MoundBuilders

Along the Mississippi River, many [|settlements] were built. Many of the remains look like mounds, so the culture is sometimes referred to as the Mound Builders.

Some of the more famous sites are Cahokia (check out [|Monk's Mound]) and the Great Serpent Mound. [|**View Left Blue In Black and White's map**] Taken in a place with no name (See [|more photos or videos here])

I did a quick search on the Monk's Mound and found out it's base it larger than the Great Pyramid Giza. The picture below is what people think the original mound looked like. It is the only mound to have over two terraces as you can see below. vs http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/moun1.gif> http://connections.smsd.org/highlands/cahoki1.jpg Mound Builders basic information: These mounds occur from the Midwest to the Appalachian mountains and all the way down the Mississippi. __They were mostly used for religious reasons and burial places. But some hypothesize that they were used as fortresses(Fort Ancient) or **totemic** representations(Serpent Mound). The mound builders themselves used stone, copper, mica and obsidian__. The Mound builder's villages were basically the same from place to place. There were the mounds that were used as religious/ ceremonial reasons( as said above) or the homes of the chiefs/ important people. These __mounds faced a plaza. The people would gather in a plaza for the ceremonies. The plaza held many other events such as the sport chungke__. This sport included __men rolling stone discoidials(a round stone usually quartz or granite) and people gambled on the players. There are many types of discoidials, the one to the left is a double cup style from Tennessee.__ The people would continually build these mounds, constantly adding more soil or another tier([|http://asms.k12.ar.us/armem/hopper/builders.htm)They] weaved and craved pictures of animals, humans and pipes([|http://www.nativeamericans.com/MoundBuilders.htm).] __During a period of warfare(1250-1550), the mound builder began to engage in frequent fights over farming land as the population grew. Many skeletons with arrowhead's imbedded in their bones have been found. Research has shown that the bows themselves were as tall of the archer himself and was made out of Osage Orange(a hard wood__).Like the Mongols, the mound builders had arrows that could pierce through Spanish chain mail. Here is an awesome site with lots of pictures of arrow heads: http://www.mississippian-artifacts.com/. When Hernando de Soto arrived in the mid-16oo's([|http://www.mississippian-artifacts.com/)] most people thought that the cities wee deserted because of European diseases like small pox, but recent studies have shown that there was a population decrease that had been going on for more than a century. **Totemic** : anything serving as a distinctive, often venerated, emblem or symbol
 * Cahokia:** Good location for trading because it was on the Mississippi(with all of it's tributaries). Built mounds that were flat topped and were located near the Mississippi river. The ruler of the city was called "The Great Sun". Cahokia is known as the "city of the sun".

[|http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/totemic [|http://asms.k12.ar.us/armem/hopper/builders.htm (arrows) [|http://www.mississippian-artifacts.com/html/disc/d-14.html (discoidial)

Lizzy

Serpent Mound


 * Sabrina Mason:**

Mound Builders is a general term that refers to the American Indians during the time of 1000 BCE - 1500 AD. They constructed mounds that were used for burial and ceremonially purposes. The mounds were usually flat-topped pyramids or platformed shaped, rounded or flat-topped cone shaped, elongated ridges, and other forms (such as the serpent mound).

Here is a map of where some of the mounds are located :  There were three main groups Mound Builders: the Adena (green- in Ohio), the Hopewell (red), and Mississippians (blue). These three groups of Mound Builders lived in River valley civilizations and they had an abundance of natural resources and fertile soil. 

 Basic INFORMATION: Mound Builders built huge mounds in the earth that served for different purposes (burial, boundary markers, platforms for temples) The Mound building period lasted for around 2000 years with three different periods: the Adeans (first group who started making a civilization around the time of the Olmecs who were in Central America), the Hopewells, and the Mississippians They were very good at trade and they used a relay system to get goods to different places.

Adena- In Ohio, built coned shaped mounds for burial, they were hunter gatherers, and they made some mounds of animal faces which had different religious meanings.



The Hopewells: Strongest civilization for 500 years. Very skilled at art and made spear points. They made jewelery out of copper and shells. They spread through trade just like the Olmecs.

 Mississippians- they lived in the Mississippi river valley. They built really large mounds. The largest city was Cahokia.

 Cahokia- Good location for trading. Built mounds that were flat topped and were located near the Mississippi river. The ruler of the city was called "The Great Sun"



I found a you-tube video of some of Ohio's Mounds (Serpent Mound). (first 15 seconds are good) media type="youtube" key="nDENGjJmH68&hl=en" height="355" width="425"

And here is another you-tube video of Pyramids in Atlanta, Georgia. (first minute is good) media type="youtube" key="TuAlBcmKbPY&hl=en" height="355" width="425"

The Monks Mound (in Cahokia) is the largest mound it is quarter larger than the base of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Monks Mound: Great Pyramid of Giza: As you can see the mound and the pyramid look completely different.  Arrow points have been found in bodies that have been buried which suggests that the people were not always peaceful and used the bow and arrow.

Pottery, flint points (tips of arrows), beads, and other artifacts have been found in these mounds. Flint points- they were crafted by hand and very good with hunting game. Also they were extremely critical for battle.

<span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102)">Robert Silverberg wrote a book called //The Mound Builders.// It explains all of the Mounds in the US and compares them to pryamids and other structures throughout the world.

These are 2 pictures show how the shapes of the mounds vary.





This [|link] was extremely helpful.