USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Mississippian Period saw mound building reaching new heights, with cultures such as the Plaquemine culture and the Mississippian culture, constructing giant platform mounds and settlements that rivalled European cities in size at the time.

Detailed explanation-2: -From c. 500 B.C. to c. 1650 A.D., the Adena, Hopewell, and Fort Ancient Native American cultures built mounds and enclosures in the Ohio River Valley for burial, religious, and, occasionally, defensive purposes.

Detailed explanation-3: -Constructed around the year 250 by the ancestors of the Mississippian people called the Hopewell, the Great Circle and Octagon Earthworks most likely served as elaborate ceremonial structures where people gathered for large, seasonal rituals and ancestral rites.

Detailed explanation-4: -The first Indian group to build mounds in what is now the United States are often called the Adenans. They began constructing earthen burial sites and fortifications around 600 B.C. Some mounds from that era are in the shape of birds or serpents, andprobably served religious purposes not yet fully understood.

Detailed explanation-5: -Scholars believe that as the Adena traded with other groups of American Indians, the practice of mound-building spread. Other Mound Builders were the Hopewell and the Mississippian people. The Hopewell were hunters and gatherers but they also cultivated corn and squash.