Pinson Mounds Earthcache EarthCache

This park is one of the best kept secrets in these parts. It's big enough to take up an afternoon and picturesque enough to be worth the drive. This is one place in West Tennessee where you can really enjoy the scenery, get back in the woods and feel like you are a million miles away. The park is situated along a stretch of the Forked Deer River, which you can spot from a boardwalk overlook way back in the forest. And its trails lead to mounds built by Native Americans who lived in the area. There is a nature trail that intersects with the boardwalk, and it's a hilly area. There are a couple of spots where you can stop to rest and look deep into the forest. The Pinson Mounds comprise a very unusual land formation as the area in which they are located is virtually flat and swampy for miles. The mounds seem to rise up out of nowhere. While the site's large size and immense volume of earth fill are very impressive, the presence of five large rectangular platform mounds (ranging in height from 7 to 72 feet) of Middle Woodland age underscores the unique nature of the Pinson Mounds site. The Pinson Mounds grouping consists of at least 15 earthen mounds, a geometic earthen enclosure, habitation areas and related earthworks in an area that incorporates almost 1,200 acres. The most amazing of the mounds is Ozier's Pyramid, which is perfectly aligned with the sunrise of the spring equinox. Approximately 33 feet tall with a ramp on one side, Ozier Mound was constructed in at least six stages. Each successive summit was covered with a thin layer of pale yellow sand. Copper, mica, and microblades of non-local chert were found in association with the uppermost mound summit. These materials have been recovered from ritual activity areas elsewhere within the site, thus providing clues about the use of Ozier Mound for rituals. Radiocarbon dated to ca. A.D. 100, the northern Twin Mound exhibits unusually complex stratigraphy reflecting the following construction sequence. First, a layer of puddled clay (moistened to thick liquid consistency) was placed over the tombs and associated ritual features. Then, over the area in which the tombs were located, a circular, flat-topped primary mound, covered with alternating bands of multicolored earth and sand, was constructed. Numerous sharpened wooden poles were driven into the surface of the primary mound at intervals of approximately 1.7 feet. Separated from this mound by a narrow walkway was a low, sand-covered platform that supported a number of large, outslanting posts. Finally, the primary mound, the walkway, and the circular platform were covered with several distinctive layers of fill dirt, bringing the northern Twin Mound to a height of approximately 23 feet. Pinson Mounds was not built by a single small village or group of villages. Based on a variety of distinctive pottery types found at the site, it appears that individuals from as far away as southern Georgia and Louisiana participated in rituals at Pinson Mounds. Other interesting features at Pinson Mounds include the second-tallest mound in the United States (Sauls Mound, at 72 feet) and a circular earthen enclosure similar to earthworks found in the Ohio Valley. Pinson Mounds is the largest Middle Woodland period mound group in the United States, and dates to about 1-500 A.D. The Native Americans that built the mounds lived long before historically known Native American tribes, and used the site for ceremonial purposes. The largest mounds were used for various ceremonies, while a few of the smaller mounds, as well as the Twin Mounds, held burials. A number of cremation and activity areas have been found nearby. Pinson Mounds is a national historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Pinson Mounds was discovered in 1820 by a crew surveying this part of the country for land claims. The site was named after one of the surveyors-Joel Pinson. The site remained relatively unknown until the 1880's when J. G. Cisco, a Jackson newspaper editor, became interested in it and began publicizing it. In the early 1900's William E. Myer, an archaeologist with the Smithsonian Institution, surveyed and mapped Pinson Mounds. A copy of his map hangs in the museum. In the 1950's and 1960's, local citizens, believing in the value of the site, convinced the State to purchase the land and preserve it as a park. Saul's Mound is so tall and steep that climbing its steps will take your breath away, not to mention the view from the observation deck at the top. In some areas, you'll walk dirt roads to get to certain mounds and to get from one trail to another. Along the way you can stop just to watch the tall grasses in the fields sway in the wind and think about the people who lived in this area. West Tennessee's Pinson Mounds offers a glimpse into the life of the many peoples who called this land home. You can find out more about Native American culture at Archaeofest, held at Pinson Mounds each September. There are craft demonstrations of pottery, basketry, leatherwork, flintknapping and chipping, and jewelry making. Other Activities: Fieldwork is normally conducted in the summer, and visitors are welcome to watch the archaeologists at work. If you head out there to hike, be sure to pick up a map. I can guarantee you'll get turned around without one. There's a group camp available and a museum at the park. For more information, call (731) 988-5614. I would like to mention some of the above information is from an article by Ellen Kimbro, Outdoors writer for The Jackson Sun.

Pinson Mounds State Park is open Monday-Saturday from 8am-4:30pm and on Sunday from 1pm-5pm There is a $3.00 park fee except on Wednesday when entry to the park is free.

To claim credit for this find, you must walk up the 124 steps to the top of Saul's Mound and post a photo of yourself and or your GPSr at the top of the observation deck. You must then email me with both the height of Sauls Mound as well as the estimated date it was constructed.