Emerald Mound

"Just north of Natchez, Mississippi and less than half a mile off the Natchez Trace Parkway is Emerald Mound.

"The Indians who built EMERALD MOUND were from the Mississippian Culture which gets its name because so many of their mounds and villages were located in the Valley of the Mississippi River. Unlike earlier mound builders who built mounds for burial purposes, the Mississippians constructed flat-topped mounds as the centers for their villages, and used them for ceremonial dances, civic processions, games and religious rituals.

"Built between 1250 and 1600 A.D. Emerald Mound is the second largest temple mound in the United States. It's 35 feet high and at the base measures 770 feet by 435 feet, an area of about 9 football fields.

"Tests by archaeologists in 1949 indicate that Emerald mound started as a natural hill top. The Mississippians leveled off the top of the hill and added hundreds of tons of earth from near the base. Using primitive tools, they loaded the dirt into baskets or skins which they carried to build the mound.

"Join us next time when we'll continue our discovery at Emerald Mound. I'm Frank Thomas, your guide along the Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness."

For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com