Wickliffe Mounds

36.970833333333 - 89.092777777778Koordinaten: 36 ° 58 ' 15 " N, 89 ° 5' 34 " W

The Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site is a state park in Kentucky. The ten -acre park is located in Wickliffe in Ballard County.

Plant

The park preserves the archaeological site of a village of Native Americans of the Mississippian culture. The village was situated on a bluff above the Mississippi. Archaeologists have divided the history of the settlement into three periods: the early Wickliffe period lasted from 1100 to 1175, the average Wickliffe period 1175-1250 and the late Wickliff period 1250 to 1350, the settlement was founded in 1100 as a small village. whose buildings were arranged around a central square. This place is situated below the current parking lot. Around 1175, was begun with the construction of the first mound, called the Mounds. First, Mound B was built, probably lived on the chief with his family. Between 1175 and 1250 built the villagers Mound A and Mound C, they also extended Mound B. Maybe they already began with the construction of additional Mounds as Mound D. The settlement was larger and there is evidence to extensive trade relations, particularly in the area of ​​the present St. Louis, where Cahokia was the largest settlement of Mississippian culture. After 1250 no further Mounds more were built, Mound A, B and D were not completed. In addition to the freezing of Mounds arose in the late period other interesting changes, for example, have been excavated from this period no more fishing hooks, so that the researchers assume that fish disappeared from the diet of the villagers. The settlement grew, however, until they occupied the whole cliff. Apparently in 1350 the inhabitants left then the settlement. The reasons for this are not known, and archaeologists are still looking for an explanation for this. Currently archaeologists investigate other settlements of the Mississippian culture in western Kentucky, and investigate the relations between the settlements with each other. They are also investigating whether the settlements were abandoned at the same time as Wickliffe. As the mounds are destroyed by the excavations, new excavations are made ​​only if you materially hopes for new findings of them in Wickliffe in the future. The State Historic Site seeks to preserve the archaeological site and carry out research based on the findings so far, but avoid further excavations. The Historic Site is accessible, the museum displays archaeological finds with exhibitions of pottery, stone work, as well as shell and bone finds of the Mississippian culture.

The remains of the four visible Mounds were named in order of excavation as Mound A to D:

• The Ceremonial Mound or Mound A Mound is the largest of the settlement. He wore the Zermoniengebäude on its top, which probably served as a center for religious or political purposes.
• Mound B, the Architecture Building, consisted of two structures that were built in several stages over 200 years. The excavations revealed that on the Mound was the home of a family, probably the chief or high priest. A corner of the house was reconstructed.
• Mound C is the so-called Mound Cemetery, because graves were found in him. The Mound was built in several sections, the tombs are assigned to the period around 1200.
• Mound D is called Lifeway Mound. It was built on the first huts of the inhabitants. Through the excavations of the mound was excavated for the most part.

There were at least four other mounds that were still included on the map from 1888, were destroyed by the private excavations in the 1930s, however. The records and reports of the excavations have been lost.

History

The mounds were certainly known to the first white settlers, but the first written mention of the Mounds was made until 1888, when Robert Loughridge mapped the site for the Kentucky Geological Survey. 1932 51/60/62 remains of pottery and other finds were unearthed during road construction on the highway. The amateur archaeologist and Colonel Fain W. King from Paducah purchased the site and began to expose the Mounds. Later, he was supported by his wife Blanche Busey King. The couple continued the excavations and ran the grounds under the name Ancient Buried City as a tourist attraction. Some of their excavations were followed by archaeological exact rules, but a large part of their records of the excavations have been lost. Blanche King published in 1939 a book on the excavations with the title Under your Feet. 1946 gave the Kings the terrain the Western Baptist Hospital in Paducah. The hospital operated the site continues as a tourist attraction until the site was handed over in 1983 Murray State University. The University established the Wickliffe Mounds Research Center to explore the archaeological site with qualified personnel and maintain. From 1984 to 2004, new excavations were made. 2004 transferred the University of the excavation site of the State of Kentucky, which she dedicated on July 1, 2004 as the 11th State Historic Site. The site is registered since 1984 in the National Register of Historic Places and as a Kentucky Archaeological Landmark.