We didn't want to stay outside at Ocmulgee National Monument, but we didn't want to miss anything either."The rain should be here by noon," said Andy, so maybe we should drive to the mounds first and then come back to the museum."
Starting at the far end of the park, we hopped out, read the interpretive displays, jogged the trail and jumped back in Little Red for warmth. Raw described the morning.
In front of us stood the Funeral Mound of the ancient Mississippians. Archaeologists had uncovered bones from more than 100 burials here. The mound, built in seven stages of construction, is thought to be a giant grave for chieftains or tribal leaders, because some burials included sea shells and copper ornaments. Later, in the museum we saw the copper-covered puma jaw, probably part of a ceremonial headdress of a chief, discovered when archaeologists unearthed the human bones, and we read about the intricate colorful patterns laid down in red, white, blue-grey and yellow clay, red loam and sand.
Greater Temple Mound, 90 feet high over the river, and Lesser Temple Mound, partly destroyed by the railroad in 1843, had been topped by rectangular wooden structures, probably buildings used for religious ceremonies when the Mississippian culture flourished here about 1,000 years ago from 900 A.D. to 1,500 A.D.
We walked the edges of the trails, looking for protection from overhanging trees as the raindrops started.
We read how Paleo-Indians here were nomadic hunters of large mammals. The earliest mounds could have been started 6,000 years ago (4,000 B.C.), and by the Woodland Period (1,000 B.C. to 900 A.D.) Ocmulgee had grown to the capital city of the ancient Muscogee civilization, ancestors of the Creek Indians. During the Mississippian Period (900 A.D.-1,500 A.D.) residents developed extensive cultivated fields of corn, squash and sunflowers using bone and antler tools and a highly structured society with intricate social relationships.
When the dribble outside stopped, we went back for more cold-weather hiking. "It's only a half mile around to the Earthen Lodge," said Ranger Tonika. "You don't want to miss that. It has the original floor that has been carbon dated at 1,000 years old." The interior, with a rounded roof, reminded me of an underground kiva. Fifty stone seats pads circled the room, increasing in size and height to the three right in front of the fire pit. Opposite the entrance, these three were placed on a raised platform shaped like a large bird. Ranger Tonika had said it was the oldest, largest and best preserved native American ceremonial lodge in North America. "It was probably a meeting place for the ancient Muscogees," she had said.
defensive."
We walked the edges of the trails, looking for protection from overhanging trees as the raindrops started.
"Let's go into the museum for a while. Then maybe we can come back out," suggested Andy.
A film Mysteries of the Mounds explained the sequence of habitation in this area for more than 10,000 years, and museum displays illustrated lifestyles, hunting and cooking techniques and even probable clothing and shelter.
A film Mysteries of the Mounds explained the sequence of habitation in this area for more than 10,000 years, and museum displays illustrated lifestyles, hunting and cooking techniques and even probable clothing and shelter.
We read how Paleo-Indians here were nomadic hunters of large mammals. The earliest mounds could have been started 6,000 years ago (4,000 B.C.), and by the Woodland Period (1,000 B.C. to 900 A.D.) Ocmulgee had grown to the capital city of the ancient Muscogee civilization, ancestors of the Creek Indians. During the Mississippian Period (900 A.D.-1,500 A.D.) residents developed extensive cultivated fields of corn, squash and sunflowers using bone and antler tools and a highly structured society with intricate social relationships.
When the dribble outside stopped, we went back for more cold-weather hiking. "It's only a half mile around to the Earthen Lodge," said Ranger Tonika. "You don't want to miss that. It has the original floor that has been carbon dated at 1,000 years old." The interior, with a rounded roof, reminded me of an underground kiva. Fifty stone seats pads circled the room, increasing in size and height to the three right in front of the fire pit. Opposite the entrance, these three were placed on a raised platform shaped like a large bird. Ranger Tonika had said it was the oldest, largest and best preserved native American ceremonial lodge in North America. "It was probably a meeting place for the ancient Muscogees," she had said.
"It's warm in here," said Andy.
"I guess they knew what they were doing a thousand years ago," I responded.
The rain held off, even though temperatures hovered in the low 40's. We walked the Opelofa Trail to the Southeast Mound and the Bartram Trail, named in memory of naturalist William Bartram, who saw Ocmulgee deserted and overgrown in the 1770's and wrote of the mounds with mingled respect and incomprehension.
The ancient village that Hernando de Soto encountered in 1540 was gone, probably wiped out by the diseases he and his men brought to an unprotected land and a vulnerable people. Only giant mounds remained.
Andy and I read the interpretive sign at Cornfield Mound, another puzzle for archaeologists. The area showed signs of a cultivated corn field, but Mississippians farmed the bottom lands. Then we headed a mile out on the side trails to McDougal Mound and Dunlap Mound. Prehistoric trenches offered another puzzle. 
"I think they could just be sources for the right color clay," I said.
"That's one theory," said Andy, "but the movie said more archaeologists believe they were defensive."
Nearby, in this massive intermingling of cultures were Civil War earthworks and trenches; the site of a 1690 British trading post, where the English did business with Creek Indians; and the Norfolk and Southern Railroad Line. The land showed evidence of at least 1,000 years of habitation. The mounds though remain mysteries.
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