Message #543

[Cassandra]

# 8 Pinson, TN
Pinson Mounds, State Archaeological Park, Tennessee • Mound Complex • Woodland
State Park & Museum—located in Pinson, TN. From Jackson, TN take TN Hwy. 45 8-miles south to Ozier Rd. and go left 2.5 miles to the park.
Pinson Mounds, once called the City of Cisco, is one of the most important mound complexes remaining in America, with the oldest know platform mound at the site. In an area covering over 400-acres along the South Fork of the Forked Deer River are at least 12 mounds including the second tallest remaining in the United States. Sauls Mound, named after a landowner, is a truncated pyramid standing 73-feet tall with a base diameter of 120-feet. It sits near the center of the site. Over 2.1 million cubic feet of dirt was used in its construction. The five platform mounds at Pinson contain a combined 3.6 million cubic feet of dirt. The other platform mounds are between 9 to 30-feet in height with base diameters up to 140-feet. A perfect circular earthwork, called the Eastern Citadel, is about 7-feet tall and is 1190-feet in diameter. Another 33-foot tall platform mound, called Oziers Mound, has been dated to A.D. 100. and another mound at Pinson has been dated to 200 B.C. Pinson’s importance is partly due to the early dates of the platform mounds and its preservation.
_____________________________________________________________
# 7 Moundville, AL
Moundville, Alabama • Mound Complex • Mississippian
University of Alabama Archaeological Park & Museum—located 13 miles south of Tuscaloosa, AL and Interstates 20/59 off Highway 69.
The Moundville site is a 326-acre archaeological park with 20 large, flat topped pyramid-shaped mounds arranged around a wide central plaza area. Several other mounds are also found at the site as well as smaller mound villages along the banks of the Black Warrior River in both directions. The site was constructed next to the Black Warrior River around 1200 A.D.
The 20 pyramid-shaped mounds are between 3 to 60-feet in height. The bases of the larger mounds are approximately 200 by 300-feet. Archaeologists believe that the central area of the site, dominated by the 20 truncated mounds, was walled with a palisade and was inhabited by 1000 people who were the elite members of the society. Another 10,000 people probably lived scattered around the central area in widely dispersed village areas.
Excavations at Moundville uncovered some of the most exquisite artifacts ever found at mound sites. Ceremonial axes, polished stone disks engraved with complex designs, effigy pipes, and inscribed pottery are among artifacts on display. Several intriguing designs are found on Moundville artifacts. Among these are the feathered serpent and the eye in the hand symbols. Moundville comes in at #7 because of its preservation, the vast number of pyramid mounds, and the incredible artifacts revovered there.
_____________________________________________________________