1. The Mound Builders

2. Mound Builders were not a single group of people.
The three main groups were the Adena, Hopewell, and Mississippians.

3. Where they were located
They lived in the eastern half of the present-day United States, mainly east of the Mississippi River.

4. The Adena
The first Native-American group to build mounds in what is now the United States often are called the Adenans.
They began constructing earthen burial sites and fortifications around 600 B.C.
Some mounds from that era are in the shape of birds or serpents and probably served religious purposes.

5. The Hopewell
The Adenas appear to have been absorbed or displaced by various groups collectively known as the Hopewell.
One of the most important centers of their culture was found in southern Ohio, where the remains of several thousand of these mounds still can be seen.
The Hopewells were great traders, and used and exchanged tools and materials across a wide region of hundreds of miles.

6. By around 500 A.D., the Hopewell disappeared, giving way to a broad group of tribes known as the Mississippians.
One city, Cahokia, near Collinsville, Illinois, is thought to have had a population of about 20,000 at its peak in the early 12th century.
At the center of the city stood a huge earthen mound, flattened at the top, that was 98 feet high and 91 acres at the base.
Eighty other mounds have been found nearby.
The Mississippians

7. Cities such as Cahokia depended on a combination of hunting, foraging, trading, and agriculture for their food and supplies.
Influenced by the thriving societies to the south, they evolved into complex societies, based on rank, that took slaves and practiced human sacrifice.

8. THE MOUND BUILDERS, AS THEIR NAME SAYS, BUILT MOUNDS OF VARIOUS SIZES AND SHAPES.
THEY BUILT THEIR MOUNDS FOR BURIAL. SKELETONS OF NATIVE AMERICANS HAVE BEEN FOUND IN THE MOUNDS.
THE MOUNDS WERE BUILT FOR RELIGIOUS PURPOSES. SOME MOUNDS WERE BUILT WITH A FLAT TOP. ON THE TOP WAS LOCATED A TEMPLE IN WHICH WORSHIP TOOK PLACE.
PERHAPS THE MOUNDS WERE USED FOR PROTECTION. AT THE TOP OF A MOUND ONE COULD SEE AN ENEMY OR ENEMIES APPROACHING.

9. Burial Mound

10. Temple Mound

11. OTHER MOUNDS HAD SHAPES OF ANIMALS OR OTHER CREATURES.
THESE ARE CALLED “EFFIGY” MOUNDS.
THE MOST FAMOUS OF THE EFFIGY MOUNDS IS THE SERPENT MOUND LOCATED IN ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO.

12. Great Serpent Mount in Ohio (see the snake?)

13. Food
The Mound Builders hunted animals like rabbits, squirrels, bison, and deer.
They also caught fish.
BUT THE MAIN WAY THEY GOT FOOD WAS FROM FARMING!!!!
They farmed crops such as corn, beans, and squash

14. Shelter
Archaeologists believe that the Mound Builders lived in wigwams.
Remains of the poles to the wigwams have been found by the dozens around various mounds.

15. Decline The cause of their decline is unknown.
Theories include European diseases and joining other cultures.
By 1500 AD, the culture was gone.

16. Artifacts
We know what we know due to artifacts left behind by the Mound Builders.
Some artifacts that have been found include tools, weapons, pottery, pipes, and other items.
The tools they used were very intricate.