Mound Building Cultures

Part I of Essay
Over 2,000 years ago, a mound 62 feet high and 240 feet in diameter containing 57,000 tons of dirt was built. Why would the Native Americans build such a mound? This burial site along with thousands of smaller ones was built to be a gravesite of a great warrior, chieftain ....

Part II of Essay
.... builders would shape each effigy mound into the bird or animal that best suited the individual that would be buried there. The Serpent Mound is an excellent and well-known example of an effigy mound. This mound, in the shape of a twisting serpent, extends more than 1,300 feet long. Pottery, tools, pipes, stone sculptures, wood and shell, masks, ornaments, weapons, and jewelry made from shell, copper, mica, and other materials are buried with the dead in mounds. Some burial chambers after 5000 B.C. had a central chamber for the remains of ....