 Layout of the mounds at the Mott Site | |
  Location within Louisiana today | |
| Location | Lamar, Louisiana, Franklin Parish, Louisiana,  USA |
|---|---|
| Region | Franklin Parish, Louisiana |
| Coordinates | 32°18′33.19″N91°30′20.30″W / 32.3092194°N 91.5056389°W /32.3092194; -91.5056389 |
| History | |
| Cultures | Marksville,Troyville,Coles Creek,Plaquemine |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1900, 1913, 2005 |
| Archaeologists | George Beyer,Clarence Bloomfield Moore,Stephen Williams,Timothy Schilling,Tristram R. Kidder |
| Responsible body: private | |
TheMott Archaeological Preserve orMott Mounds Site (16 FR 11) is anarchaeological site inFranklin Parish, Louisiana on the west bank ofBayou Macon. It originally had elevenmounds with components from theMarksville,Troyville,Coles Creek, andPlaquemine periods. It was at one time one of the largest mound centers in the Southeast and has one of the largest mounds in Louisiana with a base which cover more than two acres. It was purchased bythe Archaeological Conservancy in 2002.[1][2] and is now used for research and educational purposes.[2]
The site formerly had as many as fourteen mounds, depending on the criteria used to describe a mound. Except for one small outlier to the south all are surrounding an exceptionally large centralplaza that is aligned on an east-west axis. The large plaza measures close to 280 metres (920 ft) east to west and 175 metres (574 ft) north to south. These measurements are about three quarters the size of the Grand Plaza atCahokia, which is the largestMississippian culture plaza known. Other large sites from the region during the same time period (such as theRaffman,Winterville, orHolly Bluff) could easily fit their entire sites into the confines of Motts plaza. On the western edge of the plaza is Mound A, the largest at the site and one of the largest in the state and possibly the largest in theTensas Basin region during the time period it was constructed. It is aplatform mound about 90 metres (300 ft) by 100 metres (330 ft) at its base, 45 metres (148 ft) by 60 metres (200 ft) at its summit and over 8 metres (26 ft) in height. This produces a footprint that covers an area of over two acres. The eastern and southern borders of the plaza are bounded by two other large platform mounds, Mounds F and I respectively. The northern edge of the plaza has four small dome shaped mounds, aligned along a meander scar ofBayou Macon. 700 metres (2,300 ft) south of the mound group is a large village site thought to be contemporaneous with the mounds.[3]
A number of archaeologists have undertaken excavations and investigations at the site. The earliest wereGeorge Beyer in 1900 andClarence Bloomfield Moore in 1913. In the mid 1960s researchers from the Lower Mississippi Survey ofHarvard University led byStephen Williams sampled the site and fixed it into the local chronology. They found markers from theMarksville,Coles Creek, andPlaquemine cultures, but with the most intensive habitation being during the Coles Creek period. Site surveys were also conducted in 1976 and in 1992, all of which confirmed this chronological placement. The site was purchased in two acquisitions in 2002 by the Archaeological Conservancy to preserve and protect the site which had been threatened by looting, land leveling, and timber harvesting.[1][2] It is now known as the Mott Archaeological Preserve and is over 200 acres, making it one of the Conservancy’s largest acquisitions in the Southeastern United States to date.[2] In 2005 Mott Project was begun by Timothy Schilling ofWashington University in St. Louis and Tristram R. Kidder ofTulane University.[3]
| Baytown sites |  | |
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| Troyville sites | ||
| 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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