What were the Mississippian culture artifacts?
Shell-tempered pottery is arguably the most pervasive artifact of Mississippian culture. Although a minor amount of shell was present in the pottery made by earlier cultures in the southeastern United States, shell was used widely, and in many areas exclusively, in the Mississippi period after circa 1000 CE.
What did the Mississippian Mound Builders build?
Most Mississippian mounds are rectangular, flat-topped earthen platforms upon which temples or residences of chiefs were erected. These buildings were constructed of wooden posts covered with mud plaster and had thatched roofs.
What were the Mound Builders known for?
Mound Builders were prehistoric American Indians, named for their practice of burying their dead in large mounds. Beginning about three thousand years ago, they built extensive earthworks from the Great Lakes down through the Mississippi River Valley and into the Gulf of Mexico region.
What were the Mississippian known for constructing?
The Mississippian culture was a Native American civilization that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1600 CE, varying regionally. It was known for building large, earthen platform mounds, and often other shaped mounds as well.
What weapons did the Mississippians use?
Mississippian and Oneota projectile pointsMississippian people continued to use the bow and arrow and made small triangular arrowheads. They also used the same kinds of other stone tools that earlier people have used-knives, scrapers, modified flakes, hammerstones, and so forth.
What were Mississippian houses called?
This plastered cane matting is called “wattle and daub”. The roof of the house was made from a steep “A” shaped framework of wooden poles covered with grass woven into a tight thatch. Platform Mounds.
What types of tools did the Mound Builders use?
They also built ceremonial mounds in the shape of animals. The Hopewell were master artisans, making objects from copper, mica, silver, and iron. They also used flint and obsidian to make tools.
How did Mound Builders make mounds?
Soil, clay, or stones were carried in baskets on the backs of laborers to the top or flanks of the mound and then dumped. Hundreds of thousands of man-hours of work were required to build each of the larger mounds. It is likely that the shells in shell mounds were thrown there after large community feasts.
What were Mississippian mounds used for?
Platform Mounds. Mississippian cultures often built structures on top of their mounds such as homes and burial buildings. Mississippian cultures, like many before them, built mounds. Though other cultures may have used mounds for different purposes, Mississippian cultures typically built structures on top of them.
What is Mound Builders?
Definition of Mound Builder : a member of a prehistoric American Indian people whose extensive earthworks are found from the Great Lakes down the Mississippi River valley to the Gulf of Mexico.
What tribes were Mound Builders?
1650 A.D., the Adena, Hopewell, and Fort Ancient Native American cultures built mounds and enclosures in the Ohio River Valley for burial, religious, and, occasionally, defensive purposes. They often built their mounds on high cliffs or bluffs for dramatic effect, or in fertile river valleys.
How tall are the mound builders of Mississippi?
Mississippian platform mounds range in height from eight to almost 60 feet and are from 60 to as much as 770 feet in width at the base. Mississippian period mounds can be seen at the Winterville, Jaketown Pocahontas, Owl Creek and Bear Creek sites.
Where are the Mississippian mounds located in Illinois?
A Middle Mississippian period archaeological site located near Lebanon, Illinois. The platform mound is the second-largest Pre-Columbian earthwork in Illinois, after Monk’s Mound at Cahokia.
When did mound building start in the Mississippi Delta?
The Mississippian period (1000 to 1700 A.D.) saw a resurgence of mound-building across much of the southeastern United States. At this time, the lower Mississippi Delta was home to highly organized societies.
When was the Bear Creek Mound in Mississippi built?
Bear Creek Mound – This square, flat-topped mound was built in several stages for ceremonial or elite residential use sometime between 1100 and 1300 A.D., during the Mississippian period.