Ocmulgee National Monument

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Ocmulgee National Monument

Ocmulgee National Monument preserves traces of over ten millennia of native Southeastern culture, including Mississippian

Mississippian culture

The Mississippian culture was a Mound builder Native Americans in the United States culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern United States, Eastern United States, and Southeastern United States United States from approximately 800 Common Era to 1500 Common Era, varying regionally....
mounds. It is located on the eastern side of Macon

Macon, Georgia

Macon is a city located in central Georgia , USA. It is among the largest metropolitan areas in Georgia, and the county seat of Bibb County, Georgia....
.

History
Ocmulgee (pronounced "oak-mull-ghee") is a memorial to the antiquity of people in Southeastern North America

North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Ocmulgee National Monument'

Start a new discussion about 'Ocmulgee National Monument'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Ocmulgee National Monument preserves traces of over ten millennia of native Southeastern culture, including Mississippian

Mississippian culture

Macon, Georgia

Macon is a city located in central Georgia , USA. It is among the largest metropolitan areas in Georgia, and the county seat of Bibb County, Georgia....
.

History

Ocmulgee (pronounced "oak-mull-ghee") is a memorial to the antiquity of people in Southeastern North America

North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
. From Ice Age

Ice age

The general term "ice age" or, more precisely, "glacial age" denotes a geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in an expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers....
hunters to the Creeks of historic times, there is evidence of at least 10,000 years of human habitation. Between 900-1150, an elite society supported by skillful farmers lived on this site near the Ocmulgee River

Ocmulgee River

The Ocmulgee River is a tributary of the Altamaha River, approximately 255 mi long, in the U.S. state of Georgia . Noted for its relatively unspoiled and gentle current, it provides the principal drainage for a large section of the Piedmont and coastal plain of central Georgia....
. They constructed a town of rectangular wooden buildings, huge pyramidal temple mound

Mound

A mound is a general term for an artificial wikt:heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rock s, or debris. The most common use is in reference to natural earthen formation such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial....
s, and at least one burial mound. Circular earthlodges

Earth house

An earth house is also known as an Earth Berm or an Earth Sheltered Home, it is an architecture style characterized by the use of natural terrain to help form the walls of a house....
served as places to conduct meetings and ceremonies.

After this large early ceremonial center declined, other villages were built in the area by the later Mississippian

Mississippian culture

Hernando de Soto (explorer)

Hernando de Soto was a Spanish people Exploration and conquistador who, while leading the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States, was the first European to discover the Mississippi River....
in 1540. During historic times, the great mounds continued to evoke awe and admiration. Naturalist

Natural history

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards the observational than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research that is published in magazines than in academic journals....
William Bartram

William Bartram

William Bartram was an United States natural history, the son of John Bartram. Bartram was born in Kingsessing, Pennsylvania. As a boy, he accompanied his father on many of his travels, to the Catskill Mountains, the New Jersey Pine Barrens, New England, and Florida....
journeyed through Ocmulgee in the 1770s and described the "wonderful remains of the power and grandeur of the ancients in this part of America." In the early 1900s, the area was put into a large renovation, and the site was made into its present manifestation.

National Monument

On June 14, 1934, the park was authorized as a National Monument

U.S. National Monument

A National Monument in the United States is a protected area that is similar to a United States Park Service except that the President of the United States can quickly declare an area of the United States to be a National Monument without the approval of United States Congress....
, which was formally established on December 23, 1936, under the National Park Service

National Park Service

The National Park Service is the List of United States federal agencies that manages all List of areas in the United States National Park System, many U.S....
. As an historic unit of the Park Service, the National Monument was administratively listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation....
on October 15, 1966. Ocmulgee has a visitor center

Visitor center

A visitor center or centre , visitor information center, tourist information center or tourist information, may be:* A visitor center at a specific attraction or place of interest, such as a landmark, national park, U.S....
that houses an archaeological

Archaeology

Archaeology, archeology, or arch?ology is the science that studies Homo cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, Artifact , features, Biofact s, and cultural landscape....
museum that interprets the cultures of the Native Americans

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii....
who had inhabited this site. A short orientation film and gift shop are also available in the visitor center.

The park has 5-1/2 miles (9 km) of walking trails. Near the visitor center is a reconstructed thousand-year-old ceremonial earthlodge. Visitors can reach the Great Temple Mound via a half mile walk or the park road. Other features in the park include a burial mound, temple mounds, prehistoric trench

Trench

A trench is a type of excavation or depression in the ground. Trenches are generally defined by being deeper than they are wide , and by being narrow compared to their length ....
es, and the site of a colonial British trading post

Trading post

A trading post is a place where the Trade of product takes place. The preferred travel route to a trading post, or between trading posts, is known as a trade route....
.

The main section of Ocmulgee National Monument is accessible from U.S. Route 80

U.S. Route 80

U.S. Route 80 is an east-west United States highway. As the "0" in the route number indicates, it was originally a cross-country route, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean....
, off of Interstate 16

Interstate 16

Interstate 16 , also known as Jim Gillis Historic Savannah Parkway or State Route 404, is an List of intrastate Interstate Highways Interstate Highway located entirely within the state of Georgia , United States....
(which passes through southwest edge of the monument). It is open daily except Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Lamar Mounds is an isolated unit of the monument, located in the swamps about 3 miles (5 km) south of Macon. The Lamar Unit is open on a limited basis. This site is smaller than Moundville Archaeological Park

Moundville Archaeological Site

Moundville Archaeological Site, also known as the Moundville Archaeological Park, is a Mississippian culture site on the Black Warrior River in Hale County, Alabama, near the town of Moundville, Alabama....
in Moundville, Alabama

Moundville, Alabama

Moundville is a town in Hale County, Alabama and Tuscaloosa County, Alabama Counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. At the 2000 census the population was 1,809....
.

External links

Official NPS website:
Lamar Mounds coordinates: