . They were essentially disenfranchised in 1898 under a new state constitution after the white Democrats regained power in the state in the late 1870s through paramilitary intimidation at the polls . Most of the former slaves worked as sharecroppers and laborers , cultivating cotton . Because of the mechanization of agriculture , many blacks left the parish during the mid-20th century Great Migration to seek better job opportunities elsewhere . By 2000 , the parish population was 9,622 , with a white majority , but Coushatta itself was still two thirds black .
Clarence Bloomfield Moore ( January 14 , 1852 - March 24 , 1936 ) , more commonly known as C.B . Moore , was an American archaeologist and writer . He studied and excavated Native American sites in the southeastern United States .
Clarence H. Webb ( 25 August 1902 - 18 January 1999 ) was an American medical doctor and archaeologist who conducted extensive research on prehistoric sites in the southeastern United States . A pediatrician by profession , he became interested in archaeology on a camping trip with his sons where he found some small , triangular points . A distinguished physician , his archaeological research included the study of Caddoan culture , and at a number of major sites such as Poverty Point , John Pearce [ where ? ] , Gahagan , and Belcher Mound .
Long-nosed god maskettes are artifacts made from bone , copper and marine shells ( Lightning whelk ) associated with the Mississippian culture ( 800 to 1600 CE ) and found in archaeological sites in the American Midwest and Southeast . They are small shield-shaped faces with squared-off foreheads , circular eyes , and large noses of various lengths . They are often shown on Southeastern Ceremonial Complex representations of falcon impersonators as ear ornaments . Long and short nosed versions of the masks have been found in ten different states , with the majority found at sites in Illinois . Many archaeologists now associate them with the Ho-Chunk ( Winnebago ) stories of the mythological being Red Horn .
Seatearth is a British coal mining term , which is used in the geological literature . As noted by Jackson , a seatearth is the layer of sedimentary rock underlying a coal seam . Seatearths have also been called seat earth , seat rock , or seat stone in the geologic literature . Depending on its physical characteristics , a number of different names , such as underclay , fireclay , flint clay , and ganister can be applied to a specific seatearth .
The Mississippian stone statuary are artifacts of polished stone in the shape of human figurines made by members of the Mississippian culture ( 800 to 1600 CE ) and found in archaeological sites in the American Midwest and Southeast . Two distinct styles exist ; the first is a style of carved flint clay found over a wide geographical area but believed to be from the American Bottom area and manufactured at the Cahokia site specifically ; the second is a variety of carved and polished locally available stone primarily found in the Tennessee-Cumberland region and northern Georgia ( although there are lone outliers of this style in other regions ) . Early European explorers reported seeing stone and wooden statues in native temples , but the first documented modern discovery was made in 1790 in Kentucky , and given as a gift to Thomas Jefferson .
Greenstone is a common generic term for valuable , green-hued minerals and metamorphosed igneous rocks and stones which early cultures used in the fashioning of hardstone carvings such as jewelry , statuettes , ritual tools , and various other artifacts . Greenstone artifacts may be made of greenschist , chlorastrolite , serpentine , omphacite , chrysoprase , olivine , nephrite , chloromelanite among other green-hued minerals . The term also includes jade and jadeite , although these are perhaps more frequently identified by these latter terms . The greenish hue of these rocks generally derives from the presence of minerals such as chlorite , hornblende , or epidote . Greenstone minerals were presumably selected for their color rather than their chemical composition . In archaeology therefore , having a loosely applied general term is at least partially influenced by the observation that ancient cultures often used and considered these various green-hued materials as interchangeable . Greenstone objects are often found very considerable distances from the source of the rock , indicating early travel or trading networks . A polished jadeite axe head in the British Museum ( 4000-2000 BCE ) was found in Canterbury , Kent but uses stone from the Alps of Northern Italy , and objects from other parts of the world had travelled comparable distances to their findspots . Ancient China and Mesoamerica have special reputations for the prevalence and significance of greenstone ( particularly jade ) usage . Greenstones also figure prominently in the indigenous cultures of southeastern Australia , and among the Māori of New Zealand ( who knew greenstone as pounamu ) . Neolithic Europe also used greenstone , especially for prestige versions of axe tools , not made for use ; comparable jade versions of tools and weapons also appeared in the Olmec and other Pre-Columbian cultures and in early Chinese civilization .
The Celts ( /kɛlts , sɛlts/ , see pronunciation of Celt for different usages ) are a collection of Indo-European peoples of Europe identified by their use of the Celtic languages and other cultural similarities . The history of pre-Celtic Europe and the exact relationship between ethnic , linguistic and cultural factors in the Celtic world remains uncertain and controversial . The exact geographic spread of the ancient Celts is disputed ; in particular , the ways in which the Iron Age inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland should be regarded as Celts have become a subject of controversy . According to one theory , the common root of the Celtic languages , the Proto-Celtic language , arose in the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture of Central Europe , which flourished from around 1200 BC . According to another theory proposed in the 19th century , the first people to adopt cultural characteristics regarded as Celtic were the people of the Iron Age Hallstatt culture in central Europe ( c. 800-450 BC ) , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt , Austria . It is thus that this area is sometimes called the Celtic homeland . By or during the later La Tène period ( c. 450 BC to the Roman conquest ) , this Celtic culture was supposed to have expanded by trans-cultural diffusion or migration to the British Isles ( Insular Celts ) , France and the Low Countries ( Gauls ) , Bohemia , Poland and much of Central Europe , the Iberian Peninsula ( Celtiberians , Celtici , Lusitanians and Gallaeci ) and northern Italy ( Golasecca culture and Cisalpine Gauls ) and , following the Celtic settlement of Eastern Europe beginning in 279 BC , as far east as central Anatolia ( Galatians ) in modern-day Turkey . The earliest undisputed direct examples of a Celtic language are the Lepontic inscriptions beginning in the 6th century BC . Continental Celtic languages are attested almost exclusively through inscriptions and place-names . Insular Celtic languages are attested beginning around the 4th century in Ogham inscriptions , although they were clearly being spoken much earlier . Celtic literary tradition begins with Old Irish texts around the 8th century AD . Coherent texts of Early Irish literature , such as the Táin Bó Cúailnge ( Cattle Raid of Cooley ) , survive in 12th-century recensions .
Mangum Mound Site ( 22 CB 584 ) is an archaeological site of the Plaquemine culture in Claiborne County , Mississippi . It is located at milepost 45.7 on the Natchez Trace Parkway . Two very rare Mississippian culture repoussé copper plates have been discovered during excavations of the site . The site was used as a burial mound during the Foster Phase of the culture ( 1350 to 1500 CE ) and is believed to have been abandoned before the 1540 expedition of Hernando de Soto .
Claiborne County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi . As of the 2010 census , the population was 9,604 . Its county seat is Port Gibson . The county is named after William Claiborne , the second governor of the Mississippi Territory . Claiborne County is included in the Vicksburg , MS Micropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Jackson-Vicksburg-Brookhaven , MS Combined Statistical Area . It is bordered by the Mississippi River on the west and the Big Black River on the north . According to the United States Census Bureau , this small county has the third-highest percentage of African-American residents of any U.S. county , an 84% majority of the population . Located south of the area known as the Mississippi Delta , this area was long a center of cotton plantations and related agriculture . Many African Americans have stayed here because of family ties and making the land their own . Claiborne County was the center of a little-known but profound demonstration and struggle during the civil rights movement .
Mississippi ( /ˌmɪsɪˈsɪpi/ ( listen ) ) is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States . Mississippi is the 32nd largest and 34th-most populous of the 50 United States . Mississippi is bordered to the north by Tennessee , to the east by Alabama , to the south by the Gulf of Mexico , to the southwest by Louisiana , and to the northwest by Arkansas . Mississippi 's western boundary is largely defined by the Mississippi River . Jackson is both the state 's capital and largest city . Greater Jackson , with an estimated population of 580,166 in 2018 , is the most populous metropolitan area in Mississippi and the 95th-most populous in the United States . On December 10 , 1817 , Mississippi became the 20th state admitted to the Union . By 1860 , Mississippi was the nation 's top cotton producing state and enslaved persons accounted for 55% of the state population . Mississippi declared its secession from the Union on March 23 , 1861 , and was one of the seven original Confederate States . Following the Civil War , it was restored to the Union on February 23 , 1870 . Until the Great Migration of the 1930s , African Americans were a majority of Mississippi 's population . Mississippi was the site of many prominent events during the American Civil Rights movement , including the 1962 Ole Miss riots , the 1963 assassination of Medgar Evers , and the 1964 Freedom Summer murders .
The Natchez Trace Parkway is a national parkway in the southeastern United States that commemorates the historic Natchez Trace and preserves sections of that original trail . Its central feature is a two-lane road that extends 444 miles ( 715 km ) from Natchez , Mississippi , to Nashville , Tennessee . Access to the parkway is limited , with more than fifty access points in the states of Mississippi , Alabama , and Tennessee . The southern end of the route is in Natchez at its intersection with Liberty Road , and the northern end is northeast of Fairview , Tennessee , in the suburban community of Pasquo , at an intersection with Tennessee State Route 100 . In addition to Natchez and Nashville , larger cities along the route include Jackson and Tupelo , Mississippi , and Florence , Alabama .
Mississippian culture pottery is the ceramic tradition of the Mississippian culture ( 800 to 1600 CE ) found as artifacts in archaeological sites in the American Midwest and Southeast . It is often characterized by the adoption and use of riverine ( or more rarely marine ) shell-tempering agents in the clay paste . Shell tempering is one of the hallmarks of Mississippian cultural practices . Analysis of local differences in materials , techniques , forms , and designs is a primary means for archaeologists to learn about the lifeways , religious practices , trade , and interaction among Mississippian peoples . The value of this pottery on the illegal antiquities market has led to extensive looting of sites .
Chunkey ( also known as chunky , chenco , tchung-kee or the hoop and stick game ) is a game of Native American origin . It was played by rolling disc-shaped stones across the ground and throwing spears at them in an attempt to land the spear as close to the stopped stone as possible . It originated around 600 CE in the Cahokia region of what is now the United States ( near modern St. Louis , Missouri ) . Chunkey was played in huge arenas as large as 47 acres ( 19 ha ) that housed great audiences designed to bring people of the region together ( i.e . Cahokians , farmers , immigrants , and even visitors ) . It continued to be played after the fall of the Mississippian culture around 1500 CE . Variations were played throughout North America . Early ethnographer James Adair translated the name to mean running hard labor . Gambling was frequently connected with the game , with some players wagering everything they owned on the outcome of the game . Losers were even known to commit suicide .
Mississippian copper plates , or plaques , are plain and repousséd plates of beaten copper crafted by peoples of the various regional expressions of the Mississippian culture between 800 and 1600 CE . They have been found as artifacts in archaeological sites in the American Midwest and Southeast . The plates , found as far afield as Florida , Georgia , Illinois , Mississippi , Oklahoma , Tennessee , and Wisconsin , were instrumental in the development of the archaeological concept known as the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex . Some of the more notable examples are representations of raptorial birds and avian-themed dancing warriors .
The Nacoochee Mound ( Smithsonian trinomial 9WH3 ) is an archaeological site on the banks of the Chattahoochee River in White County , in the northeast part of the U.S. state of Georgia , at the junction of Georgia State Route 17 and Georgia State Route 75 . First occupied as early as 100-500 CE , the site was later developed and occupied more intensively by peoples of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture ( a regional variation of the Mississippian culture ) from 1350 to 1600 CE . One of their characteristic platform mounds is located at the site . A professional archeological excavation revealed a total of 75 human burials , with artifacts that support dating of the site . The mound was excavated , but a reconstruction was built . The 19th-century gazebo was added by a European-American owner of the land . Unlike other Mississippian sites - and contrary to claims made by a historical marker at the estate on which the site exists - the Nacoochee Mound does not appear to have been occupied by the later Cherokee peoples . The site is part of the Sautee Valley Historic District ; it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 20 , 1986 as reference number 86002742 .
White County is a county located very near the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Georgia . As of the 2010 census , the population was 27,144 . The county seat is Cleveland . The county was created on December 22 , 1857 from part of Habersham County and most likely was named for Newton County Representative David T. White , who helped a Habersham representative successfully attain passage of an act creating the new county .
Georgia ( /ˈdʒɔːrdʒə/ ) is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States . Georgia is the 24th largest in area and 8th-most populous of the 50 United States . Georgia is bordered to the north by Tennessee and North Carolina , to the northeast by South Carolina , to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean , to the south by Florida , and to the west by Alabama . Its 2019 estimated population was 10,617,423 , according to the U.S. Census Bureau . Atlanta , a beta ( + ) global city , is both the state 's capital and its largest city . The Atlanta metropolitan area , with an estimated population of 5.9 million people in 2018 , is the 9th most populous metropolitan area in the United States and contains about 56% of the entire state population . Founded in 1733 as a British colony , Georgia was the last and southernmost of the original Thirteen Colonies to be established . Named after King George II of Great Britain , the Colony of Georgia covered the area from South Carolina south to Spanish Florida and west to French Louisiana at the Mississippi River . On January 2 , 1788 , Georgia became the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution . From 1802 to 1804 , western Georgia was split to form the Mississippi Territory , which later was admitted as the U.S. states of Alabama and Mississippi . Georgia declared its secession from the Union on January 19 , 1861 , and was one of the original seven Confederate States . Following the Civil War , it was the last state to be restored to the Union , on July 15 , 1870 .
The Chattahoochee River forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border , as well as a portion of the Florida - Georgia border . It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River , a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers and emptying from Florida into Apalachicola Bay in the Gulf of Mexico . The Chattahoochee River is about 430 miles ( 690 km ) long . The Chattahoochee , Flint , and Apalachicola rivers together make up the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin ( ACF River Basin ) . The Chattahoochee makes up the largest part of the ACF 's drainage basin .
The United States of America ( USA ) , commonly known as the United States ( U.S. or US ) or America , is a country consisting of 50 states , a federal district , five major self-governing territories , and various possessions . [ g ] At 3.8 million square miles ( 9.8 million km2 ) , it is the world 's third or fourth-largest country by total area [ b ] and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe . Most of the country is located in central North America between Canada and Mexico . With an estimated population of over 328 million , the U.S. is the third most populous country in the world . The capital is Washington , D.C. , and the most populous city is New York City . Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago . European colonization began in the 16th century . The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast . Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies led to the American Revolutionary War lasting between 1775 and 1783 , leading to independence . The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century - gradually acquiring new territories , displacing Native Americans , and admitting new states - until by 1848 it spanned the continent . During the second half of the 19th century , the American Civil War led to the abolition of slavery in the United States . The Spanish-American War and World War I confirmed the country 's status as a global military power .
State Route 17 ( SR 17 ) is a 294-mile-long ( 473 km ) state highway that travels south-to-north through portions of Chatham , Effingham , Screven , Jenkins , Burke , Jefferson , Warren , McDuffie , Wilkes , Elbert , Hart , Franklin , Stephens , Habersham , White , and Towns counties in the east-central and northeastern parts of the U.S. state of Georgia . The highway connects Interstate 16 ( I-16 ) in Bloomingdale to the North Carolina state line , northwest of Hiawassee , via Millen , Louisville , Wrens , Thomson , Washington , Elberton , Royston , Toccoa , Clarkesville , and Hiawassee .
State Route 75 ( SR 75 ) is a 33.4-mile-long ( 53.8 km ) state highway that travels south-to-north through portions of White and Towns counties in the northern part of the U.S. state of Georgia . It connects Cleveland and the North Carolina state line , via Helen , Macedonia , and Hiawassee .
The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American civilization that flourished in what is now the Midwestern , Eastern , and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 to 1600 , varying regionally . It was composed of a series of urban settlements and satellite villages ( suburbs ) linked together by loose trading networks . The largest city was Cahokia , believed to be a major religious center . The Mississippian way of life began to develop in the Mississippi River Valley ( for which it is named ) . Cultures in the tributary Tennessee River Valley may have also begun to develop Mississippian characteristics at this point . Almost all dated Mississippian sites predate 1539-1540 ( when Hernando de Soto explored the area ) , with notable exceptions being Natchez communities that maintained Mississippian cultural practices into the 18th century .
A platform mound is any earthwork or mound intended to support a structure or activity .
The Nodena Site is an archeological site east of Wilson , Arkansas and northeast of Reverie , Tennessee in Mississippi County , Arkansas , United States . Around 1400-1650 CE an aboriginal palisaded village existed in the Nodena area on a meander bend of the Mississippi River . The Nodena site was discovered and first documented by Dr. James K. Hampson , archaeologist and owner of the plantation on which the Nodena site is located . Artifacts from this site are on display in the Hampson Museum State Park in Wilson , Arkansas . The Nodena Site is the type site for the Nodena Phase , believed by many archaeologists to be the province of Pacaha visited by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1542 . In 1900 , a prehistoric mastodon skeleton was discovered 2 miles ( 3.2 km ) south of the Nodena site . In 1964 , the Nodena Site was declared a National Historic Landmark and in 1966 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places .
Mississippi County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas . As of the 2010 census , the population was 46,480 . There are two county seats , Blytheville and Osceola . The county was formed on November 1 , 1833 , and named for the Mississippi River which borders the county to the east . Mississippi County is part of the First Congressional District in Arkansas . The Mississippi County Judge is John Alan Nelson . The Blytheville , AR Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Mississippi County . Jefferson W. Speck , a Mississippi County planter , was the Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1950 and 1952 .
Arkansas ( /ˈɑːrkənsɔː/ AR-kən-saw ) [ c ] is a state in the south central region of the United States , home to more than three million people as of 2018 . Its name is from the Osage language , of Siouan derivation ; it denoted their related kin , the Quapaw people . The state 's diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozark and the Ouachita Mountains , which make up the U.S . Interior Highlands , to the densely forested land in the south known as the Arkansas Timberlands , to the eastern lowlands along the Mississippi River and the Arkansas Delta . Arkansas is the 29th largest by area and the 33rd most populous of the 50 United States . The capital and most populous city is Little Rock , located in the central portion of the state , a hub for transportation , business , culture , and government . The northwestern corner of the state , such as the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Area and Fort Smith metropolitan area , is a population , education , and economic center . The largest city in the state 's eastern part is Jonesboro . The largest city in the state 's southeastern part is Pine Bluff . The Territory of Arkansas was admitted to the Union as the 25th state on June 15 , 1836 . Much of the Delta had been developed for cotton plantations , and the state landowners largely depended on enslaved African Americans as workers . In 1861 , Arkansas seceded from the United States and joined the Confederate States of America during the Civil War .
The Kincaid Mounds Historic Site ( 11MX2-11 ; 11PO2-10 ) c. 1050-1400 CE , is the site of a city from the prehistoric Mississippian culture . One of the largest settlements of the Mississippian culture , it was located at the southern tip of present-day U.S. state of Illinois . Kincaid Mounds has been notable for both its significant role in native North American prehistory and for the central role the site has played in the development of modern archaeological techniques . The site had at least 11 substructure platform mounds ( ranking fifth for mound-culture pyramids ) . Artifacts from the settlement link its major habitation and the construction of the mounds to the Mississippian period , but it was also occupied earlier during the Woodland period .
Pope County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois . According to the 2010 census , it had a population of 4,470 , making it the second-least populous county in Illinois . Its county seat is Golconda . The county was organized in 1816 from portions of Gallatin and Johnson counties and named after Nathaniel Pope , a politician and jurist from the Illinois Territory and State of Illinois .
The Ohio River is a 981-mile ( 1,579 km ) long river in the United States . It is located in the midwestern United States , flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania south of Lake Erie to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illinois . It is the third largest river by discharge volume in the United States and the largest tributary by volume of the north-south flowing Mississippi River that divides the eastern from western United States . The river flows through or along the border of six states , and its drainage basin includes parts of 15 states . Through its largest tributary , the Tennessee River , the basin includes several states of the southeastern U.S . It is the source of drinking water for three million people . The lower Ohio River just below Louisville is obstructed by rapids known as the Falls of the Ohio where the water level falls 26 ft. in 2 miles and is impassible for navigation . The McAlpine Locks and Dam , a shipping canal bypassing the rapids , now allows commercial navigation from the Forks of the Ohio at Pittsburgh to the Port of New Orleans at the mouth of the Mississippi on the Gulf of Mexico . The name Ohio comes from the Seneca , Ohi : yo ' , lit . Good River . European discovery of the Ohio River may be attributed to English explorers from Virginia in the latter half of the 17th century . In his Notes on the State of Virginia published in 1781-82 , Thomas Jefferson stated : The Ohio is the most beautiful river on earth .
Massac County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois . According to the 2010 census , it had a population of 15,429 . Established in 1843 and named for a French fort founded in the 18th century , its county seat is Metropolis . Massac County is included in the Paducah , KY-IL Micropolitan Statistical Area . It is located along the Ohio River , in the portion of the state known locally as Little Egypt .
Southern Illinois ( also known as Little Egypt ) is the southern third of the state of Illinois . The southern part of Illinois has a unique cultural and regional history . Part of downstate Illinois , the Southern Illinois region is bordered by the two most voluminous rivers in the United States : the Mississippi River and its connecting Missouri River to the west , and the Ohio River to the east and south with the Wabash as tributary . Southern Illinois ' most populated city is Belleville at 44,478 . Other principal cities include Alton , Centralia , Collinsville , Edwardsville , Effingham , O'Fallon , Harrisburg , Herrin , Mt . Vernon , Marion , and Carbondale , where the main campus of Southern Illinois University is located . Residents may also travel to amenities in St. Louis and Cape Girardeau , Missouri ; Memphis , and Nashville , Tennessee ; Evansville , Indiana ; and Paducah , Kentucky . The region is home to Scott Air Force Base , a major military installation . The area has a population of 1.2 million people , who live mostly in rural towns and cities separated by extensive farmland and the Shawnee National Forest . The two higher density areas of population are Metro-East ( pop . 700,000+ ) , which is the partly industrialized Illinois portion of the St. Louis Metropolitan Area , and the Carbondale-Marion-Herrin , Illinois Combined Statistical Area , centered on Carbondale and Marion , a two-county area that is home to 123,272 residents . The first European settlers were French colonists in the part of their North American empire called Illinois Country .
Stone box graves were a method of burial employed by Native Americans of the Mississippian culture in the American Midwest and Southeast . Their construction was especially common in the Cumberland River Basin around Nashville , Tennessee
Shiloh Indian Mounds Site ( 40HR7 ) is an archaeological site of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture ( a regional variation of the Mississippian culture ) . It is located beside the Tennessee River on the grounds of the Shiloh National Military Park , in Hardin County of southwestern Tennessee . A National Historic Landmark , it is one of the largest Woodland era sites in the southeastern United States .
Hardin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee . As of the 2010 census , the population was 26,026 . The county seat is Savannah . The county was founded in November 1819 and named posthumously for Col. Joseph Hardin , a Revolutionary War soldier and a legislative representative for the Province of North Carolina ; the State of Franklin ; and the Southwest Territory . Hardin County was the site of the Battle of Shiloh ( also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing ) during the Civil War .
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River . It is approximately 652 miles ( 1,049 km ) long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley . The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River , among other names , as many of the Cherokee had their territory along its banks , especially in eastern Tennessee and northern Alabama . Its current name is derived from the Cherokee village Tanasi .
A platform mound is any earthwork or mound intended to support a structure or activity .
Savannah is a city in and the county seat of Hardin County , Tennessee , United States . The population was 6,982 at the 2010 census . Savannah hosted the NAIA college football national championship game from 1996 to 2007 , and is home to several places of historical significance , including the Cherry Family Mansion .