Mississippian Culture

In about AD 800 groups of Native Americans developed a culture along the Mississippi River and in what is now the southeastern United States. This Mississippian culture is best known for building mounds of earth. The culture ended by about 1700, but many of the mounds still stand.

The Mississippians lived in both large and small communities. Chiefs ruled towns or regions, called chiefdoms. The chiefs were also religious leaders. Chiefdoms had contact with each other through wars, trade, and alliances. The people were mainly farmers who grew corn and other crops. They also produced pottery and detailed carvings. They used stone, shell, wood, and copper to make headdresses, masks, weapons, and other items.

Every Mississippian chiefdom had one or more mounds of earth, usually at the center of town. Some mounds were small and round. Others were large pyramids or platforms. The chief’s home always sat at the top of a mound. The largest Mississippian mound is Monks Mound, which is a part of the Cahokia Mounds in southern Illinois. Monks Mound measures about 1,000 feet (300 meters) long and 700 feet (200 meters) wide. It stands about 100 feet (30 meters) high. The Mississippian culture had already begun to weaken when European xplorers arrived in the 1500s. Many Mississippians then died of diseases brought by the Europeans. The last people of the Mississippian culture were probably the Natchez.

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