#ocmulgee

Ocmulgee National Monument, Part 2

         The pictures above illustrate the two most impressive sights at the monument. The first and second are of the Earth Lodge, a hollow mound inside of which is a grand room believed to be a council room, with a fire pit in the middle and an altar in the shape of a bird, either an eagle or a falcon (maybe a falgle or an eacon?). Not pictured are the molded seats on either side of the altar where presumably the council sat. The inside of the Lodge was reconstructed after the excavations in the 1930s so it could be accessed more easily by the public.

           The third picture depicts the Great Temple Mound and the railroad that bisects the entire archaeological site. The Great Temple Mound is the biggest mound in the park and hundreds of artifacts were found on, in, and around it, some of which can be seen in the museum in the visitor center for the park. It has a smaller mound right next to it called the Lesser Temple Mound which can also be seen in the picture. The Great Temple Mound had a structure on it at one point, containing artifacts with no practical purpose so archaeologists just say they’re ceremonial, hence the name of the mound.

           The railroad was constructed in the 1870s and cuts right through the middle of the site. There is no telling how much history was destroyed in the making of this railroad, and we know from some sources that there were indeed many artifacts and human remains found during construction (Jones 1873). A lot of these are now lost to us, and it serves as a reminder that so much history was erased or forgotten in the name of progress not just in the United States, but everywhere around the world.

          The Ocmulgee National Monument was the site of one of the largest archaeological excavations in the United States, orchestrated in the 1930s. It is located in the city of Macon in the center of the state of Georgia. The site itself contains archaeological evidence of human occupation from 17,000 years ago (give or take a few thousand) all the way to the 1800s. The biggest attractions of the National Monument are the earthen mounds which were built by local indigenous groups dating back to the Mississippian period, which lasted from 800 to 1600 AD. The site also includes a colonial era trading post and some Civil War earthen defensive structures.