Leake Mounds ( 9BR2) is an important

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

Bartow County, Georgia Bartow County is in the Northwest region of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 108,901, up from 100,157 in 2010. The county seat is Cartersville. Traditionally considered part of northwest Georgia, Bartow ...

built and used by peoples of the

Swift Creek Culture The Swift Creek culture was a Middle Woodland period archaeological culture in the Southeastern Woodlands of North America, dating to around 100-800 CE. It occupied the areas now part of Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee. In ...

. The site is west of the well-known

Etowah Mounds Etowah Indian Mounds ( 9BR1) are a archaeological site in Bartow County, Georgia, south of Cartersville. Built and occupied in three phases, from 1000–1550 CE, the prehistoric site is located on the north shore of the Etowah River. Etow ...

on the

Etowah River The Etowah River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 waterway that rises northwest of Dahlonega, Georgia, Dahlonega, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, ...

. It predates that site by hundreds of years. Excavation of nearly on the site showed that Leake Mounds was one of the most important

Middle Woodland period In the classification of :category:Archaeological cultures of North America, archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BC to European contact i ...

site in this area from around 300 BCE to 650 CE. It was a center with ties throughout the Southeast and Midwest. It was abandoned about 650 CE. It was not occupied again for nearly nine hundred years, until about 1500, by different peoples near the end of the

Mississippian culture The Mississippian culture was a collection of Native American societies that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 to 1600 CE, varying regionally. It was known for building la ...

period. The site includes at least three major platform

mound A mound is a wikt:heaped, heaped pile of soil, earth, gravel, sand, rock (geology), rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded ...

s and a large semi-circular moat/ditch. While much of the mounds were razed to be used as road fill for the expansion of the

Georgia State Route 113 State Route 113 (SR 113) is a state highway in western Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The route connects U.S. Route 27 in Georgia, US 27/Georgia State Route 1, SR 1 in Carrollton, Georgia, Carrollton and Interstate 75 ...

and

Georgia State Route 61 State Route 61 (SR 61) is a State highway (US), state highway that travels south-to-north through portions of Carroll County, Georgia, Carroll, Douglas County, Georgia, Douglas, Paulding County, Georgia, Paulding, Bartow County, Geor ...

in the 1940s, significant portions of the site remain. Several sites on nearby Ladds Mountain were integrally associated with Leake, including Shaw Mound, a stone burial mound; Indian Fort, a stone wall enclosure; and Ladds Cave, a large cave. Examples of a type of pottery decoration consisting of a diamond-shaped checks found at Leake Mounds are also known from Hopewell sites in Ohio (such as Seip, Rockhold, Harness, and Turner), the

Mann site The Mann site ( 12 Po 2) is a Crab Orchard culture site located off Indian Mound Road in Mount Vernon, Posey County, Indiana. It was placed on the National Historic Register on October 1, 1974. Exotic ceramics and other artifacts found at the sit ...

in southern

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. This style has also been found on pottery at other sites in the South, such as the Miner's Creek site, 9HY98, and

Mandeville site The Mandeville site ( 9CY1) is an archaeological site in Clay County in southwest Georgia in the United States. The site now lies under the Walter F. George Reservoir, which is a part of the Chattahoochee River basin. History The first occupatio ...

in Georgia, and the

Yearwood site Yearwood is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Barrington Yearwood (born 1986), Barbadian cricketer *Gilberto Yearwood (born 1956), retired Honduran football player *Kathleen Yearwood (born 1958), Canadian experimental singer-son ...

in southern

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

References

External links

Excavation and Archaeological Investigation at Bartow County's Leake Site

The Woodland Period Cultural Landscape of the Leake Site Complex: Encompassing the Diversity of Human Action

THE MANN SITE AND THE LEAKE SITE : LINKING THE MIDWEST AND THE SOUTHEAST DURING THE MIDDLE WOODLAND PERIOD
{{Pre-Columbian North America Swift Creek culture South Appalachian Mississippian culture Archaeological sites in Georgia (U.S. state) Geography of Bartow County, Georgia Mounds in Georgia (U.S. state)

See also

References

External links