The Mound Builders of ancient America built gigantic Mounds of various sizes and shapes. They are breathtaking when viewed from the ground, but how about the God's view from above? After all, animal shaped mounds like the Serpent Mound in Ohio were built to be seen from the air. The aerial view of Kolomoki Mounds is very fine indeed.
This site has a total of 8 mounds and it is the largest Mound
complex in this state. It covers about 300 acres of land. The site is so large,
my quadcopter cannot cover all the mounds. I am only going to show 2 of them, the
largest and the most important ones. Archaeologists estimate these mounds were constructed
from 350 CE to 600 CE.
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| Temple Mound, resembling flat-topped Mayan Pyramids |
This is the biggest mound in the complex and is called the
Temple mound. It is 56 feet tall;at the base it is 325 feet wide and 200 feet long.
In the center, you can see the stairway. The top of the mound was carefully
built into a flat area; it would be perfect for helicopters to land here today.
It is hard not to think of Mayan Pyramids like Chichen Itza
and Palenque because they are also flat topped pyramids, and this mound could
have had a large wooden structure on top of it. Believe it or not, the Mayas
believe that their ancestors came from the north. So, you can’t help but think
- is there a connection between Mound Builders and the Mayas?
Some archeologists theorize that Kolomoki was the center of population and activity of
a large province that runs through many states today. This could have even been
the capital of the mound builder kingdom.
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| A game like this could have been played at the Kolomoki site |
The large rectangular area in front of the temple mound is
called the Plaza. It could have been used for a variety of purposes. Evidence
of a large pole set in a deep pit was found, which shows the mound builders played
some kind of a ball game and used it as a goal post. Other Native American
tribes improved this in the later centuries into games like Chunkey.
The second largest mound at the Kolomoki complex is this
conical mound, commonly referred to as Mound D. The conical mound is 20 feet
tall, and has a diameter of one hundred feet. This is positioned at the exact center
of the Kolomoki site.
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| Aerial View of the Conical Mound at Kolomoki |
There are many different types of mounds, for example effigy
mounds with animal shapes, temple mounds, with tall, flat platforms, but mounds
like these just look like a cone. These are usually burial mounds.
Archeologists discovered 77 skeletons here, and locals say at least a dozen of
them were giants over 7 feet tall.
What looks like a pile of dirt fooled people for a long
time. Archeologists were surprised when they excavated this mound and realized
it is the most elaborately constructed mound. Beneath the dirt, is a house like
structure with multiple floors built with perfectly arranged wooden logs. The
logs were placed upright and mounded with dirt to support them. After placing
the dead inside this log house, it was then covered with rocks. Layering of
many burials, cremations and log scaffolding continued for several layers,
including a mass cremation at the top.
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| Illustration of how the logs were used in the burial mound |
One surprising fact is that all the skulls of the mound
builders faced directly to the east. The mounds and the mound builders were
somehow sending a message to the Gods. These mounds themselves have a strange connection to
astronomical events. For
example, 3 mounds form the central axis of the site,and align perfectly with
the sun at the spring
equinox.
Two other mounds are aligned with the sun at the summer solstice. This casts a lot of doubt to the standard idea that the Mound Builders could not even read or write. How did they come up with such a large complex with perfect astronomical alignments without reading or writing?
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| Mounds were not built randomly, but were astronomically aligned |
Two other mounds are aligned with the sun at the summer solstice. This casts a lot of doubt to the standard idea that the Mound Builders could not even read or write. How did they come up with such a large complex with perfect astronomical alignments without reading or writing?
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| This complex alignment could mean that the mound builders were a far superior race |
Planning
of the site requires great vision and remember we are talking about 1500 years
ago. It is built on an elevated land surrounded by 3 sides of water. The creeks
and lake would not only offer supplies of fresh water, but it would also act as
a defense mechanism against intruders. In addition to this, there used to be a
protective earthen wall that ran all around the complex, but this wall has been
plowed down by early European settlers.
The Etowah mounds, which
is about 200 miles away is similar in so many of these features. If you get a chance, don’t forget to visit this historic
landmark.
1 comments:
Awesome we would love to go there!
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