Mound Builders

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Mound Builders

• Wb. 32 and 51

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Woodland Indians

• Many of the Woodland Indians who lived in
  Tennessee were Mound Builders.
• Their name comes from the large piles of earth,
  called mounds they built in or near their
  settlements.

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What were mounds used for?

• Burial grounds
• Location of temples
• Location for homes
• How were they built?
• Workers would carry heavy baskets of dirt, one at
  a time, to their building sites.
• Each mound could take months or even years to
  build.
• Mounds range from 20 (6m) to 300 (91m) wide.

4
Dimensions

• Some mounds were built in rectangular or circular
  shapes.
• Others had four straight sides that sloped up to
  a flat top.
• Some mounds were as tall as 72 which is the same
  as a seven-story building.

5
Mississippian Indians

• The Mississippi Mound Builders were the last
  group of Mound Builders to settle in Tennessee.
  (1600s)
• They were one of the greatest mound-building
  societies in Tennessee.
• They made their homes along the MS River.
• Some of the mounds they built were almost as
  large as a football field.

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Lets Review

• Nomads - Moved from place to place
• Woodland Indians - Built villages in Middle
  Tennessee
• Native Americans - First people to live in
  Tennessee
• Mound Builders - Built mounds of earth
• Mississippian Indians - The last of the Mound
  Builders