Where Are The Mounds?

The Lower Mississippi River Valley begins in eastern Arkansas and western Tennessee and stretches south through Mississippi and Louisiana to the Gulf of Mexico. The mighty Mississippi and the Ouachita River, which starts in the highlands of Arkansas, have deposited rich soils in the region since long before recorded time.

Prehistoric people, drawn by the bountiful wildlife and fertile earth, made their homes in the valley for thousands of years before the first Europeans arrived. The Native Americans built hundreds of earthen monuments across the region. Many have been destroyed over time.

Many important sites deserve special protection and scientific investigations. For example, there is one site in Louisiana that is the earliest circle of mounds ever discovered in North and South America. Another site is the biggest group of mounds found in the Lower Ouachita Valley in Louisiana and a major prehistoric trade center and town. We know that some of these larger sites were once thriving communities that represent a turning point in cultural development as farming became essential to survival.

to SEAC Education Folder

to NPS Delta Projects