The Glass site (
22 WR 502) is a
Plaquemine culture
The Plaquemine culture was an archaeological culture (circa 1200 to 1700 CE) centered on the Lower Mississippi River valley. It had a deep history in the area stretching back through the earlier Coles Creek (700-1200 CE) and Troyville cultures ...
archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...
located approximately south of
Vicksburg Vicksburg most commonly refers to:
* Vicksburg, Mississippi, a city in western Mississippi, United States
* The Vicksburg Campaign, an American Civil War campaign
* The Siege of Vicksburg, an American Civil War battle
Vicksburg is also the name of ...
in
Warren County, Mississippi
Warren County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 48,773. Its county seat is Vicksburg. Created by legislative act of December 22, 1809, Warren County is named for American Revolution ...
. Originally the site had four
platform mound
Platform may refer to:
Technology
* Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run
* Platform game, a genre of video games
* Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models
* Weapons platform, a system or ...
s surrounding a large open
plaza
A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...
, but land leveling for modern farming techniques and looting by pothunters mean only portions of three have survived into the 21st century. It was a major ceremonial center that was contemporaneous with other large Plaquemine sites including
Emerald
Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p ...
,
Holly Bluff, and
Winterville and whose main occupation period occurred during the protohistoric period from 1500 to 1650 CE. Parts of the site were excavated by
Clarence Bloomfield Moore
Clarence Bloomfield Moore (January 14, 1852 – March 24, 1936), more commonly known as C.B. Moore, was an American archaeologist and writer. He studied and excavated Native American sites in the Southeastern United States.
Early life
The ...
in 1910 and 1911, and by Lauren Elizabeth Downs in 2007-2009.
The mounds are listed on the
Mississippi Mound Trail
The Mississippi Mound Trail is a driving tour of 33 sites adjoining U.S. Route 61 where indigenous peoples of the Mississippi Delta built earthworks. The mounds were primarily built between 500 and 1500 AD, but are representative of a variety ...
.
Site chronology
The Glass site sits on the northern edge of the area covered by the Natchez Bluff phase, immediately south of the Yazoo Basin phase area and across the Mississippi River from the Tensas Basin area. While it was lightly occupied during the earlier
Marksville and
Coles Creek eras; its main period of occupation was during the protohistoric Emerald phase from 1500 to 1650 CE. This era saw its florescence as a major civic center and the construction of the platform mounds. It was inhabited during the time of the
de Soto entrada down the Mississippi in 1543 and is considered a possible candidate for the polity of ''"
Quigualtam Quigualtam or Quilgualtanqui was a powerful Native American Plaquemine culture polity encountered in 1542–1543 by the Hernando de Soto expedition. The capital of the polity and its chieftain also bore the same name; although neither the chief nor ...
"'' or the unnamed group encountered by the expedition below Quigualtam; both of whom fiercely attacked the Spaniards as they drifted down the river. It was no longer in use by the time of sustained European contact when the French arrived in the 1680s.
[
]
See also
* Culture, phase, and chronological table for the Mississippi Valley
References
External links
*
*
{{Pre-Columbian North America
Plaquemine Mississippian culture
Mounds in Mississippi
Geography of Warren County, Mississippi