USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Regardless of the particular age, form, or function of individual mounds, all had deep meaning for the people who built them. Many earthen mounds were regarded by various American Indian groups as symbols of Mother Earth, the giver of life. Such mounds thus represent the womb from which humanity had emerged.

Detailed explanation-2: -Mounds were typically flat-topped earthen pyramids used as platforms for religious buildings, residences of leaders and priests, and locations for public rituals. In some societies, honored individuals were also buried in mounds.

Detailed explanation-3: -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. They often built their mounds on high cliffs or bluffs for dramatic effect, or in fertile river valleys.

Detailed explanation-4: -Some archeologists believe they were built to mark celestial events or seasonal observances. Others speculate they were constructed as territorial markers or as boundaries between groups. The animal-shaped mounds remain the symbol of the Effigy Mounds Culture.

Detailed explanation-5: -Mississippian cultures Like the mound builders of the Ohio, these peoples built gigantic mounds as burial and ceremonial places.