Pocahontas Mounds

Archaeological site in Hinds County, Mississippi

Pocahontas Mounds
(22 HI 500)

Pocahontas Mound A

Location within Mississippi today

Location| Pocahontas, Mississippi, Hinds County, Mississippi,  USA
Region| Hinds County, Mississippi
Coordinates| 32°28′9.37″N 90°17′17.81″W﻿ / ﻿32.4692694°N 90.2882806°W﻿ / 32.4692694; -90.2882806
History
Founded| 800 AD
Abandoned| 1300 AD
Cultures| Coles Creek culture, Plaquemine Mississippian culture
Site notes
Excavation dates| 2004
Archaeologists| James A. Ford
Architecture
Architectural styles| platform mound, plaza, tumulus
Architectural details| Number of monuments:

Pocahontas Mound A

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Mississippi Landmark

NRHP reference No.| 69000365[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP| November 25, 1969
Designated USMS| March 5, 1986[2]

Pocahontas Mound B

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

NRHP reference No.| 72000694[1]
Added to NRHP| April 11, 1972
Responsible body: private

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.[1] The mounds are listed on the Mississippi Mound Trail.[3]

## Description

[edit]

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.[4] The platform mound, Mound A, is about 175 feet (53 m) in width and 22 feet (6.7 m) in height.[5] It was described in the late 1930s by archaeologist James A. Ford as being 250 feet (76 m) by 350 feet (110 m) at its base and 25 feet (7.6 m) in height.[6] 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.[5] Located 1,200 feet (370 m) northwest of Mound A is Mound B, a steep-sided conical mound 75 feet (23 m) in diameter and 10 feet (3.0 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.[6] 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.[6] The pottery found at the site is very similar to that found at the Anna site.[7]

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.[4]

## Location

[edit]

The site is used as a roadside park along U.S. Route 49, near its junction with Interstate 220.[5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "National Register of Historic Places". Retrieved October 27, 2011.
2. ^ "Mississippi Landmarks" (PDF). Mississippi Department of Archives and History. May 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 9, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2025.
3. ^ "Mississippi Mound Trail". Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
4. ^ a b "Pocahontas Mound A". Cobb Institute of Archaeology. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
5. ^ a b c "National Park Service : Indian Mounds of Mississippi : Pocahontas Mound A". National Park Service. Archived from the original on December 14, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
6. ^ a b c James Alfred Ford (October 28, 1999). Michael John O'Brien; R. Lee Lyman (eds.). Measuring the flow of time: the works of James A. Ford, 1935-1941. University Alabama Press. p. 255\. ISBN 0-8173-0991-8.
7. ^ James Alfred Ford (October 28, 1999). Michael John O'Brien; R. Lee Lyman (eds.). Measuring the Flow of Time: The Works of James A. Ford, 1935-1941. University Alabama Press. p. 243\. ISBN 0-8173-0991-8.

## External links

[edit]

* Indian Mounds in Mississippi
* Pocahontas Indian Mound
* Historical Marker Society of America - Pocahontas Mounds
* Pocahontas Mounds on Flickr

* v
* t
* e

Mississippian and related cultures

* List of Mississippian sites
* Timeline of Mississippi valley

Middle
Mississippian|

| American Bottom
and Upper Mississippi|

* Aztalan
* Big Eddy
* Cahokia
* Monks Mound
* Mound 34
* Mound 72
* Ramey state
* Woodhenge
* Cloverdale
* Dickson Mounds
* Emerald Acropolis
* Emmons Cemetery
* Horseshoe Lake
* John Chapman
* Kuhn Station
* Larson
* Lunsford-Pulcher
* McCune
* Mitchell
* Orendorf
* Sleeth
* Starr
* Steed-Kisker culture
* Sugarloaf Mound

|

Lower Ohio River and
Confluence area|

* Adams site
* Dogtooth Bend Mounds
* Kincaid Mounds
* Marshall Site
* Millstone Bluff
* Orr-Herl
* Rowlandton Mound
* Towosahgy
* Turk Site
* Twin Mounds
* Ware Mounds
* Wickliffe Mounds

Middle Ohio River|

* Angel Mounds
* Angel phase
* Annis Mound
* Bone Bank
* Caborn-Welborn culture
* Ellerbusch
* Hovey Lake-Klein
* Hovey Lake District
* Murphy
* Prather
* Slack Farm
* Tolu
* Welborn Village
* Yankeetown

Tennessee and
Cumberland|

* Backusburg
* Beasley Mounds
* Brentwood Library
* Brick Church
* Castalian Springs
* Dunbar Cave
* Fewkes Group
* Hiwassee Island
* Link Farm
* Mound Bottom
* Riverview
* Sellars
* Obion
* Old Town
* Swallow Bluff

Central and Lower
Mississippi|

* Belle Meade
* Boone's
* Boyd
* Campbell
* Carson
* Chucalissa
* Denmark
* Eaker
* Janet's
* Menard-Hodges
* Murphy
* Nodena
* Nodena phase
* Owl Creek
* Parkin
* Quigualtam
* Tipton phase
* Tunica
* Koroa
* Yazoo
* Walls phase

South Appalachian
Mississippian|

* Adamson
* Avery
* Beaverdam Creek
* Bell Field Mound
* Bessemer
* Biltmore
* Blair
* Bussell Island
* Chauga
* Chiaha
* Chota
* Citico
* Coosa
* Dallas phase
* Dyar
* Etowah
* Garden Creek
* Hoojah Branch
* Irene
* Jere Shine
* Joara
* Joe Bell
* King
* Lamar
* Lamar phase
* Liddell
* Little Egypt
* Long Swamp
* Mabila
* Mandeville
* McMahan
* Moccasin Bend
* Moundville
* Mouse Creek phase
* Mulberry
* Muscogee (Creek)
* Nacoochee
* Nikwasi
* Ocmulgee
* Park Mound
* Pisgah phase
* Punk Rock Shelter
* Rembert
* Roods Landing
* Rucker's Bottom
* Savannah
* Shiloh
* Sixtoe
* Summerour
* Taskigi
* Tomotley
* Toqua
* Town Creek
* Waddells Mill Pond
* Wilbanks

Fort Walton culture|

* Anhaica
* Apalachee
* Apalachee Province
* Cayson
* Corbin–Tucker
* Fort Walton Mound
* Lake Jackson
* Leon-Jefferson culture
* Letchworth
* Velda
* Yon

Pensacola culture|

* Bottle Creek
* Dauphin Island
* Fort Walton
* Hickory Ridge Cemetery
* Naval Live Oaks Cemetery
* Pensacola people

Plaquemine
Mississippian|

* Anna
* Atchafalaya Basin
* Emerald
* Fitzhugh
* Flowery
* Fosters
* Ghost
* Glass
* Grand Village of the Natchez
* Holly Bluff
* Jaketown
* Jordan
* Julice
* Mangum
* Mazique
* Medora
* Mott
* Natchez
* Taensa
* Pocahontas
* Routh
* Scott Place
* Sims
* Transylvania
* Venable
* Winterville

Caddoan
Mississippian|

* Battle
* Belcher
* Blue Spring Shelter
* Bluffton
* Caddo
* Caddoan Mounds
* Gahagan
* Hughes
* Ka-Do-Ha Indian Village
* Keller
* Spiro

Upper Mississippian
cultures|

| Oneota|

* Anker
* Beattie Park
* Blood Run
* Carcajou Point
* Fifield
* Fisher Mound Group
* Gentleman Farm
* Grand Village of the Illinois
* Griesmer
* Hartley Fort
* Hotel Plaza
* Hoxie Farm
* Huber
* Juntunen
* Knoll Spring
* Mero site
* Moccasin Bluff
* Oak Forest
* Palos
* Plum Island
* Roche-a-Cri Petroglyphs
* Schwerdt
* Summer Island

|

Fort Ancient culture|

* Alligator Effigy Mound
* Clover
* Dodge
* Leo Petroglyph
* Serpent Mound
* SunWatch Indian Village

Culture|

| Agriculture|

* Beans
* Chenopodium
* Little barley
* Maize
* Marshelder
* Pumpkin
* Squash
* Sunflower
* Three Sisters
* Tobacco

|

Artwork|

* Emmons mask
* Copper plates
* Rogan plates
* Spiro plates
* Wulfing cache
* Duck River cache
* Long-nosed god maskette
* Mill Creek chert
* Pottery
* Shell gorget
* Stone statuary

Languages|

* Caddoan
* Central Algonquian
* Cherokee
* Mobilian Jargon
* Muskogean
* Natchez
* Taensa
* Siouan
* Timucuan
* Tunican
* Yuchi

Religion|

* Ballgame (Southeastern)
* Northern
* Black drink
* Burial mound
* Ceremonial pipe
* Chanunpa
* Chunkey
* Earth/fertility cult
* Green Corn Ceremony
* Horned Serpent
* Platform mound
* Red Horn
* Sacred bundle
* Village bundle
* Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
* Stone box grave
* Thunderbird
* Underwater panther

Related topics
Chevron bead
Clarksdale bell
Mound Builders
de Soto Expedition

* v
* t
* e

Pre-Columbian North America

Periods
Lithic
Archaic
Formative
Classic
Post-Classic

Archaeological
cultures|

* Adena
* Alachua
* Ancient Beringian
* Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi)
* Anishinaabe
* Avonlea
* Baytown
* Belle Glade
* Buttermilk Creek complex
* Caborn-Welborn
* Cades Pond
* Calf Creek
* Caloosahatchee
* Clovis
* Coles Creek
* Comondú
* Deptford
* Folsom
* Fort Ancient
* Fort Walton
* Fremont
* Glacial Kame
* Glades
* Hohokam
* Hopewell
* List of Hopewell sites
* La Jolla
* Las Palmas
* Maritime Archaic
* Mississippian
* List of Mississippian sites
* Mogollon
* Monongahela
* Old Cordilleran
* Oneota
* Paleo-Arctic
* Paleo-Indians
* Patayan
* Plano
* Plaquemine
* Poverty Point
* Red Ocher
* Safety Harbor
* Santa Rosa-Swift Creek
* St. Johns
* Steed-Kisker
* Suwannee Valley
* Tchefuncte
* Troyville
* Weeden Island

Archaeological
sites|

* Angel Mounds
* Anzick site
* Bandelier National Monument
* Bastian
* Benson
* Blue Spring Shelter
* Bluefish Caves
* The Bluff Point Stoneworks
* Brewster
* Cahokia
* Candelaria Cave
* Carlisle Fort
* Casa Grande
* Chaco Canyon
* Coso Rock Art District
* Crystal River
* Cuarenta Casas
* Cueva de la Olla
* Cutler
* Eaker
* El Fin del Mundo
* El Vallecito
* Effigy Mounds
* Etowah Indian Mounds
* Eva
* Folsom
* Fort Ancient
* Fort Center
* Fort Juelson
* Four Mounds
* Gila Cliff Dwellings
* Glenwood
* Grimes Point
* Helen Blazes
* Holly Bluff
* Hopewell Culture National Historical Park
* Horr's Island
* Huápoca
* Key Marco
* Kimball Village
* Kincaid Mounds
* Kolomoki Mounds
* Lake Jackson Mounds
* Lehner Mammoth-Kill Site
* L'Anse aux Meadows
* Lynch Quarry Site
* Marksville
* Marmes Rockshelter
* Meadowcroft Rockshelter
* Mesa Verde
* Moaning Cavern
* Moorehead Circle
* Morrison Mounds
* Moundville
* Mummy Cave
* Nodena site
* Ocmulgee Mounds
* Old Stone Fort
* Orwell site
* Paquime
* Painted Bluff
* Parkin Park
* Pinson Mounds
* Plum Bayou Mounds
* Portsmouth Earthworks
* Poverty Point
* Pueblo Bonito
* Rassawek
* Recapture Canyon
* River Styx
* Roberts Island
* Rock Eagle
* Rock Hawk
* Rosenstock Village
* Russell Cave
* Salmon Ruins
* Serpent Mound
* Sierra de San Francisco
* Shell ring sites
* Spiro Mounds
* Stallings Island
* SunWatch
* Taos Pueblo
* Town Creek Indian Mound
* Turkey River Mounds
* Upward Sun River
* Velda Mound
* West Oak Forest Earthlodge
* Wickiup Hill
* Windover
* Winterville
* Wupatki

Human
remains|

* Anzick-1
* Arlington Springs Man
* Buhl Woman
* Kennewick Man
* La Brea Woman
* Leanderthal Lady
* Melbourne Man
* Minnesota Woman
* Peñon woman
* Spirit Cave mummy
* Vero man

Miscellaneous|

* Aridoamerica
* Ballgame
* Black drink
* Ceremonial pipe
* Chanunpa
* Chunkey
* Clovis point
* Container Revolution
* Eastern Agricultural Complex
* Eden point
* Effigy mound
* Falcon dancer
* Folsom point
* Green Corn Ceremony
* Horned Serpent
* Kiva
* Medicine wheel
* Metallurgy
* Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing
* Mound Builders
* N.A.G.P.R.A.
* Norse colonization of North America
* Oasisamerica
* Piasa
* Projectile point
* Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
* Stickball
* Three Sisters agriculture
* Thunderbird
* Transoceanic contact
* Underwater panther
* Water glyphs

Related
Genetic history
Pre-Columbian era

* v
* t
* e

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Topics|

* Architectural style categories
* Contributing property
* Historic district
* History of the National Register of Historic Places
* Keeper of the Register
* National Park Service
* Property types

Lists by state|

* List of U.S. National Historic Landmarks by state:
* Alabama
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Lists by insular areas|

* American Samoa
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Lists by associated state|

* Federated States of Micronesia
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* Palau

Other areas|

* District of Columbia
* American Legation, Morocco

Lists of specific structure types|

* Amusement rides
* Jails and prisons
* University and college buildings

Related|

* National Historic Preservation Act
* Historic Preservation Fund

* National Register of Historic Places portal
* Category

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