Jordan Mounds (
16 MO 1) is a multimound
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 ...
in
Morehouse Parish, Louisiana
Morehouse Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 27,979. The parish seat is Bastrop. The parish was formed in 1844.
Morehouse Parish comprises the Bastrop, LA Micropolitan Stat ...
.
It is the
type site
In archaeology, a type site is the site used to define a particular archaeological culture or other typological unit, which is often named after it. For example, discoveries at La Tène and Hallstatt led scholars to divide the European Iron A ...
for the ''Jordan Phase'' of the local chronology. The site was constructed during the protohistoric period between 1540 and 1685.
Description
The site was once an impressive mound complex, with seven
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 central
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. ...
and an associated village area. It was once located on the
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...
, which has a relict channel nearby. The site was constructed during the
protohistoric
Protohistory is a period between prehistory and history during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted the existence of those pre-literate groups in their own writings. For example, in ...
period (1540 to 1685) after Native Americans in the area were first contacted by Europeans of the
Hernando de Soto
Hernando de Soto (; ; 1500 – 21 May, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and '' conquistador'' who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire ...
Expedition of the early 1540s. The builders were an intrusive group in the area, possibly from the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
area to the east. By the late 1600s the site was abandoned, possibly due to the collapse of their society brought about by the aftereffects of European contact.
[ The site is depicted in ]E. G. Squier
Ephraim George Squier (June 17, 1821 – April 17, 1888), usually cited as E. G. Squier, was an American archaeologist, history writer, painter and newspaper editor.
Biography
Squier was born in Bethlehem, New York, the son of a minister, Joel S ...
and E. H. Davis' ''Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley
''Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley'' (full title ''Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley: Comprising the Results of Extensive Original Surveys and Explorations'') (1848) by the Americans Ephraim George Squier and Edwin Hamilton ...
'' in 1848 as Plate XXXVIII Figure 4.[ ]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 ...
tried to visit the site in the early 1900s but was unable to do so because the site lacked riverine access for his steamboat the ''Gopher''.
See also
* Culture, phase, and chronological table for the Mississippi Valley
References
External links
*
{{Pre-Columbian North America
Plaquemine Mississippian culture
Mounds in Louisiana
Geography of Morehouse Parish, Louisiana