While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
Etowah. mound. A large artificial mound on the N. bank
of Etowah r., 3 m. s. E. of Cartersville, Bartow co., Ga. With 4 or 5 smaller
mounds it is on a level bottom in a bend of the stream, the immediate area,
covering about 56 acres, flanked on one side by an artificial ditch that extends
in a semicircle from a point on the river above to the river below. The large
mound, which is a quadrilateral truncated pyramid, 61 ft. high, has a broad
roadway ascending the s. side to within 18 or 20 ft. of the top, and was
formerly provided with steps made with crossbeams imbedded in the earth, remains
of which were visible as late as 1885. The diameters of the base are
respectively 380 and 330 ft, and of the top 170 and 176 ft. The area of the base
is a little less than 3 acres, and of the top about seven-tenths of an acre. The
solid contents of the mound, including the roadway, are about 4,300,000 cu. ft.
On the E. side there is a narrow extension from the summit to the base, which
appears to have been a sort of refuse slide. The village situated here was
possibly the Guaxule of De Soto's chroniclers (1540), and the large mound the
one mentioned by Garcilasso de la Vega (Florida, lib. in, cap. xx, 139, 1723),
although Mooney (19th Rep. B. A. E., 520, 1900) is of the opinion that
Guaxule was probably about at Nacooche mound in White co.
The earliest description of the Etowah mound in modern times is by Cornelius (Silliman's
Am. Jour. Sci. and Art., 1st s., i, 322, 1818). C. C. Jones (Antiq. So.
Ind., 136, 1873) and Whittlesey (Smithson. Rep., 624, 1881) also
describe and illustrate it. A careful survey of the large mound and group, and a
partial exploration of the smaller mounds, were made by the Bureau of American
Ethnology and an account thereof was published (5th Rep., 95-105, 1887; 12th
Rep., 292, 1894). Cornelius states that "the Cherokees in their late war
with the Creeks secured its [the large mound s] summit by pickets and occupied
it as a place of protection for hundreds of their women and children." The
smallest of the 3 larger mounds, the surrounding space, and 1 or 2 small tumuli
have been explored. Parts of 3 or 4 stone images, copper plates with stamped
figures bearing some resemblance to Mexican designs, and other copper plates
with pieces attached by rivets have been found. Other articles, such as pipes,
earthen ware, copper celts, stone plates, etc., have also been un earthed. For
further information see the works above cited; also Squier and Davis, Ancient
Monuments, 1852; Thomas (1) Burial Mounds of the Northern Section, 5th
Rep. B.A. E. 1887, (2) Catalogue of Prehistoric Works, Bull. B.A. E., 45,
1891; Holmes in Science, iii, 437, 1884. (C. T.)
This site
includes some historical materials that may imply negative stereotypes
reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These
items are presented as part of the historical record and should not be
interpreted to mean that the WebMasters in any way endorse the stereotypes
implied .
Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Frederick Webb Hodge, 1906
