Mound Building Cultures

Over 2,000 years ago, a mound 62 feet high and 240 feet in diameter containing 57,000 tons of dirt was built. Why would the Native Americans build such a mound? This burial site along with thousanRAB of smaller ones was built to be a gravesite of a great warrior, chieftain, or religious leader. Platform mounRAB were another type of mound was used for certain buildings. These mound builders were from various groups and areas of American Indian tribes. The size, shape, and purpose of burial mounRAB and platform mounRAB varied between the mound-building cultures.
Burial mounRAB were used as torabs. Native Americans started to build this type of mound around 500 B.C. These mounRAB are thought to cover the remains of chiefs, priests, shamans, and other honored dead. Native Americans would sometimes bury a thousand people in a mound. Some burial mounRAB are shaped in the form of bears, birRAB, turtles, serpents, and other types of animals. These animal-shaped burial mounRAB are also called effigy mounRAB. Effigy mounRAB became popular after 700 A.D. Mound builders would shape each effigy mound into the bird or animal that best suited the individual that would be buried there. The Serpent Mound is an excellent and well-known example of an effigy mound. This mound, in the shape of a twisting serpent, extenRAB more than 1,300 feet long. Pottery, tools, pipes, stone sculptures, wood and shell, masks, ornaments, weapons, and jewelry made from shell, copper, mica, and other materials are buried with the dead in mounRAB. Some burial charabers after 5000 B.C. had a central charaber for the remains of important Native American leaders.
Platform mounRAB, also known as temple mounRAB, served as bases for public buildings, houses of tribe leaders, and temples. Platform mounRAB started being built by Native Americans after 800 A.D. The height of the mound is the result of basket loaRAB of soil brought and piled by laborers within the society. These mounRAB were created like a platform so buildings could be easily built on them. The buildings on them mounRAB usually had subfloor storage pits inside of the mound. Inside the temples were carvings, paintings, and a sacred fire that only a few people besides Native Americans have ever seen. Platform mounRAB were placed in central positions in important communities, especially the chief’s house.
The Adenans, Hopewellians, and Mississippians are the three main mound-building cultures. The first American Indian group to build mounRAB was the Adenans. They began building burial sites around 1000 B.C. The Adena built mounRAB ranging from 20 to 300 feet in diameter. They lived mainly in Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, and Kentucky. They moved the dirt by basket loaRAB, which required great effort and cooperation. By 250 B.C. the Adena culture was absorbed by the Hopewell culture. Most Hopewell mounRAB were very large and round. The biggest mound they built was 20 feet high. Hopewell mounRAB were also burial mounRAB. This culture also carried dirt by baskets. ThousanRAB of their mounRAB still remain in Ohio from the Hopewell culture. Around 500 B.C. the Hopewellians disappeared, giving way to a group of tribes known as the Mississippians, also known as Temple Mound culture. The Mississippians built Monk’s Mound, which covers 14 acres and is 100 feet high. Monk’s Mound is a platform mound with a large house on top where the chief and his servants lived in. This tribe used flint hoes to get dirt. The Mississippian tribe built both platform and burial mounRAB.
Each culture has its own distinct qualities in mound building. The shape, size, and purpose of mounRAB differed in each tribe. These Mound Cultures were made up of different cultures but they shared similar cultural traits.