Pocahontas Mounds
{{Short description|Archaeological site in Hinds County, Mississippi}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name = Pocahontas Mounds
(22 HI 500)
| alternate_name =
| image = Pocahontas Mound A.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| alt =
| caption = Pocahontas Mound A
| map =
| map_type = USA Mississippi
| map_alt =
| map_caption = Location within Mississippi today
| map_size =
| relief =
| coordinates = {{coord|32|28|9.37|N|90|17|17.81|W|display=inline}}
| map_dot_label =
| location = Pocahontas, Mississippi, Hinds County, Mississippi, {{flag|USA}}
| region = Hinds County, Mississippi
| built = 800 AD
| abandoned = 1300 AD
| epochs =
| cultures = Coles Creek culture, Plaquemine Mississippian culture
| event =
| excavations = 2004
| archaeologists = James A. Ford
| architectural_styles = platform mound, plaza, tumulus
| architectural_details = Number of monuments: {{Infobox NRHP
| name = Pocahontas Mound A
|embed = yes
| nrhp_type =
| added = November 25, 1969
| governing_body =
| refnum=69000365{{cite web|url=http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreghome.do?searchtype=natreghome|title=National Register of Historic Places|access-date=2011-10-27}}
| designated_other1_name = Mississippi Landmark
| designated_other1_link = Mississippi Landmark
| designated_other1_abbr = USMS
| designated_other1_color = #B3A1D7
| designated_other1_number =
| designated_other1_date = March 5, 1986{{cite web|url=http://mdah.state.ms.us/hpres/MSLandmarks.pdf |title=Mississippi Landmarks |date=May 2008 |publisher=Mississippi Department of Archives and History |accessdate=January 24, 2025 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101009033103/http://mdah.state.ms.us/hpres/MSLandmarks.pdf |archivedate=October 9, 2010 }}
}}{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Pocahontas Mound B
|embed = yes
| nrhp_type =
| added = April 11, 1972
| governing_body =
| refnum=72000694}}
| notes =
Responsible body: private
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| precolumbian = yes
}}
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. The mounds are listed on the Mississippi Mound Trail.{{cite web |title=Mississippi Mound Trail |url=http://trails.mdah.ms.gov/mmt/ |publisher=Mississippi Department of Archives and History |access-date=13 July 2021}}
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.{{cite web|title=Pocahontas Mound A|publisher=Cobb Institute of Archaeology|access-date=2011-11-10 | url=http://www.cobb.msstate.edu/pocahontas.html}} The platform mound, Mound A, is about {{convert|175|ft|m}} in width and {{convert|22|ft|m}} in height.{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/mounds/poc.htm|title=National Park Service : Indian Mounds of Mississippi : Pocahontas Mound A|access-date=2011-10-28|publisher=National Park Service}} It was described in the late 1930s by archaeologist James A. Ford as being {{convert|250|ft|m}} by {{convert|350|ft|m}} at its base and {{convert|25|ft|m}} in height.{{cite book|title=Measuring the flow of time: the works of James A. Ford, 1935-1941|editor=Michael John O'Brien|editor2=R. Lee Lyman|author-link=James A. Ford|author=James Alfred Ford|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QMwxJuvXQysC&q=pocahontas+Mounds%2C+hinds+county&pg=PA255|publisher=University Alabama Press|date=1999-10-28|page=255|isbn=0-8173-0991-8}} 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. Located {{convert|1200|ft|m}} northwest of Mound A is Mound B, a steep-sided conical mound {{convert|75|ft|m}} in diameter and {{convert|10|ft|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. 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. The pottery found at the site is very similar to that found at the Anna site.{{cite book|title=Measuring the Flow of Time: The Works of James A. Ford, 1935-1941|editor=Michael John O'Brien|editor2=R. Lee Lyman|author-link=James A. Ford|author=James Alfred Ford|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QMwxJuvXQysC&q=anna+site&pg=PA243|publisher=University Alabama Press|date=1999-10-28|page=243|isbn=0-8173-0991-8}}
New excavations took place in June 2004 under the direction of 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.
Location
The site is used as a roadside park along U.S. Route 49, near its junction with Interstate 220.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.rvfreewheelin.com/mounds_in_mississippi.htm Indian Mounds in Mississippi]
- [http://cantonms.biz/cra/historical_mad_co/pocahontas_indian_mound.htm Pocahontas Indian Mound]
- [http://www.hmsoa.org/counties/item/83877-pocahontas-mounds Historical Marker Society of America - Pocahontas Mounds]
- [https://www.flickr.com/photos/10930828@N05/sets/72157626664971907/ Pocahontas Mounds on Flickr]
{{Mississippian and related cultures}}
{{Pre-Columbian North America}}
{{NRHP}}
Category:Plaquemine Mississippian culture
Category:Mounds in Mississippi
Category:Geography of Hinds County, Mississippi
Category:Tourist attractions in Hinds County, Mississippi
Category:Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi