Added August 28, 2000. Updated February 28, 2006, 09:38 hours.

This page will be updated occasionally to add and revise information.

The Mississippian Period

Of the Woodland Culture Area in the Eastern US

Maximilian O. Baldia

With a special contribution by

Matthew Boulanger

Since it appears that there is relatively little readily available information in many parts of the world on American Archaeology, this Internet page aims to inform archaeologists on the subject. The aim is to facilitate Comparative Archaeology as defined on the home page of the Comparative Archaeology WEB©.

The Geography

The Mississippian sites center on the Mississippi drainage and the lower part of the Eastern Woodland Culture Area. It does not include the Northeast and other areas where the Late Woodland continues up to historic times.

General Chronology

The Mississippian period starts around AD 800 – 900. The end is set at AD 1500 – 1600. Subdivisions vary by region. In Tennessee five partly overlapping phases are recognized. Other regions have slightly different sequences.

Table 1. Chronological Table of Mississippian phases in Tennesee.

Mississippian 1, Martin Farm Phase (A.D. 900 - 1000)

Mississippian 2, Hiwassee Island Phase (A.D. 1000 - 1300)

Mississippian 2, Pisgah Phase (A.D. 1000 - 1400)

Mississippian 3, Dallas Phase (A.D. 1300 - 1600)

Mississippian 4, Overhill Cherokee Phase (A.D. 1600 - 1819)

Mississippian 5, Mouse Creek Phase (A.D. 1400 - 1600)

(Source: University of Tennessee Center for Transportation Research “Cultural Periods in Tennessee.” http://deep13.ra.utk.edu/tc/arch/miss1.html accessed August 28, 2000)

The Last Mound Builders

Some time after the demise of the Hopewell, mounds shaped in the form of birds, animals and reptiles were constructed in the US Midwest. In southern Ohio the Fort Ancient people constructed the Serpent Mound around AD 1075. However, the Mississippian culture built conical and, more often, rectilinear platform mounds. The latter are somewhat reminiscent of Hopewell mounds, like those in Marietta, Ohio. Many were temple mounds, others were burial mounds. The central sites also built palisaded enclosures or stockades. The largest of these Mississippian sites is Cahokia.

Cahokia is not only the largest prehistoric metropolis north of Mexico, it also has the largest prehistoric mound. Monks mound measures at least 291 m (955 feet) north-south and 236 meters (774.3 feet) east-west. Its height is between 28 meters (92 feet) and 30 m (99 feet). Research has revealed new puzzles, suggesting that it is a very complicated structure. Undoubtedly, the builders did some clever engineering to keep this and other mounds from collapsing. This should not be a surprise, because even the 5000 – 6000 years ago megalithic tombs of the Funnel Beaker culture in Central and North Europe exhibit special internal features designed to drain water away. In all, there are at least 104 mounds at Cahokia.

The second largest Mississippian center is Moundville in Alabama. It stretched over more than 300 acres, had 20 platform mounds and a huge central “plaza,” or town square. The 100 acre plaza is thought to have functioned as a communal gathering place. It was enclosed by a palisade on all sides except the one by the River. Some of the smaller mounds that ringed the plaza contained richly furnished burials. At the edge of the plaza was a cemetery, yielding some 3000 burials.

Spiro, on the Arkansas River, Oklahoma covers nearly 90 acres. It includes a village with typical rectangular thatched houses, fifteen or more mounds and a cemetery harboring ca. 750 burials.

Etowah, Georgia, is a 54-acre site with only three reasonably well-preserved mounds. However, Mound “A,” reaching a height of 63 feet (21 meters), is supposedly the second largest Mississippian mound after Cahokia’s Monks Mound. Mound ”A” is a temple mound. It faces the plaza with its formidable stairway. The plaza was made of red clay, brought to the site to construct the rectangular ceremonial center. Its axis runs east/west. The adjacent temple platform Mound “B,” also faces the plaza with its steep ramp or stairway. Four other, less distinct mounds also ring the plaza. Mound “C,” identified as a burial mound, is located behind Mound “A,” closest to the Etowah River. The 52-acre site was surrounded by a moat that seems to have been connected to the river.

Mississippian Centers

Map of Adena, Hopewell, Mississippian and Fort Ancient archaeological sites.

Mississippian Sites:

· Cahokia, Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, East St. Louis-Collinsville, Illinois (A.D. 800-1400)

Contour Map

Virtual Tour of Cahokia© by Matthew Boulanger (University of Missouri, Columbia)

ICT-II/Museum from SE

ICT-II Environment SE of Museum

Monks Mound viewed from the SE at the ICT-II/Museum access road constructed from ca. AD 900 – 1150.

Monks Mound viewed from the E with reconstructed palisade, showing round bastion.

Reconstructed later palisade of Monks Mound with rectangular bastions.

Pottery Sequence

Official Cahokia Site map with links to individual features

· Moundville, Moundville Archaeological Park, Alabama (AD 1200 – 1500)

Plan of Moundville from 1905

View across the plaza of the main mounds

The Great Warrior River below Moundsville

The Great Warrior River bank below Moundsville

The environment at Moundsville

Mound B: View from the SE with Mound S and A in the foreground. Mound B is over 20 m (60 feet) high.

View from Mound B across the plaza to the S with Mound A and S in the foreground

· Spiro, Oklahoma (AD 850-1450)

Environment near Spiro

The “plaza” region of Spiro

View across the “plaza” area with mound

Mounds at Spiro

Small Mound at Spiro

· Etowah, Georgia

The three platform mounds of Etowah

The Great Mound and its ramp or stairway

Close-up of the Great Mound’s ramp or stairway

References, Credits and Links

RiverWeb: Prehistory and history of the American Bottom including Prehistoric Archives, illustrations Mississippian artifacts. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Stein, Anthony

The Mississippian Mound Builders and their Artifacts. (Great pictures of artifacts and sites.)

Please send comments or questions to Max Baldia.