Why Did They Leave the Town Creek Indian Mound?

About twenty miles west of
Sycamore Lodge Resort is the
Town Creek Indian Mound.

Indians built a settlement on a

 bluff overlooking the confluence
of the Town Creek & Little
 Rivers around 1100 AD.

This site, located on a bluff 

above the Little River, is 

easily defended.  

Eric enters the stockade.

The river was used to contact other tribes and trade with them.  Fish was plentiful.  As the land didn't flood, it was a stable area for farming.  

This mound was explored by amateurs looking for treasure in the late 1800s.  Joffre L Coe,  a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student, began a methodical archaeological exploration here in 1936.

The mound and surrounding area was extensively excavated and carefully returned to its original state.  Much has been learned about the Town Creek Indian Mound and its inhabitants.  The buildings on the site are reconstructions based on evidence found at
the site.

This is a reconstruction

of a burial hut.

It's size & shape are based on

evidence found during the

 site's archaeological excavation.

One hundred fifty-five bodies were found at this site.  Evidence of funerary rituals have been carefully documented.

This exhibit shows the death
ritual for a toddler.








The Shaman is a the left of the picture. The toddler's Uncle holds her.  The Aunt provides strands of beads that identify the toddler's clan in the afterlife.  The figure on the far right is a cousin describing the toddler's importance to her clan.

This smaller temple shows

the materials used before

clay was added to the sides

of the building.

Woven tree branches are the

"lath" that will plastered

over with wet clay.

Stripped trees line the

stockade, waiting to be

filled in & strengthened

with clay.

The large temple sits on top of

the settlement's first structure.

After the first structure collapsed,

it was filled in & used as 

platform for the temple.

A thatched roof covers

the temple.

Clay covers the walls &

the door is on the corner

of the building.

The altar is surrounded

by benches.

Pictures of animals are 

painted on all four walls 

of the temple.

 Eric stands below me on the ramp to the large temple.  

The hut of the dead is on the left.  The open area in the middle was a plaza used for public meetings & ceremonies.

This settlement was inhabited from about 1100 AD to 1450 AD.  Evidence of prolonged drought is believed to be the reason behind the inhabitants' departure.