ABSTRACT
In this chapter you will nd mysteries involving artifacts, remains, ruins, and earthworks that oer little or no written clues as to their makers, meanings, or functions. ese mysteries surround an extensive Native American culture that covered a time span of at least a thousand years and incorporated a wide area stretching from the upper reaches of the Mississippi River in Minnesota to the bayous of Louisiana and from the upper reaches
of the Ohio River to its joining with the Mississippi in southern Illinois. ese peoples have been collectively called the Mound Builders because of their custom of designing and constructing raised mounds of earth, oen in geometric or animal shapes, some of which served as burial places, some as platforms for buildings, and others some mysterious purpose we don’t yet understand. ey built the mounds and designed artifacts in dierent time periods, ranging as far back as over two thousand years ago. Since the founding of the United States these peoples have been referred to as Adena or Hopewell or Mounds Indian cultures, oen aer places in which constructions and artifacts were rst discovered. We are not really sure of the interconnections among and between these peoples, but there certainly was extensive trade and transport throughout the central river systems of the present United States, and beyond to other areas of North America. To this day, mounds dot the landscape of the Mississippi River valleys from Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota to Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, and Oklahoma.
