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1 review for Etowah Indian Mounds
The Etowah Indian Mounds were built beside a slow moving laz-z-z-z-y river.
When you visit the mounds it is easy to see why early inhabitants of this country built here.
I would have.
Lush green trees and vegetation beside a slow moving river that is shallow in this area and filled with good fishing. The river snakes and winds and widens here providing great places for building mid-stream rock barriers - fishtraps to net and capture dinner.
As you wander about one of Georgia's State Parks & Historic Sites you can almost hear the drums and see the dancing. These were very sophisticated people with beautiful basketry, pottery and carvings. They lived a good life here. Resources were readily available for food, shelter and tools. Wildlife. Shade from the heat. Water.
The mounds were built by carrying the soil and rock by the basket load from nearby areas. Just imagine building your own "hill" one basket load - on your back - at a time. There are six earthern mounds here - all built by hand basket. No wheel barrrows, no backhoes, no shovels. The largest mound is 63 feet high. That is a hell of a lot of dirt and a lot of really sore muscles!
Inhabited by Native Americans, known as the Mississippian Culture, from 1000 AD to 1550 AD this site was just 56 acres in size and it is estimated that several thousand citizens lived here at one time. A small town by today's standards.
Today this wonderful historic park includes a visitors center and a museum of artifacts that tell the story of these people and their life in this beautiful setting. Only a small portion of this site has been excavated. The rest of the site remains intact for future generations to learn from and for past generations to continue to rest in peace.
The grounds include a picnic area and facilities for small classes. The last time I was here it was a "flintnapping" class day. I wanted to whip out my leather thigh guard and my novaculite and chip away with the rest of the students; but, sadly, my traveling companions were not flintnappers and were not willing to cut up their beautifully manicured hands just for what I thought was "fun." Besides, they wanted to know, what would we do with a knife or arrowpoint, even if we made one? They had me there. So, off we went to climb the 88 steps to the top of the mound.
The State Park offers classes / workshops in flintnapping, flutes & storytelling, bird walks, tools & weapons, torch light tours, Indian Heritage and more. On the website you can find directions, hours and days the workshops are offered. http://www.gastatepark...
This is a wonderful weekend trip just a few miles NW of Atlanta. Pair it with a trip to the Booth Western Art Museum in nearby Cartersville and you will have a complete early American weekend adventure.
So many wonderful places to go, people to see, history to learn.
Get up off that couch and you can see the many WONDERS of our country that are right under you nose!
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