MOUND BUILDERS

THE MOUND BUILDERS WERE IN THE FORMATIVE PERIOD IN THE MIDWEST FROM 1000 BC TO AD 1500. THEY WERE LOCATED ALONG THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPI RIVER VALLEYS. THERE WERE
1000'S OF MOUNDS SHAPED IN FORMS OF ANIMALS AND PEOPLE. THREE DIFFERENT GROUPS FORMED FORMED THESE MOUNDS -HOPEWELL, ADENA, AND MISSISSIPEAN.

THEY BUILT MOUNDS DURING THE FORMATIVE PERIOD FROM 1000 BC TO AD 1500. THEIR LIVELIHOOD INCLUDED BUILDING HOUSES, FARMERING WITHOUT IRRIGATION., POTTERY MAKING, WEAVING AND GATHERING FOR CEREMONIES AND FEASTS. ALONG WITH THE SOUTHWESTERN TRIBES, THE MOUND BUILDERS HAD A VERY COMPLEX AND ORGANIZED WAY OF LIFE.

ADENA

FROM 1000 BC - AD 200 THE ADENA WERE NAMED AFTER A LARGE MOUND NEAR CHILLICOTHE. THEY BUILT VILLAGES IN OHIO, KENTUCKY, WEST VIRGINIA, INDIANA, PENNSYLVANIA, NEW YORK AND ALONG THE OHIO VALLEY. THE MOUNDS WERE BURIAL MOUNDS MADE TO HONOR THE DEAD. THEY WERE BURIED WITH VARIOUS CEREMONIAL OBJECTS AND OTHER ARTIFACTS. THE ADENA CONSTRUCTED THE SERPENT MOUND WHICH WAS NOT A BURIAL MOUND.

THEY HUNTED AND GATHERED AS WELL AS PLANTED CROPS. THEY LIVED IN POLE AND THATCH HOUSES COVERED WITH MUDAND THATCH. THEY GREW CROPS SUCH AS CORN, BEANS, SQUASH, AND TOBACCO. IT IS NOT KNOWN IF THE HOPEWELL INVADED THE ADENAS OR HOW THEY LEFT, HOWEVER THEIR ARE HOPEWELL SITES IN THE SAME AREA.

HOPEWELL

THIS CULTURE WAS CENTERED AROUND THE OHIO VALLEY FROM 300 BC TO AD 700. ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE DISCOVERED THEIR MOUNDS OVER A MUCH WIDER AREA COMPRISING THE ILLINOIS VALLEY, MISSISSIPPI AND OTHER VALLEYS IN THE MIDWEST.

CARL WALDMAN