What was the purpose of the mounds in the Etowah settlement?

Towering over the community, the 63-foot earthen knoll was likely used as a platform for the home of the priest-chief. In another mound, nobility were buried in elaborate costumes accompanied by items they would need in their after-lives.

Who built the Etowah Indian Mounds?

Mississippian culture
Most scholars believe that the mound complex was likely built by the Mississippian culture, a people who are considered ancestral to the Muscogee, long known as the Creek people. Most of the peoples of the Creek Confederacy were removed to Indian Territory in the 1830s.

When did the Mississippian civilization live at the Etowah Indian Mounds?

Although pottery suggests the first settlement here between 200 BC to 600 AD belonging by the Swift Creek culture, the Etowah Indian Mounds complex was constructed and inhabited later, from around 1000 AD to 1550 AD by Native Americans of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture.

How do you identify an Indian burial mound?

It seems that some Indians buried their dead in mounds. The bodies were placed one on top of another with only a few feet of dirt between. Whole hills can be found containing the bodies of these Indians. If you see a perfectly shaped, mounded hill, it’s a good chance you’re looking at an Indian burial mound.

What large mound sits outside of Atlanta?

Etowah Indian Mounds
Etowah Indian Mounds (9BR1) are a 54-acre (220,000 m2) archaeological site in Bartow County, Georgia south of Cartersville, in the United States….Etowah Indian Mounds.

What is the oldest known temple complex in Georgia?

The megaliths predate Stonehenge by some 6,000 years. The place is called Gobekli Tepe, and Schmidt, a German archaeologist who has been working here more than a decade, is convinced it’s the site of the world’s oldest temple.

What are the mounds in Georgia?

The Kolomoki Mounds is one of the largest and earliest Woodland period earthwork mound complexes in the Southeastern United States and is the largest in Georgia. Constructed from 350CE to 600CE, the mound complex is located in southwest Georgia, in present-day Early County near the Chattahoochee River.

How do I know if I have Indian burial grounds?

Where in Georgia have Paleo Artifacts been found?

In Georgia, Paleoindian sites have been found on levees, terraces, upland boundaries, and in the uplands; these sites are typically small, low density camp sites, but some sites were intensively occupied for longer periods and/or were repeatedly occupied by visiting groups.

Why was Göbekli Tepe buried?

Schmidt considered Göbekli Tepe a central location for a cult of the dead and that the carved animals are there to protect the dead. Though no tombs or graves have yet been found, Schmidt believed that graves remain to be discovered in niches located behind the walls of the sacred circles.

What did the Mississippians believe in?

Mississippian people shared similar beliefs in cosmic harmony, divine aid and power, the ongoing cycle of life and death, and spiritual powers with neighboring cultures throughout much of eastern North America.

What language did the Mississippians speak?

The Caddoan people were speakers of one of the many Caddoan languages. The Caddoan languages once had a broad geographic distribution, but many are now extinct. The modern languages in the Caddoan family include Caddo and Pawnee, now spoken mainly by elderly people.

Where are the Etowah Indian mounds in Georgia?

Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site is a designated National Historic Landmark, managed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. It is the most intact Mississippian culture site in the Southeastern United States.

What kind of artifacts are at Etowah Mounds?

Etowah Mounds is the most intact Mississippian Culture site in the Southeast. Artifacts in the museum show how natives of this political and religious center decorated themselves with shell beads, paint, complicated hairdos, feathers and copper ear ornaments.

Where was the Middle Woodland period at Etowah?

This earlier Middle Woodland period occupation at Etowah may have been related to the major Swift Creek center of Leake Mounds, approximately two miles downstream (west) of Etowah.

How to find the Etowah River water trail?

Use the map below to explore the Etowah River Water Trail. Click the button in the top left corner to see more details.