<< Other Photo Pages >> Big Mound (St Louis) - Artificial Mound in United States in The Plains
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Pre-ColumbianSite Name: Big Mound (St Louis)Country: United States
NOTE: This site is 2.321 km away from the location you searched for.
Region: The Plains Type: Artificial Mound
Nearest Town: Saint Louis, Missouri
Latitude: 38.642975N Longitude: 90.186299W
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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The largest and northern-most earthen mound of what is now called the Saint Louis Group was 34 feet high and covered more area than a city block. It is assumed to have dated to the same time period as Cahokia, (1100-1300s CE) It was a prominent landmark from the nearby Mississippi River and helped earned the early nickname of European Saint Louis - Mound City.
In the mid 1800s, as the railroads came to the city, almost all of the Saint Louis Group began to be demolished for fill dirt. The Big Mound was finally destroyed in 1869, after slowly being gouged, topped, and scooped away, starting in the 1850s. At some distance below the uppermost level, a burial chamber was found, lined with cedar logs and containing 20 to 30 human burials and a vast number of white seashells. None of these finds were described systematically at the time. No one appears to have published sketches of the burials or artifacts.
The destruction of the mound was documented in early photographs (daguerreotypes,) and at least one photo was taken of a set of copper earpieces found with one set of remains. The ear pieces were in the shape of masks or faces with long, crooked noses (six inches long!) and wide, round eyes. These were two of only about 20 examples of this "theme" found in North America. The rare ornaments are now referred to depict a "Long-Nose God" and are often cited as examples of possible Meso-American influence among the Mississippian Culture. The photo was only re-discovered in 1956 in a compiled list at Harvard's Peabody Museum. The whereabouts of the artifacts themselves has never been clearly recorded; they appear to have been discarded along with other North American artifacts held at St. Louis' Washington University.
All that remains of the Big Mound is a memorial plaque set in a stone at Broadway and 7th Street. The original location of the mound is variously described, but given the description of its size, all the locations mentioned are probably correct.
The only visible remant of the Saint Louis Mound Group is Sugarloaf Mound which lies at the extreme southern edge of the mound complex.
Sources include:
Daguerreotype, T. Easterly, ca. 1852-54. "Big Mound. Fifth and Mound Streets, St. Louis". Missouri History Museum Photographs and Prints Collections. Thomas Easterly Collection. N17076.
Daguerreotype T. Easterly, 1869. "Big Mound during destruction". Missouri History Museum Photographs and Prints Collection. Easterly Daguerreotype Collection. N17088.
T. Pauketat, Cahokia - Ancient America's Great City on the Mississippi, 2009.
S.Williams and J. Goggin, "The Long Nosed God Mask in Eastern United States," Missouri Archaeologist 18, 1956.
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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
3.0km E 92° East Saint Louis Mound Center* Ancient Village or Settlement
6.1km E 89° Sam Chucalo Mound* Artificial Mound
8.4km E 80° Fingerhut tract* Ancient Village or Settlement
8.5km SSW 207° Sugarloaf Mound, Missouri* Artificial Mound
8.6km ENE 76° Cahokia - Powell Mound Artificial Mound
9.8km E 79° Cahokia - Woodhenge* Timber Circle
10.0km E 79° Cahokia - Mound 44* Artificial Mound
10.4km E 79° Cahokia - Mound 42* Artificial Mound
10.6km E 81° Cahokia - Mound 48 Artificial Mound
10.7km E 83° Cahokia - Mound 59* Artificial Mound
10.7km E 89° Cahokia - Mound 66 Artificial Mound
10.7km E 85° Cahokia - Mound 72* Artificial Mound
10.8km E 83° Cahokia - Mound 60* Artificial Mound
10.9km E 80° Cahokia - Monk's Mound* Pyramid / Mastaba
11.1km ENE 74° Cahokia - Kunnemann Group* Ancient Temple
11.1km E 82° Cahokia - Mound 55* Artificial Mound
11.1km E 83° Cahokia - Museum* Museum
11.2km E 80° Cahokia - Mound 36 Artificial Mound
11.2km E 81° Cahokia* Ancient Village or Settlement
11.2km ENE 78° Cahokia - Mound 5.* Artificial Mound
11.3km E 79° Cahokia - Stockade* Misc. Earthwork
11.4km E 80° Cahokia - Ramey Group* Ancient Village or Settlement
11.4km E 81° Cahokia - Mounds 30 and 31 Artificial Mound
12.2km ENE 56° Horseshoe Lake Mound* Artificial Mound
28.4km N 358° Piasa Bird* Rock Art
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