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Description
The site of Chucalissa is one of many mound sites found within the Mississippi River Valley, all of which have been classified as belonging to the ancient Mississippian culture group. There are two mounds at Chucalissa, both of which were constructed around 1500 CE by amassing basketfuls of earth over a period of several years. Excavations at the site have allowed archaeologists to actually see these unique basketfuls of soil within the layers of stratigraphy: each of the curve-shaped colors of soil represents one basket load. Constructing the great mound at Chucalissa would have required over 200,000 basketfuls of soil, a feat of civic engineering that necessitated an impressive level of administrative and social organization.
Date
1500 CE
Recommended Citation
Museum, Chucalissa, "Chucalissa Mound" (2022). Artifacts. 38.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/chnash-museum-chucalissa-gallery2/38
Keywords
Burial Mound; Mound; Chucalissa Mound; Mississippian
