EARTHLODGE, CORNFIELD MOUND, PREHISTORIC DITCHES

Cornfield Mound and Earthlodge

Earthlodge and Cornfield Mound

The Earth Lodge was reconstructed in the 1930's over the original clay floor of a 1,000-year old ceremonial building that stood on the north side of the Mississippian village.  The floor is encircled by a low clay bench with individually molded seats and a platform in the shape of a raptorial bird with a "forked eye."   This symbol is one of the earliest known examples of the elaborate motifs typical of the Mississippian Period's Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, or Southern Cult.  The building was probably a meeting place for the town's political and religious leaders.

The Cornfield Mound was originally about 8 feet high. Under it archeologists found the well-preserved furrows of a cultivated field, which is something of a puzzle because Mississippian agricultural fields usually lay in river bottomlands.  Archeological evidence indicates that the mound itself was the platform for a building.

Two lines of Prehistoric Trenches, visible behind the Cornfield Mound, have been traced around the east side of the  village.  These deep, semi-connected ditches may have been defensive or they may have been borrow pits - sources of fill for constructing mounds.

 

Earthlodge Interior

 

 

Earthlodge by MoonlightEarthlodge at Sunset 

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