Ely
Mound
The above coordinates will lead you
to a historical marker “K-3 Indian Mound” located a few miles West
of Rose Hill, VA on Old Rt. 58. At this spot you can see the
importance of geology on human activity.
Virginia is divided into five
geological provinces. They are from east to west Costal Plain,
Piedmont, Blue Ridge, Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian Plateau.
You are standing in the Valley and Ridge Province, a part of the
Appalachian Mountains. The Valley and Ridge Province is made up of
long parallel ridges with long fertile valleys in
between.
The Appalachian Mountain range is
extremely old. It was formed during the Paleozoic Era by an awesome
display of plate tectonics. The African continent drifted into the
North American continent which caused the land to fold upward. This
folding of land created the Appalachian Mountains similar to
kicking a rug into folds. What you see at Ely Mound are the roots
of these ancient mountains. Only parts of the original folds
remain. The ridges are the eroded edges of rock layers which are
resistant to erosion. The resistant rock is mostly hard sandstone,
conglomerate, and quartzite.
Erosion of the ridges by water and
wind causes the deposition of particles over the valley floor. This
eventually produces soil which covers the valley floor. This large
relatively flat valley became good farm land and highway for human
and animal movement.
From the spot you are standing, you
can see the Cumberland Mountain to the north and the Powell
Mountain to the south. These are the ridges. Water from the south
side of the Cumberland Mountain and the north side of the Powell
Mountain flows through numerous small streams to feed the Powell
River. Across the Powell Mountain you would find the Clinch River
separated from the Holston River by Clinch Mountain. The Powell,
Clinch and Holston Rivers come together to flow into the Tennessee
River. The Tennessee River flows into the Ohio River which in turn
flows into the Mississippi. These rivers would serve as a major
highway for the Indians and early European settlers.
If you look north at Cumberland
Mountain you will see an area called White Rocks. White Rocks is
made up of what is known as Greenbrier Limestone and was laid down
about 350 million years ago. The White Rocks form cliffs that are
500 feet tall. On the south face of Cumberland Mountain in Virginia
there are 24 caves. These caves vary in size from 20 feet to over 6
miles. These are solutional caves which form in rock which is
soluble. Limestone is very soluble.
The white rocks were important to
Indians and European settlers alike. The earliest Indians probably
used the caves as shelter. Erosion from the cliff face was
important in forming the fertile soil of the valley floor. This
became very important in changing the Indian lifestyle from hunting
to farming. European settlers saw the White Rocks as a signal they
were nearing Cumberland Gap and their passage through the ridge to
Kentucky.
The key factor in development of
Indian villages was the geological features of an area. Game
animals and humans used the path of least resistance in traveling.
The trails in this area made use of rivers, fords, gaps, passes,
and springs to ease the hardship of travel through the Valley and
Ridge Province. At the spot where you stand Daniel Boone’s
Wilderness Trail passed by.
Between 10,000 BC and 1600 AD
Virginia Indians change from being nomadic hunters to village
farmers. In this valley the black soil is rich and ideal for
growing corn. The Indians who made Ely Mound were present from 1200
BC to 1500 AD and are today called Woodland Indians.
The Woodland culture is divided into
three groups and existed before contact with Europeans. These three
are groups are Mississippian, Earthen Mound, and Costal Plain. It
is thought the Mississippian culture built the mound you see before
you. Southwest Virginia was at the edge of the Mississippian
culture to the north. This culture probably made its way here by
using the Tennessee drainage system 2,000 years ago.
The best preserved Mississippian site
in Virginia is Ely Mound. On top of this mound you see before you
was a townhouse which overlooked the village. It is believed the
townhouse acted as a church and town hall and was the focal point
of village activities. The Harvard University/ Peabody Museum
excavated the mound in 1877. They found rotting cedar posts from
the townhouse. Unfortunately, the mound caved-in killing one person
and crippling another.
If you look north across Rt. 58
(4-lane) you will see Temple Mound, fertile farmland, and
Cumberland Mountain all made possible by the geology of the
area.
To claim credit
for the cache find, you must do the following:
Take a picture
of yourself with your GPSer and the mound visible in the
background. Post this picture with your log.
Then email me
with the answers to the following questions.
1. What is the
approximate height of the mound?
2. What is the
approximate length of the mound?
From the
historical plaque – answers the following:
1. Who led to
excavation in 1877?
2. How long did
the Late Woodland-Mississippian period last?
Please do not
post answers on the cache page or the entry will be deleted. Also,
please do not park on the 4-lane for any pictures, there is ample
parking at the Historical Marker.