The Mosier Mounds Complex (

Smithsonian trinomial A Smithsonian trinomial (formally the Smithsonian Institution Trinomial System, abbreviated SITS) is a unique identifier assigned to archaeological sites in many states in the United States. They are composed of one or two digits coding for the sta ...

: 35WS274), also known locally as the Mosier Battlements, is an

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 ...

near

Mosier, Oregon Mosier is a city along the Columbia River in Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 433 at the 2010 census. History Mosier was first settled in 1854 and incorporated as a city in 1914. The building now known as the post office ...

, United States. This collection of stone walls, pits, and

mounds A mound is an artificial heap or pile, especially of earth, rocks, or sand. Mound and Mounds may also refer to: Places * Mound, Louisiana, United States * Mound, Minnesota, United States * Mound, Texas, United States * Mound, West Virginia * Moun ...

amid a

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

talus slope is the largest and most complex of a number of similar Native American sites in the southern

Columbia Plateau The Columbia Plateau is a geologic and geographic region that lies across parts of the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. It is a wide flood basalt plateau between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains, cut through by the Columbia ...

. The site predates the arrival of Europeans and probably the local ascendance of

Chinookan peoples Chinookan peoples include several groups of Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest in the United States who speak the Chinookan languages. Since at least 4000 BCE Chinookan peoples have resided along the Lower and Middle Columbia River (Wi ...

, but has resisted more precise dating or cultural affiliation.. The site was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2003..

References

Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon National Register of Historic Places in Wasco County, Oregon {{Oregon-NRHP-stub

See also

References