 Mississippian sites on the Lower Ohio River | |
  Location within Kentucky today | |
| Location | Tolu, Crittenden County, Kentucky, United States |
|---|---|
| Region | Pennyroyal Plateau |
| Coordinates | 37°26′14″N88°15′6″W / 37.43722°N 88.25167°W /37.43722; -88.25167 |
| History | |
| Founded | 1200 CE |
| Cultures | Mississippian culture |
| Site notes | |
| Archaeologists | W.S. Webb,William D. Funkhouser |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural styles | Platform mounds |
| Responsible body: private | |
TheTolu Site (15 CN 1) is aprehistoricarcheological site of theMississippian culture near the unincorporated community ofTolu,Crittenden County, Kentucky,United States. It was built and occupied between 1200 and 1450CE. Nocarbon dating has been performed at the site, but analysis of pottery styles suggest its major habitation period was 1200 to 1300 CE.[1] The site originally had three mounds, aburial mound, a substructureplatform mound and one other of undetermined function. It was excavated in 1930 byW.S. Webb andWilliam D. Funkhouser.[1]
Tolu Site is part of theAngel phase of the Mississippian period. Because of similarities among the following sites in theirstyles of pottery and construction of communities, it is also considered part of the "Kincaid Set", together withAngel Mounds inIndiana andKincaid Mounds inIllinois, andWickliffe Mounds in far western Kentucky.
In May 1954 a stone statue carved from greyish whitefluorite was found by a local farmer while plowing a field a few miles west of Tolu. It is considered to be one of the most detailed examples ofMississippian stone statuary ever found. The statue is the only example of this type ofNative American artwork to have a representation of a beaded forelock, a hairstyle very prominent in other Mississippian artwork, most notably engraved mussel shells.[1]
| 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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