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Amound is aheaped pile ofearth,gravel,sand,rocks, ordebris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such ashills andmountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area oftopographically higherelevation on any surface. Artificial mounds have been created for a variety of reasons throughout history, including habitation (seeTell andTerp), ceremonial (platform mound), burial (tumulus), and commemorative purposes (e.g.Kościuszko Mound).
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In thearchaeology of theUnited States andCanada, a mound is a deliberately constructed elevated earthen structure orearthwork, intended for a range of potential uses. In European and Asian archaeology, the word "tumulus" may be used as a synonym for an artificial hill, particularly if the hill is related to particularburial customs.
While the term "mound" may be applied to historic constructions, most mounds in the United States are pre-Columbian earthworks, built byNative American peoples.[citation needed] Native Americans built a variety of mounds, includingflat-topped pyramids or cones known as platform mounds, rounded cones, and ridge or loaf-shaped mounds. Some mounds took on unusual shapes, such as the outline of cosmologically significant animals. These are known aseffigy mounds.[1] Some mounds, such as a few inWisconsin, have rock formations, orpetroforms, within them, on them, or near them.
While these mounds are perhaps not as famous asburial mounds, like their European analogs, Native American mounds also have a variety of other uses. While some prehistoric cultures, like theAdena culture, used mounds preferentially for burial,[2] others used mounds for other ritual and sacred acts, as well as for secular functions. The platform mounds of theMississippian culture, for example, may have supportedtemples, the houses ofchiefs,council houses, and may have also acted as a platform for public speaking. Other mounds would have been part of defensive walls to protect a certain area. TheHopewell culture used mounds as markers of complex astronomical alignments related to ceremonies.
Mounds and related earthworks are the only significantmonumental construction in pre-Columbian Eastern and Central North America. peoples.[citation needed]
Mounds are given different names depending on which culture they strive from. They can be located all across the world in spots such as Asia, Europe and the Americas. "Mound builders" have more commonly been associated with the mounds in the Americas. They all have different meanings and sometimes are constructed as animals and can be clearly seen from aerial views.
Kankali Tila is a famous mound located atMathura in the Indian state ofUttar Pradesh. AJainstupa was excavated here in 1890-91 by Dr. Fuhrer.[3]
In theMithila region of theIndian subcontinent, mound is referred asdih. Thedihas are generally archaeological sites related to ruins of royal palaces, ancient educational institutions and residences of the founders of the villages in the region, etc.[1]
Seasonal flooding into theBulozi Plain meant that theLozi people in Zambia built their settlements ontermite mounds (mazulu) and artificial mounds (liuba).[4]: 1
Mound, as a technical term in archaeology, is not generally in favor in the rest of the world.[citation needed] More specific local terminology is preferred, and each of these terms has its own article (see below).
The dictionary definition ofmound at Wiktionary