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This is a list of notableburial mounds in theUnited States built byNative Americans.Burial mounds were built by many different cultural groups over a span of many thousands of years, beginning in theLate Archaic period and continuing through theWoodland period up to the time of European contact.
| Mound | Location | Date | Culture | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bynum Mound and Village Site | Chickasaw County, Mississippi | 100 BCE to 100 CE | Miller culture (part of the Hopewell tradition) | AMiddle Woodland periodarchaeological site located nearHouston, Mississippi. The complex of six conical shaped mounds was in use during the Miller 1 and Miller 2 phases of theMiller culture.[1][2] and was built between 100 BCE and 100 CE. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989 as part of theNatchez Trace Parkway at milepost 232.4. |
| Carl Potter Mound | Champaign County, Ohio | ? | ? | Also known as the "Hodge Mound II", it is located in southernChampaign County,Ohio, nearMechanicsburg,[3] it lies on a small ridge in apasture field in southeasternUnion Township. |
| Conus | Marietta Earthworks,Marietta, Ohio | 100 BCE to 500 CE | Adena culture | The conical Great Mound at Mound Cemetery is part of a mound complex known as theMarietta Earthworks, which includes the nearbyQuadranaou andCapitoliumplatform mounds, theSacra Via walled mounds (largely destroyed in 1882), and threeenclosures.[4] |
| Criel Mound | South Charleston, West Virginia | 250 to 150 BCE | Adena culture | Located in South Charleston,West Virginia, the mound lies equidistant between two "sacred circles",earthwork enclosures each 556 feet (169 m) in diameter. It was originally 33 feet (10 m) high and 173 feet (53 m) in diameter at the base, making it the second-largest such burial mound in the state. |
| Crooks Mound | La Salle Parish, Louisiana | 100 BCE to 400 CE | EarlyMarksville culture | A largeMarksville culture mound site inLa Salle Parish in south centralLouisiana. It is a large conical mound that was part of at least six episodes of burials. It measured about 16 ft high (4.9 m) and 85 ft wide (26 m). It contained roughly 1,150 remains that were placed however they were able to be fit into the structure of the mound. Sometimes body parts were removed in order to achieve that goal. Archaeologists think it was a holding house for the area that was emptied periodically in order to achieve this type of setup.[5] |
| Dunns Pond Mound | Logan County, Ohio | ca. 300 to 500 CE | Ohio Hopewell culture | Located in northwestern Ohio nearHuntsville,[3] it lies along the southeastern corner ofIndian Lake inWashington Township. In 1974, the mound was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places as a potentialarcheological site, with much of its significance deriving from its use as a burial site for as much as nine centuries. |
| Everett Knoll Complex | Summit County, Ohio | 200 to 500 CE | Ohio Hopewell Culture | Located in Northeast Ohio withinCuyahoga Valley National Park. Several artifacts were found within a small mound with an unusual limestone crypt. Signs of habitation were discovered nearby.[6] |
| Grave Creek Mound | Moundsville, West Virginia | 250 to 150 BCE | Adena culture | At 69 feet (21 m) high and 295 feet (90 m) in diameter, the Grave Creek Mound is the largest conical type burial mound in the United States. In 1838, much of the archaeological evidence in this mound was destroyed when several non-archaeologists tunneled into the mound. To gain entrance to the mound, two shafts, one vertical and one horizontal, were created. This led to the most significant discovery of two burial vaults. |
| Grand Gulf Mound | Claiborne County, Mississippi | 50 to 150 CE | Marksville culture | An EarlyMarksville culture site located nearPort Gibson inClaiborne County, Mississippi, on a bluff 1 mile (1.6 km) east of theMississippi River, 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the mouth of theBig Black River.[7] The site has an extantburial mound, and may have possibly had two others in the past. The site is believed to have been occupied from 50 to 200 CE. |
| Indian Mounds Regional Park | Saint Paul, Minnesota | 1 to 500 CE | Hopewell andDakota cultures | Originally up to 37 mounds constructed, 6 still in existence |
| Miamisburg Mound | Miamisburg, Ohio | 800 BCE to 100 CE | Adena culture | The largest conical mound in the state of Ohio, constructed by the Adena culture on a 100-foot-high bluff, the mound measures 877 feet (267 m) in circumference and its height is 65 feet (20 m). |
| Mound City | Chillicothe, Ohio | 200 BCE to 500 CE | Ohio Hopewell culture | Located on Ohio Highway 104 approximately four miles north of Chillicothe along theScioto River, it is a group of 23 earthen mounds. Each mound within the Mound City Group covered the remains of acharnel house. After the Hopewell peoplecremated the dead, they burned the charnel house. They constructed a mound over the remains. They also placed artifacts, such ascopper figures,mica, arrowheads, shells and pipes in the mounds. |
| Mount Vernon Site | Posey County, Indiana | 1 to 300 CE | Crab Orchard Culture | One of the largest knownHopewell mounds. Large quantities of artifacts, including intact cloth and leather ornaments, were found within it. Damaged and looted during discovery in 1988.[8] |
| Pinson Mounds Mounds 6, 12, and 31 | Madison County, Tennessee | 100 to 300 CE | Miller culture | A mound complex which includes mounds, a geometric enclosure and numerous habitation areas, it is the largest group ofMiddle Woodland mounds in the United States. The complex covers approximately 400 acres (1.6 km2) and contains at least 30 mounds, 17 of which have been identified as being completely or partially constructed by prehistoric peoples. It includes at least 3 burial mounds, and a number of ceremonialplatform mounds. |
| Reservoir Stone Mound | Licking County, Ohio | 85 to 135 CE | ProbablyAdena culture | Also known as the Jacksontown Stone Mound, the central, stone-covered structure was largely destroyed by the removal of stones to construct theLicking Reservoir and by a 19th-century treasure-hunter. Around the edge of the large stone mound were a number of earthen mounds, some of which contained burials.[9] |
| Mound | Location | Date | Culture | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cahokia Mound 72 | Mound 72,Cahokia Collinsville, Illinois | 650 to 1400 CE | MiddleMississippian culture | A ridge-top burial mound south ofMonk'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.[10] |
| Castalian Springs Mound 2 | Castalian Springs Mound Site inSumner County, Tennessee | 1100 to 1450 CE | MiddleMississippian culture | Located on the eastern edge of a plaza, a 120 feet (37 m) in diameter 8 feet (2.4 m) tall mound was found to contain over a hundred burials when excavated byWilliam E. Myer in the early 1890s.[11] |
| 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 asbasketry, woven fabric, lace, fur, and feathers were preserved inside it. Craig Mound has been called "an AmericanKing 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.[12] The site was the southwesternmost ceremonial mound center of all the mound building cultures of North America.[12] |
| Etowah Mound C | Etowah Indian Mounds,Cartersville, Georgia | 1000-1550 CE | South Appalachian Mississippian | Cyrus Thomas andJohn P. Rogan tested the site for theSmithsonian 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 byWarren K. Moorehead. His excavations into Mound C at the site revealed a rich array of burial goods. These artifacts, along with the collections fromCahokia,Moundville,Lake Jackson, and Spiro Mounds, would comprise the majority of the materials which archeologists used to define theSoutheastern 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 theNatchez 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 byClarence Bloomfield Moore and then in 1939 byClarence H. Webb. Between the two 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.[13] Grave goods found included flaked flint knives known asGahagan blades, a matched pair oflong-nosed god maskette earrings of copper,[14] Missouriflint claystatues,[15]greenstonecelts and spuds, and caches of beads and arrow heads. Many of the grave goods were exotic imports from distant places from across the continent.[16] |
| High Cliff State Park Effigy Mounds | Calumet County, Wisconsin | 1000 to 1500 CE | Dakota cultures | Effigy mounds built by nomadic woodland tribes somewhere between 1000 CE and 1500 CE. These dates have been determined by carbon dating charcoal remnants from the fires of the effigy mound builders. The woodland tribes that built these mounds are thought to be Siouan origin which was later replaced by Dakota, Winnebago, Menominee, Salk, Fox and other tribes. Out of the original 30 effigy mounds in High Cliff, only nine remain.[17] |
| Mangum Mound | Mangum Mound Site,Claiborne County,Mississippi | 1350 to 1500 CE | Plaquemine Mississippian culture | Located at milepost 45.7 on theNatchez Trace Parkway.[18] Variouspottery fragments belonging to thePlaquemine culture,chunkey stones and severalMississippian copper plates, one with an avian design similar to other plates found at Etowah in Georgia and Lake Jackson mounds in Florida. These portray theBirdman motif important to theSoutheastern Ceremonial Complex (S.E.C.C.).[19] |
| Nacoochee Mound | Nacoochee Mound,White County,Georgia | 1350–1600 CE | South Appalachian Mississippian culture | Nacoochee Mound, on the banks of theChattahoochee River inWhite County, in the northeast part of theU.S. state ofGeorgia. Today GeorgiaGeorgia State Route 17 andGeorgia State Route 75 intersect near here. First occupied as early as 100–500 CE, the site was later developed and occupied more intensively from 1350 to 1600 CE by peoples of theSouth Appalachian Mississippian culture (a regional variation of theMississippian culture).[20] One of their characteristicplatform 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. Numerous graves of males, 314 of 316 total, were found buried under it. |
| Pocahontas Mounds | Pocahontas Mounds,Pocahontas | Coles Creek and Plaquemine Mississippian cultures | ||
| Pope County Mound 2 | Kincaid site,Pope County, Illinois | 1050–1400 CE | Middle Mississippian culture | Adjacent to theOhio River, the site straddles the modern-day counties ofMassac andPope in deep southern Illinois, an area colloquially known asLittle Egypt. On the eastern edge of the site is a low circular mound which was used as a burial mound. All other mounds at the site were substructure platform mounds. The mound contained a number ofstone box graves and log-lined tombs similar to those frequently found to the south in the Middle Cumberland Valley of Tennessee.[21] |
| Shiloh Mound C | Shiloh Indian Mounds,Hardin County, Tennessee | 1000–1450 CE | Middle Mississippian culture | Adjacent to theTennessee River, the site has 6 or 7 substructureplatform mounds and one burial mound, Mound C. This mound was excavated in 1899 byCornelius Cadle, chairman of the Shiloh Park Commission. Among the discoveries was a largestone effigy pipe in the shape of a kneeling man. It has since become the site's most famous artifact and is on display in theTennessee River Museum inSavannah. The pipe is from a distinctive red stone in the same style as several statuettes from the majorCahokia site in Collinsville, Illinois.[22] |
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| South Appalachian Mississippian |
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| Fort Walton culture | |||||||||||
| Pensacola culture | |||||||||||
| Plaquemine Mississippian | |||||||||||
| Caddoan Mississippian | |||||||||||
| Upper Mississippian cultures |
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