 Artist's conception of the Winterville site | |
  Location in Mississippi today | |
| Location | Washington County, Mississippi,  USA |
|---|---|
| Region | Washington County, Mississippi |
| Coordinates | 33°29′9″N91°3′40″W / 33.48583°N 91.06111°W /33.48583; -91.06111 |
| History | |
| Abandoned | 1450 |
| Periods | Winterville Phase |
| Cultures | Plaquemine Mississippian culture |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1967 |
| Archaeologists | Jeffrey P. Brain |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural styles | platform mounds,plazas |
| Architectural details | Number of mounds: 23 |
Winterville site | |
| NRHP reference No. | 73001031 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | August 17, 1973[2] |
| Designated NHL | September 14, 1993[3] |
| Designated USMS | May 1, 1986[1] |
| Responsible body: State | |
TheWinterville site (22 WS 500) is a majorarchaeological site inunincorporatedWashington County, Mississippi, north ofGreenville and along the river. It consists of major earthwork monuments, including more than twelve largeplatform mounds and cleared and filledplazas. It is thetype site for theWinterville Phase (1200 to 1400) of the Lower Yazoo Basin region of thePlaquemine Mississippian culture. Protected as a state park, it has been designated as aNational Historic Landmark.
In June 2015 the state authorized $300,000 to restore the mounds to their pre-Columbian condition and add walking trails to the park.[4] The site also includes a museum.
Winterville Mounds, named for the nearby town ofWinterville, Mississippi, is the site of a prehistoric ceremonial center built byNative Americans of thePlaquemine culture, the regional variation of theMississippian culture. This civilization thrived from about 1000 to 1450CE. The earthworkmounds, an expression of the Winterville society's religious and political system, were the site of sacred structures and ceremonies. They were built between 1200 and 1250.[5]Archaeological evidence indicates that the Winterville people lived away from the mound center on family farms in scattered settlement districts throughout theYazoo-Mississippi River Delta basin. Only a few of the higher-ranking tribal officials lived at this mound complex.
The Winterville ceremonial center originally contained at least twenty-threeplatform mounds surrounding several large, filled and smoothedplazas.[6] Some of the mounds located outside current park boundaries were leveled by farming and highway construction before the site became protected as Winterville State Park.[5]
Twelve of the site's largest mounds, including the 55 feet (17 m) high Temple Mound, are the focus in the early 21st century of a long-range preservation plan being developed by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and theUniversity of Mississippi's Center for Archaeological Research. In June 2015 the state legislature authorized $300,000 for a project to restore the mounds to their pre-Columbian condition. Trees and brush will be removed. In addition, two walking trails will be added to the park.[4]
Archaeological evidence indicates that there are continuities in culture between the residents of the Winterville Mounds and the laterNatchez Indians, a Mississippi tribe documented by French explorers and settlers in the early 18th century. The Natchez Indians' society was divided into upper and lower ranks, with a person's social rank determined byheredity through the female line in their matrilineal kinship system. The chief and other tribal officials inherited their positions as members of the royal family. Such an elaborate leadership network was able to direct the mound building at Winterville by an organized civilian labor force. But, there is no evidence of a large residential population at this site or other similar sites. This lack of artifacts and remains indicates that this site was mostly used for ceremonial purposes.
A great fire during the late 14th century consumed the original building on the Temple Mound at Winterville. According to archaeological evidence, the cause of the fire remains a mystery. The site continued to be used afterward, but no more mounds were built or maintained. Although the site continued to be occupied after the fire, the general population declined at Winterville while increasing at settlements and mound sites 50 miles to the south, in the lower Yazoo River basin. By AD 1450 the Winterville Mound site appears to have been abandoned completely. The period of the site's greatest florescence was used by archaeologists as the basis for describing theWinterville Phase (1200 to 1400 CE) of the Lower Yazoo Basin region.
The first modern archaeological excavations at the Winterville site were conducted in the 1940s by theNational Park Service andHarvard University's Lower Mississippi Survey.Jeffrey P. Brain directed excavations at Winterville in 1967 and his report,Winterville: Late Prehistoric Culture Contact in the Lower Mississippi Valley, was published in 1989 by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Burials and structural remains were found at the site, along with items such as ceramic and stone artifacts; the latter can be seen at the Winterville Museum in the park.[5]
Winterville Mounds was dedicated as aMississippi state park in March 1969.[7] The site was designated as aNational Historic Landmark in 1993.[3] The mounds are listed on theMississippi Mound Trail.[8]
| Culture or cultural tradition | Phase | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Mississippian | Russell (Tunica) | 1650 CE to 1750 CE |
| Wasp Lake | 1500 to 1650 CE | |
| Lake George | 1400 to 1500 CE | |
| Plaquemine | Winterville | 1200 to 1400 CE |
| Coles Creek | Crippen Point | 1050 CE to 1200 CE |
| Kings Crossing | 950 CE to 1050 CE | |
| Aden | 800 CE to 950 CE | |
| Baytown | Bayland | 600 to 800 CE |
| Deasonville | 400 CE to 600 CE ? | |
| Marksville | Issaquena /Paxton | 200 to 400 CE? |
| Anderson Landing | 0 CE to 200 CE? | |
| Tchefuncte | Tuscola | 400 to 0 CE ? |
| Poverty Point | McGary | 900 BCE to 400 BCE ? |
| Jaketown | 2000 BCE to 900 BCE ? |
Brain, Jeffrey P. (1989).Winterville-Late Prehistoric Culture Contact In the Lower Mississippi Valley. Mississippi Department of Archives and History. p. 93.ISBN 0-938896-58-X.
The Winterville people made pottery by building up strips of clay, and then smoothing them out, much like otherpottery in the Eastern American area where thepotter's wheel was unknown. They tempered the pottery with groundmussel shell, grit,grog, and angular bits of clay. Surface treatment ranged from carelessly polished to very finely polished. Forms for the pottery range from shallow plate like bowls to beakers and jars, with some pieces having animal effigies for handles. Surface decorations range from plain to incisedS.E.C.C. designs.
Most pottery found at the Winterville site are of the kinds known as Addis Plainvar. Addis, Addis Plainvar. Greenville and Addis Plainvar. Holly Bluff. Some of theMississippian culture pottery found at the Winterville site is believed to have been imported from other Mississippian societies (possibly fromCahokia or Cahokian-influenced peoples). Examples of these are pieces of pottery from theNodena Red and Whitevar. Dumond andWalls Engravedvar. Walls. These examples have distinctive red and white slips, thinner walls, and more finely finished surfaces than locally produced wares and may have been valued for their exotic qualities and fine workmanship.[9]
| Middle Mississippian |
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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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| Culture |
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| Baytown sites |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Troyville sites | ||
