<< Other Photo Pages >> Wickliffe Mounds - Ancient Village or Settlement in United States in Great Lakes Midwest
Submitted by bat400 on Wednesday, 02 September 2015 Page Views: 10635
Multi-periodSite Name: Wickliffe Mounds Alternative Name: 15 Ba 4Country: United States
NOTE: This site is 26.466 km away from the location you searched for.
Region: Great Lakes Midwest Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: Cairo, Illinois Nearest Village: Wickliffe, Kentucky
Latitude: 36.971100N Longitude: 89.0928W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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bat400 visited on 30th Apr 2011 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 3 Access: 5 Large and steady rainfall this spring has flooded two of the three excavation areas normally open to the public. The largest excavation (over what was a long loaf shaped burial mound covering a village surface) is still open, as it the small visitor center.
The site admission fee has been reduced during this period. The friendly staff are still ready to answer your questions.
During the last week of April the only route into the village of Wickliffe is Kentucky State Road 60. The other major routes were either flooded or blocked by a mudslide.
The site included a substantial village 1100 - 1200AD. The mounds were all built between 1200 - 1300 with a substantial expansion of the village during the same period. Rectangular shaped homes of wattle and daub (most about 10 x 13 feet) and packed earthen floors surrounded the central plaza and were placed beyond and between mounds. Most of the mounds were built over previous home sites.
At peak occupation there was a population of several hundred - an estimate of 300 is typical from various researchers. After the period of mound building activity in the town rapidly declined, with no new building after the mid 1300's.
In addition to the structural evidence of home sites, the mounds, ditches, and middens, artifacts found during various excavations include utilitarian pottery, stone and bone tools, food remains, and finer ceramics of effigy vessels and pipes. A mound (possibly several mounds later combined) dating to the 1200s appears to have functioned as a cemetery, but other burials have been found in a variety of locations, including immediately adjacent or in house sites.
Early amateurs excavations occurred from 1913 onward, but starting in the 1930's the Mounds were owned and excavated by Fain King, following techniques he had seen in professional excavations (conducted by the University of Chicago.) King later opened the excavations into an attraction he billed as "The Ancient Buried City." Following the example of Dickson Mounds, also excavated and opened for tourists in this period, entire mounds were completely excavated, with artifacts displayed in situ and the site covered by an enclosed building. From King's records its known that he often relocated artifacts to produce a more exciting display and human remains were the prime attraction. In one mound a large number of infant burials were found and King removed adult burials to produce a more exotic "infant cemetery". Exaggerated hype and dubious claims continued until the tourist venture (later operated for owners after King) closed in the early 1980's and the site became the properly of Murray State University.
This University has used the site as a field school ever since, although the property is now part of the Kentucky State Park system. Researchers have documented the remains and findings of the earlier excavations, and new digs have produced a more complete and scientific story of the site.
The site continues to use the earlier excavation surfaces with its burial sites, post holes and trenches as the showcase for artifacts and informational displays in the current museum buildings. Nearly all human remains have been removed (many repatriated to the modern Osage) and replaced by resin replicas in some cases. Where removal is difficult, the remains are covered. The museum buildings focus on Architecture (the excavated Mound B,) Lifeways (the excavated Mound D,) and Burials (the excavated Cemetery Mound C.)
A large flat topped round mound and remnants of the excavated mound are visible. The Visitor Center and a parking area are located where the prehistoric town's central plaza lay.
The ancient town is immediately to the northwest of the modern town of Wickliffe.
Wickliffe is a Kentucky Archaeological Landmark and State Park. The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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