Ocmulgee National Monument 1

Ocmulgee National Monument 1

Ocmulgee National Monument--Georgia

National Park Service Historical Handbook Series No. 24

 

Author: G. D. Pope

 

Preface

 

 

In presenting this reconstruction, based in a large measure upon

interpretations which took their origins from the work conducted at

Ocmulgee, the National Park Service would like to acknowledge the debt

of archeology to three gentlemen of Macon, Ga. Charles C. Harrold,

Walter A. Harris, and Linton M. Solomon were aware of the importance of

the large mound and village site close to their community and deeply

interested in its thorough study and ultimate preservation. It was

through their devoted efforts that the large-scale excavations were

undertaken, and the site of this important work preserved as Ocmulgee

National Monument.

 

 

 

 

Contents

 

 

_Page_

THE AMERICAN INDIAN 2

MAN COMES TO GEORGIA 7

FOOD FROM THE WATERS 12

POTMAKING BECOMES AN ART 19

TEMPLE MOUNDS AND AGRICULTURE 28

EARLY CREEKS 40

OCMULGEE OLD FIELDS 48

GUIDE TO THE AREA 55

HOW TO REACH THE MONUMENT 57

ABOUT YOUR VISIT 58

ADMINISTRATION 58

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING 58

 

[Illustration: Ancient Life at Ocmulgee. Artist's conception of temple

mound village of about A. D. 1000, seen from the riverside.]

 

[Illustration: Men at work building a mound.]

 

 

From the middle of the 18th century until 1934 the Indian mounds near

the present city of Macon, Ga., had been a subject for speculation to

all who saw them. A ranger journeying with Oglethorpe, founder of the

Georgia Colony, mentions "three Mounts raised by the Indians over three

of their Great Kings who were killed in the Wars." A more discerning

traveler in the same century could learn that contemporary Indians and

generations of their ancestors knew nothing of the origin of these

mounds, where ghostly singing was said to mark the early morning hours.

As late as 1930, however, even specialists could only add that the large

pyramidal mound showed connections with the cultures of the Mississippi

Valley and that a second mound had served as a burial mound.

 

In 1933, it was possible, with labor furnished by the Civil Works

Administration, to begin a systematic exploration of the Ocmulgee mounds

and adjoining sites. This work continued until 1941, most of it being

performed by the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian

Conservation Corps. In 1933, also, the citizens of Macon purchased the

land and gave it to the Nation. Ocmulgee National Monument was

authorized by Congress in June 1934 and established by Presidential

proclamation in December 1936.

 

Eight years' work, involving the removal of untold tons of earth and the

recovery of hundreds of thousands of artifacts, has established the

archeological significance of Ocmulgee. It has demonstrated the

existence here in one small area of material remains from almost every

major period of Indian prehistory in the Southeast. Being one of the

first large Indian sites in the South to be scientifically excavated,

Ocmulgee provided many of the important details in our expanding

knowledge of that story.

 

It is the middle-Georgia chapter of this story we shall tell here. In it

we can follow the Indian almost from the time of his earliest

recognition on this continent to that of his final defeat and later

dispossession by the white man. The period covered may be close to

10,000 years; and while the evidence is often scanty, we can detect in

it the unmistakable signs of steady cultural progress. During that time

the Indian passed from the simple life of the nomadic hunter to the

complex culture of tribes which, enjoying the products of an advanced

agriculture, could devote their surplus energy to the development of

religious or political systems. In the final pages we can study the

effects of the increasing impact of European civilization on the alien

culture of a self-sufficient people.

 

 

 

 

The American Indian

 

 

Every school boy knows that at the time of its discovery North America

was the Red Man's continent. He knows that white people, equipped with

the weapons and knowledge of an advanced civilization, took this land by

persuasion or by force. For most of us our knowledge of the American

Indian begins and ends with the brief interval in time where these two

races were involved in a bitter struggle.

 

Our knowledge is limited because until recently no one really knew the

answers to such questions as "Where did the Indian come from?" Many

thought that he had been preceded by another race of superior

intelligence, the "Mound Builders"; and in general our information about

him had rested on a great deal of ingenious speculation with very little

actual knowledge to back it up. The people most actively interested in

the problem are the archeologists. They have been studying it

intensively for about 75 years; and, while their work was at first

mostly descriptive, the last 25 years have seen tremendous strides in

both the techniques of their research and the soundness of their

interpretations. Now we know a good deal about the Indian and have

traced his career on this continent back to a time when our own past

becomes almost equally dim and shadowy. But this information is still

mostly to be found in big books, or in special studies that are hard to

obtain; so it may be helpful to outline briefly here what we know today

of the origins and early career of this particular branch of the human

race.

 

In the Old World, human history has been traced to its beginnings

through fossil remains suggesting a stage of development earlier than

man. In the Western Hemisphere, however, no such remains have been

found, which indicates that the American Indian must have immigrated

here from another continent. In searching for his closest relatives,

therefore, scientists are now agreed that certain physical peculiarities

show the modern as well as the prehistoric Indian to be most closely

linked to the peoples of eastern Asia.

 

[Illustration: Museum exhibit panel. Arrangement of cultural features

idealized.]

 

 

 

 

WORKING OUT THE PUZZLE

 

The archeologist determines the chronology of events by location of

materials buried in the earth. Since early material lies below that of

more recent times he can learn what happened, when it happened, and why.

To fill in the gaps he studies changes in styles of pottery, tools and

buildings.

 

HOW CHRONOLOGY IS DETERMINED

 

 

--By Geology: dating through study of rock formations and fossils found

with human remains. (Not very accurate)

 

--By Tree Rings: dating through study of annual rings which indicate

climate changes. (Accurate only in dry areas)

 

--By Carbon Fourteen: dating through checking amounts of radio-active

carbon in charcoal, shell and wood remains. (Accurate but difficult)

 

 

[Illustration: Cross section, east slope of Funeral Mound, Ocmulgee

National Monument. Arrangement of construction elements confused by

erosion and wash from top and side of successive mound stages.]

 

[Illustration: INDIANS COME TO THE NEW WORLD]

 

Most living American Indians share with the east Asians a group of

features which are considered to be distinctive of the great Mongoloid

division of mankind. These include: straight dark hair, dark eyes, light

yellow-brown to red-brown skin, sparse beard and body hair, prominent

cheekbones, moderately protruding jaws, rather subdued chin, and large

face. Since the question of race determination, however, is one of

extreme complexity, it should also be pointed out that while the

majority of modern Indians as well as prehistoric skeletal remains in

America share enough of these features in common to be regarded as

predominantly Mongoloid, they as well as the east Asians themselves,

possess other physical traits like stature and head form which vary

widely from group to group. Some of these other traits may be explained

by the influence of different environments acting over long periods of

time, but others point to an admixture of non-Mongoloid features in some

of the earliest migrants to these areas. It is just the meaning of this

mixture of apparently diverse elements which makes the problem of

ultimate origins so difficult; and we shall have to be content for now

with the general relationship which seems to have been established. If

the earliest wanderers to the Americas were primarily a blend of other

racial elements, their influence on the physical type of later American

Indians has been largely submerged by the Mongoloid features of the vast

majority of later arrivals.

 

Asia, too, is the closest great land mass to this continent, and from it

there are more practicable means of access than from any other area.

Even today the Bering Strait could be crossed by rafts, for islands at

the middle cut the open water journey into two 25-mile stretches.

Eskimos make the trip in their skin boats, or in winter by dog sled over

the frozen surface of the strait. In the past, the journey must have

been even simpler. During the several worldwide glaciations of the

Pleistocene Epoch, a geologic