The mound builders had many different types of mounds. The most common type of mound is the flat top pyramid. The flat top pyramid usually held the basic temple. The mounds came in many different sizes ranging from those built for one family to those built for whole towns. They could be massive in size or very small. The mounds had one flaw in the design, if the wood frame got water in it, it would rot and fall over. They later found the flaw and fixed it by using a rock frame instead of wood. They also had burial mounds, they were shaped like cones. They put the body under the frame then burned it. After they burned the body they put his treasures on top of him. Once they did that, they built the cone on top of the body. They were named the mound builders because of all the unique mounds they made. The mound builders have hundreds of thousands of mounds still up today. The mounds were used for ceremonial burial and living purposes. The mounds, like the pyramids of the Egyptians were massive in size. Some of the mounds were shaped like the animal they worshiped.
The mound builders grew and they hunted for many things. They grew corn, squash, beans, and tobacco in their farms and gardens. They also hunted for many things like fish, which they speared and trapped. Their hunting tools were the bow, spear, trap, and axes. The skin they got from the animal, they tanned and made into clothing. They believed in using the animal for everything they could, like cooking, clothing, and other tools. The main animals they caught were rabbits, bear, fish and deer. They sometimes caught other things like sea life. They caught the bear by trapping it with a bear trap then spearing it until it was dead. The deer and rabbit they caught with bow and arrow but sometimes spears. They used bear and deer bones to make garden tools like the hoe or spade. They invented a spear thrower called an atlatl, which gave the spear greater velocity on impact to kill the deer faster. Cities such as Cahokia depended on a combination of hunting, foraging, trading and agriculture for their food and supplies. As you can see, hunting and gathering are, or if not, then close to the most important thing they did back then. Their war tools were the axe, bow and spear. They did not go to war that often, but when they did, those are the tools they brought.
The chief’s burial was very ceremonial. First they wrapped him in a milkweed cloth. They only used the milkweed cloth for the chief. Most of the villagers made special gifs like bronze and silver breastplates and bracelets for him to take to the spirit world. The hunters made hammers, knives and bows for him to hunt in the spirit world. All the farmers gave him seeds to take to the next world to make crops. The mound builders had a strong belief in the next world. So they had to do all of the burial right for him to go to the spirit world. The artists made stone pipes carved like the things they worshiped, such as the bird. They also made funeral bowls and breastplates, but more detailed than the villagers made. The night they decide to bury him, they had a small ceremony. This ceremony had dancers, drummers and singers to morn his death. They also made human sacrifices for the chief. The sacrifices were his workers in the spirit world. They also scalped the workers for some ceremonial purposes.
The mound builders made their mounds by first digging up the ground. After they dug up the earth, they cut down trees. The trees came from outside of their village. After they cut down the trees, they drove the tree stumps into the ground and put mud in the hole to make the stumps stay in the ground. They put mud mixed with grass over the wood beams to make the mud stay and dry. After the mud was dry, they put an extra layer of clay on to make the surface smooth. Once all the basic things were done, they cut a hole in the top so they could have a fireplace to keep them warm in the winter. Also, some of them made windows, not very many, but all had doors. As you know, the mound is the thing they are best known for and it is what inspired many other tribes to make things like it. After they found out that the wood rots, they replaced it with a rock structure. They usually made them by large rivers which rotted the structures faster. Most of the mounds were made of earth. Some were made of all stone but that was very rare. Most were built in commanding positions like on hill tops in groups.
Their jewelry as you know was almost always used for ceremonial purposes. They made most of their jewelry out of bronze and silver. Those were the easiest kinds of rocks to find around that area of Mississippi. Their smoking pipes were carved to look like the animals they worshiped. Some of the animals they worshiped were the eagle, hawk and owl. They usually worshiped birds. All the different tribes had different animals they worshiped, mostly these were birds, but sometimes this was a dog or even a person. They made breastplates and bracelets of the animals they worshiped. They used the treasure from the burial to mark where a wealthy person was buried, like a chief. Jewelry was a very important part of their lives because they traded it for other goods like food or other jewelry. The mound builders also used shells that they carved at the burial. The believed in the spirits and carved them into their jewelry. The spirits were the animal, weather, ancestor and local spirits. But some tribes believed in more than one spirit, they called that mixing spirits. The jewelry they found at the mounds were from many different places so that means that they traded with many people. As you can see the mound builder tribes were an advanced society with an advanced trading system.
There is little known about the mound builders art. There is little known about it because the art was either destroyed or they did not make that much art. The most art that was found was around the burials. That did not surprise the finders because they always had big offerings at the burial of the chief. Like the jewelry, they put the animals they worshiped into their pottery. The one thing they found the most of was pottery at the burial sites. The pottery was carved as the spirits of their ancestors and animals. Like the jewelry, the pottery was used for trading of goods. They had very detailed pottery mostly carved as humans but sometimes carved as animals. The types of art they made depended on where they lived. If you lived by the sea, you made shell art. If you lived in the forest, you made pottery and pipes. They made about 10 different kinds of art. An example is ear ornaments or pipes, there are many different types. In my opinion, the art work was the coolest thing they did beside the mounds. The art they did was very pretty and best displayed their art skills and creativity.
