Pocahontas Mounds

Pocahontas Mounds (22 HI 500) is an archaeological site from the Plaquemine Mississippian culture in Hinds County, Mississippi, dating from 800 to 1300 CE. Two mounds from the site were added to the NRHP on two separate occasions, Pocahontas Mound A on November 25, 1969 as NRIS number 69000365 and Pocahontas Mound B on April 11, 1972 as NRIS number 72000694.[1]

Pocahontas Mounds
(22 HI 500)
Pocahontas Mound A
Location within Mississippi today
LocationPocahontas, Mississippi, Hinds County, Mississippi,  USA
RegionHinds County, Mississippi
Coordinates32°28′9.37″N 90°17′17.81″W
History
Founded800 AD
Abandoned1300 AD
CulturesColes Creek culture, Plaquemine Mississippian culture
Site notes
Excavation dates2004
ArchaeologistsJames A. Ford
Architecture
Architectural stylesplatform mound, plaza, tumulus
Architectural detailsNumber of monuments:
Pocahontas Mound A
NRHP reference No.69000365[1]
Added to NRHPNovember 25, 1969
Pocahontas Mound B
NRHP reference No.72000694[1]
Added to NRHPApril 11, 1972
Responsible body: private

Description

The site consists of two mounds, a rectangular platform mound and a mortuary mound, and an associated village area. The site was occupied from 800 to 1300 CE by peoples of the Coles Creek and Plaquemine Mississippian cultures, although evidence found during excavations in 2004 showed that the site was occupied briefly in the Middle-Late Archaic period about 4000-1000 BCE.[2] The platform mound, Mound A, is about 175 feet (53 m) in width and 22 feet (6.7 m) in height.[3] It was described in the late 1930s by archaeologist James A. Ford as being 250 feet (76 m) by 350 feet (110 m) at its base and 25 feet (7.6 m) in height.[4] Archaeological investigations found the remains of a typical Mississippian-period thatched, clay-plastered log-post structure on the mounds summit, which was once a ceremonial temple or residence of a chief.[3] Located 1,200 feet (370 m) northwest of Mound A is Mound B, a steep-sided conical mound 75 feet (23 m) in diameter and 10 feet (3.0 m) in height.

At the time of Ford's writing Mound B was included within the grounds of a local school and could not be excavated.[4] Various kinds of artifacts have been recovered from the site through site survey collections and excavations, including Mississippian-culture copper ear-spools, Mississippian culture pottery, flint chips and numerous burials in the surrounding fields. A fragmentary bird effigy bowl and a human effigy ceramic pipe were found at the burial mound by children from the school.[4] The pottery found at the site is very similar to that found at the Anna Site.[5]

New excavations took place in June 2004 under the direction Jeffrey Alvey for the Cobb Institute of Archaeology and funded by the Mississippi Department of Transportation. In 2008 a roadside park was opened at Mound A as a combined rest stop area and educational center explaining the site’s cultural and historical importance.[2]

Location

The site is used as a roadside park along U.S. Route 49, near its junction with Interstate 220.[3]

References
  1. "National Register of Historic Places". Retrieved 2011-10-27.
  2. "Pocahontas Mound A". Cobb Institute of Archaeology. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
  3. "National Park Service : Indian Mounds of Mississippi : Pocahontas Mound A". National Park Service. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  4. James Alfred Ford (1999-10-28). Michael John O'Brien; R. Lee Lyman (eds.). Measuring the flow of time: the works of James A. Ford, 1935-1941. University Alabama Press. p. 255. ISBN 0-8173-0991-8.
  5. James Alfred Ford (1999-10-28). Michael John O'Brien; R. Lee Lyman (eds.). Measuring the Flow of Time: The Works of James A. Ford, 1935-1941. University Alabama Press. p. 243. ISBN 0-8173-0991-8.
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