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About Mound Builders

 

Other Ancient Moundbuilders of Arkansas areas:

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This image was taken from Henry Clyde Shetrone's book The Mound-Builders, copyright 1930. The life-size figure depicted here was executed for the Ohio State Museum and is the first known attempt to portray the builders of the ancient mounds as they appeared in life.

While the Europeans were experiencing the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Native Americans who lived along the Mississippi River and its tributaries were developing their own unique culture. These prehistoric Native Americans, who are called Mississippian Indians by archaeologists, lived in permanent towns which were built on a fairly standard pattern. Ceremonial buildings on large four sided flat-topped mounds faced a plaza. The villagers gathered in the plaza for important events, ceremonies, and to watch various games such as stickball and chunkey.

The earthen mounds were built over a period of years. Perhaps they began as a slight rise with an important building on it. After a time, the building burned. Maybe the people set it on fire because it had become infested with vermin or perhaps the grass roof caught fire accidently. Whatever the cause of the fire, the people brought basketful after basketful of dirt to make a mound. When they were satisfied, they built a new building on top. Archeologists do not know what purpose these buildings fulfilled. The most widely accepted ideas are that these buildings were either religious structures, or the homes of chiefs or other important families.