The Mound Builders and the Mississippian Copper Plates,A lesser known subject in American history is
The Mound Builders and the Mississippian Copper Plates,A lesser known subject in American history is the life and culture of pre-Columbian civilizations in North America. We know quite a bit about Meso-America (Aztecs, Maya, Olmecs) and South American civilizations, but little about North American societies. The prevailing notion among people today who aren’t well versed in history is that North America lacked complex centralized urban societies compared to those in Central and South America, that basically they were all all nomadic peoples or hunter/gatherers. Nothing could be farther from the truth, as societies such as the Anasazi, Pueblo, and Iroquois had very large and complex societies. One example of a lost civilization in North America forgotten to popular history were the Mound Builders, a name given to various peoples who lived in the Ohio River and Mississippi regions and flourished from around 1,000 BC to around 1400 AD. The Mound Builders are named after the large earthen mounds on top of which they built their administrative, religious, commercial, and military structures. The mound builders lived in large independent city states, one of the largest being Cahokia, with a population around 40,000 in the 13th century, comparable in size to medieval London. As the largest city it was also the most important trading city in the region, as items crafted in Cahokia can be found all over central North America. Today Cahokia is part of the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site and is a UN World Heritage Site.Mound Builder culture began to decline in the 14th century and is believed to have collapsed around 1400 AD. Theories include the use of unsustainable agriculture, pollution of waterways, climate change (The Little Ice Age), and flooding. By the time the Spanish had arrived in the 16th century, all that was left of the Mound Builders civilization were the ruins of long abandoned cities and earthen mounds.The Mound Builders produced a number of artifacts for archaeologists to discover, including pottery, flint items, stone statues, and copper items. Native Americans in North America generally are not known for metal working, however many Native American cultures had knowledge of copper working. In Wisconsin copper tools and weapons have been uncovered dating to 3,000-1,000 BC.Starting in 800 AD, Mississippian cultures began to craft hundreds of ornamental copper plates. The copper itself was imported from the Great Lakes region and Appalachian Mountains. Copper nuggets were were repeatedly heated, cooled, and hammered into thin, pliable plates. Once soft enough, the plates were embossed using stone, wood, or bone tools. Many of the plates bear avian type images, leading archaeologists to believe that they worshiped some type of avian deity. Now of course I’m just an amateur, not an expert, but I can’t help but see a similarity between between the Mound Builders artwork and that of Meso-American civilizations. Perhaps they influenced each other? The Mound Builders not only made ornamental copper plates, but made a wide range of copper items such as tools, weapons, and jewelry. -- source link
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