Etowah Mounds | |
 Artist's conception of Etowah | |
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| Nearest city | Cartersville, GA |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 34°7′30.47″N84°48′27.59″W / 34.1251306°N 84.8076639°W /34.1251306; -84.8076639 |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000272 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966[1] |
| Designated NHL | July 19, 1964[2] |
Etowah Indian Mounds (9BR1) are a 54-acre (220,000 m2)archaeological site inBartow County, Georgia, south ofCartersville. Built and occupied in three phases, from 1000–1550CE, the prehistoric site is located on the north shore of theEtowah River.
Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site is a designatedNational Historic Landmark, managed by theGeorgia Department of Natural Resources. It is considered "the most intactMississippian culture site in the Southeast", according to Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites.[3] Both the historic Muscogee Creek and the Cherokee peoples, who each occupied this area at varying times, hold the site to be sacred.
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| Mound Builders |
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| Culture |
| Polities |
| Archaeology |
| Religion |
This site was professionally excavated beginning in the early 20th century. Additional studies have been undertaken as more evidence and knowledge has accumulated about the succession of cultures in this area, aided by modern technology such as radio carbon dating and magnetometers.
Late 20th-century studies showed the mounds were built and occupied by prehistoricindigenous peoples of theSouth Appalachian Mississippian culture (a regional variation of theMississippian culture)[4] of eastern North America. They were ancestors of the historicMuskogean language-speakingMuscogee Creek people who later emerged in this area.[5]
Etowah is a Muskogee word derived fromitalwa, meaning "town". From 1000–1550 CE, during the Mississippian culture era, Etowah was occupied by a series of cycling chiefdoms (seeCoosa confederacy) over the course of five and a half centuries.[6] The Hernando de Soto expedition encountered a settlement called Itaba between Coosa and Ulibahali, which was likely Etowah.[7] The historic Muscogee Creek formed in this region and occupied this area. They were later pushed out by the Cherokee, who migrated from eastern Georgia and Tennessee to evade European-American pressure.
In the 19th century, European-American settlers mistakenly believed that the mounds had been built by the historicCherokee, who occupied the region at the time. But many researchers now believe that because theIroquoian-speaking tribe did not reach this part of Georgia until the late 18th century, they could not have built the mounds. The earthworks have been dated to much earlier periods.[8]
In the 21st century, the federally recognizedMuscogee (Creek) Nation, now based in Oklahoma, and thePoarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama both considerItalwa to be their most important ancestral town. The Cherokee also revere it.
Tykeon Wilkes used changes in ceramic styles across multiple sites in the Etowah River Valley to determine timelines for the region. The ceramics found at Etowah and other regional sites have been reconstructed and allow Etowah to be placed into the following sequences.[9] The town was occupied in three distinctarchaeological phases:c. 1000–1200 CE,c. 1250–1375 CE, andc. 1375–1550 CE. It was at its peak fromc. 1325–1375 CE.[10]
| Period | Regional periods | Dates | Etowah Site Phases | Ceramic markers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early Mississippian | Etowah Phase | 1000–1100 CE | Early Etowah | ladder base diamond predominant motif, shelltempering more common |
| 1100–1200 CE | Late Etowah | 2-bar diamond motif more prevalent, grit tempering more common, filfot cross, Etowah Incised andHiwassee Island red on buff first appear | ||
| Middle Mississippian | Savannah Phase | 1200–1250 CE | Unoccupied | no inhabited sites along Etowah river valley |
| 1250–1325 CE | Early Wilbanks | coarse grit temper commonest, pottery thicker, bolder and with sloppier, complicated, stamped designs | ||
| 1325–1375 CE | Late Wilbanks | thinner pottery, more finely done stamping, minority vessel forms and designs appear, Rudder Comb Incised, Dallas Incised, Pisgah-like and Lake Jackson decorated | ||
| Late Mississippian | Lamar phase | 1375–1425 CE | Stamp Creek | lack of Lamar Incised, rim modifications appear, |
| 1425–1475 CE | Mayes(provisional) | wider rims than previous phase, boldly executed 3-line incised designs | ||
| 1475–1550 CE | Brewster | narrower incised lines, stamping sloppy with most motifs no longer distinguishable, rectilinear designs common, Brewster and Barnett are temporally equivalent and are more of a geographic distinction in the valley | ||
| 1500–1625 CE | Barnett | higher percentage of shell tempering than Brewster with types such as Dallas Plain, Dallas Incised and Dallas Filleted |
Etowah has three mainplatform mounds and three lesser mounds. The Temple Mound, Mound A, is 63 feet (19 m) high, taller than a six-story building, and covers 3 acres (12,000 m2) at its base. In 2005–2008 ground mapping with magnetometers revealed new information and data, showing that the site was much more complex than had previously been believed.[10]
The study team has identified a total of 140 buildings on the site. In addition, Mound A was found to have had four major structures and a courtyard during the height of the community's power.[10] Mound B is 25 feet (7.6 m) high; Mound C, which rises 10 feet (3.0 m), is the only one to have been completely excavated.Magnetometers enabled archaeologists to determine the location of temples of log and thatch, which were originally built on the summits of the mounds. Adjacent to the mounds is a raised, level, ceremonial plaza, which was constructed to be used for ceremonies,stickball andchunkey games, and as a bazaar for trade goods.
When visiting the Etowah Mounds, guests can view the "borrow pits" (which archaeologists at one time thought were moats), where workers dug earth to construct the three large mounds in the center of the park.
Olderpottery found on the site suggest that there was an earlier village (c. 200 BCE–600 CE) associated with theSwift Creek culture. This earlier MiddleWoodland period occupation at Etowah may have been related to the major Swift Creek center ofLeake Mounds, approximately two miles downstream (west) of Etowah.
Many archaeologists believe that Etowah battled for hegemony over theAlabama River basin withMoundville, another Mississippian polity in present-dayAlabama. Etowah was protected by a semicircularfortification system. An outer band formed by nut tree orchards prevented enemy armies from shooting masses of flaming arrows into the town. A 9 feet (2.7 m) to 10 feet (3.0 m)-deepmoat blocked direct contact by the enemy with thepalisaded walls. It also functioned as adrainage system during major floods, common for centuries, from this period and into the 20th century. Workers formed the palisade by setting upright 12 feet (3.7 m) high logs into a ditch approximately 12 inches (300 mm) on center. They back-filled around the timbers to form a levee. Guard towers for archers were spaced approximately 80 feet (24 m) apart.
Theartifacts discovered in burials within the Etowah site indicate that its residents developed an artistically and technically advanced culture. Numerous copper tools,weapons andornamental copper plates accompanied the burials of members of Etowah's elite class. Where proximity to copper protected textile fibers from degeneration, archaeologists also found brightly colored cloth with ornate patterns. These were the remnants of the clothing of socialelites.
Numerous clay figurines and tenMississippian stone statues have been found through the years in the vicinity of Etowah. Many are paired statues, which portray a man sitting cross-legged and a woman kneeling. The female figures wear wrap-around skirts and males are usually portrayed without visible clothing, although both usually have elaborate hairstyles. The pair are thought to represent lineage ancestors. Individual statues of young women also show them kneeling, but with additional characteristics such as visible sex organs, which are not visible on the paired statues. This female figure is thought to represent afertility or Earth Mother goddess.[12] Thebirdman, hand in eye,solar cross, and other symbols associated with theSoutheastern Ceremonial Complex appear in many artifacts found at Etowah.
TheEtowah River is a tributary of theCoosa andAlabama rivers, and forms the border between the southern edge of theRidge and Valley Appalachians and thePiedmont Plateau. Trade and tribute broughtwhelk shells from theGulf of Mexico; copper,mica andflint from theCumberland Plateau; and "galena,graphite, and an array ofochers to provide pigment for painting buildings, bodies, and works of art;greenstone andmarble to furnish raw material for tools, weapons and ritual objects" from thePiedmont.[13] Theloamy riverbed soil could be easily tilled with digging sticks and stone and shell hoes. Its fertility was annually renewed by the river's floods. Free of frost most of the year, the land yielded rich harvests of corn, beans, and squash, traditional crops of the indigenous peoples.
Chestnut,walnut,hickory, andpersimmon trees that grew in upland forests provided nuts and fruit for both the people of Etowah and thewhite-tailed deer,wild turkey, and smaller game they hunted. Other plants that were gathered includestinging nettle andpaper mulberry. Anative holly was gathered whose leaves and stems were brewed into theBlack drink imbibed in ritual purification ceremonies.River cane grew in dense thickets and was made into arrow shafts, thatching for roofs, and splits for weaving baskets, benches, and mats for walls and floors.
River shoals abounded infreshwater mussels and turtles. The Mississippians built v-shaped rockweirs to pen and channelcatfish,drum andgar, which they caught inrivercane baskets.[14] Researchers have found remains of more than 100 rock weirs along the Etowah River. One has been restored within the grounds of the historic site.[15]
Archaeological research on the subject is not conclusive, but the Etowah site may be the same as a village of a similar name visited by SpanishconquistadorHernando de Soto in 1540. The chroniclers of the de Soto Expedition made no mention of any large mounds in their record of visiting a town namedItaba, though historian Dr. Marvin T. Smith suggests that the mounds which were likely overgrown and unmaintained by the time of the expedition may simply not have attracted the attention of Spanish explorers.[7]Itaba means "boundary" or trail crossing in theAlabama language. The English name for the mounds,Etowah, was derived from an archaic Muscogee place name,Italwa.Italwa probably originally referred to thesolar cross symbol. In the modern Muskogee language it means "town."[16]
Until studies of the late 20th century were published, most European-American people in Georgia believed Etowah to have been built by the well-known historicCherokee. But, the Cherokee did not arrive in this part of Georgia until the late 18th century, two to seven centuries after the mounds were constructed.[8] Most scholars believe that the mound complex was likely built by people of theSouth Appalachian Mississippian culture. They are considered ancestral to the historicMuscogee, long known as the Creek people.[8] Most of the peoples of the Creek Confederacy were removed toIndian Territory in the 1830s.
Since that time, the Creek descendants have formed two federally recognized tribes: the largest is theMuscogee (Creek) Nation inOklahoma; thePoarch Band of Creek Indians inAlabama is the only federally recognized tribe in the state. Both considerItalwa, or Etowah, to be their most important ancestral town. The official title of the Creek Nation's Principal Chief isItalwa Mikko (the Muskogee word for chief ismiko). A new, large-scale model of Italwa is on permanent display in the rotunda of the Muskogee (Creek) Capitol inOkmulgee, Oklahoma.
MissionaryElias Cornelius visited the site in 1817 and described it in his journal published byBela Bates Edwards in 1833. He realized a mound must have been over two hundred years old, due to the size of trees growing on it, but had little idea of its real history.[18]Cyrus Thomas andJohn P. Rogan tested the site in 1883 for theSmithsonian Institution, which was conducting a survey of recognized mound sites.
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 ofMississippian culture burial goods. These artifacts, along with the collections fromCahokia,Moundville site,Lake Jackson Mounds, andSpiro Mounds, would comprise the majority of the materials which archaeologists used to define theSoutheastern Ceremonial Complex (SECC). The professional excavation of this enormous burial mound contributed major research impetus to the study of Mississippian artifacts and peoples. It greatly increased the understanding of pre-ContactNative American artwork.
Arthur R. Kelly, founding chairman of the Department of Anthropology at theUniversity of Georgia, also conducted professional excavations and studies at Etowah Mounds, prior to planned flood control projects in the area. In 1947, the government built theAllatoona Dam upstream for flood control. The Etowah site was designated as aNational Historic Landmark in 1964.
The Etowah Indian Mounds museum displays artifacts found at the site, includingMississippian culture pottery, monolithic stone axes,Mississippian stone statuary, copper jewelry,shell gorgets, and other artifacts.
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| 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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