Hanging Rock gets its name from this rock formation which, at one time, jutted out over the edge of the bluff. The rock was blasted away when the railroad came through below because it posed a potential disaster.
The Great Bear Effigy is the largest remaining effigy of the period. It is also unique in that you will see the "right" side. Most effigies face the opposite direction, appearing to be walking downstream.
Circular fireplaces often found in the "heart" or "head" of the effigies were probably altars used during funeral rites -- ceremonies of death through which the people may have sought to express their concern for the dead as well as for the survival of the still-living groups. The animal and bird shapes of the mounds probably had a mystical meaning somewhat associated with the self-identity of the groups that built them.
The great valley of the Mississippi was used by prehistoric Indians for many centuries. Hunters of mammoth and other big game were probably in the area 10,000 years ago. Burial pits, lined with red ochre, were made here by wandering peoples 2,000 years before Columbus set sail. These bluffs were later used by many prehistoric woodland farmers and pottery makers.
Your hike begins here at the Effigy Mounds National Monument Visitor Center. Within the center, you can view a 15 minute video about the park and the mound builders, walk through our museum and ask questions of our rangers. Just outside of the newly remodeled center and across the bridge, you can find three conical burial mounds. All three were constructed in the Hopewellian period, about 2000 years ago.
Animal shaped mounds were built only between 600 AD and 1300 AD. These mounds are effigies or images of the animals believed to be important to the people living here during that time. This group containing ten "bears," three "birds," and two linear mounds is one of the largest groups of effigies still remaining.