The Myth of the Moundbuilders
All along the Mississippi River and northward into Wisconsin, up through Ohio and New York, all the way to Lake Ontario, there are remnants of ancient inhabitants that created many earthworks called mounds. Within the mounds, for which many were graves, were great works of stone, clay, copper, and shell that were grave goods. In the 1800s, there was a debate that was the interest of every educated person in the United States as to what civilization could have made these mounds. Many thought that an ancient race besides the Native Americans made the mounds. According to Kenneth L. Feder, this Moundbuilder myth was “…predicated, not by a hoax…, but rather on a nearly complete and sometimes willful misunderstanding of genuine data” (1). Many thought that every group of people from wandering Egyptians to Norwegians to Africans had built the mounds. But why did many exclude the Native Americans?
There were five arguments that people used to support the idea that Native Americans could not have built the mounds:
“1. Indians were too primitive to have built the mounds and produced the works in stone, metal, and clay attributed to the Moundbuilder culture.
2. The mounds and associated artifacts were very much more ancient than even the earliest remnants of Indian culture.
3. Stone tablets were found in the mounds that bore inscriptions in European, Asian, or African alphabets.
4. American Indians were not building mounds when first contacted by European explorers and settlers. When queries were made of the local Indians concerning mound construction or use, they invariably professed complete ignorance.
5. Metal artifacts made from iron, silver, ore-derived copper, and various alloys had been found in the mounds. “ (1)
Until 1894, there was no answer to the question of who built the mounds, but only of who didn’t. At this time, Cyrus Thomas was commissioned by the Bureau of American Ethnology to find the answer that riddled so many minds. In 1882, Thomas set out to collect as much information as he could about the Moundbuilders; he investigated 2000 mounds sites in 21 states and collected over 40,000 artifacts from the mounds. He came to his answer by debunking each of the five previous arguments (1).
First, the “Indian culture was too primitive” argument didn’t stand up because old accounts written by previous European navigators and explorers commented on the Native Americans from the Mississippi all the way to Atlantic. It is said that they were a “civilized” population that cultivated and grew their own crops. Why would the supporters of the Moundbuilder myth ignore these documented observations? From these observations, the Native Americans don’t seem too primitive too me.
Secondly, the “Mound culture was older than Indian culture” claim didn’t hold up because of the notion of the time that Indians were recent arrivals to North America; “Native Americans first arrived in the New World more than twelve thousand years ago…, and the mounds are all substantially younger” (1). (Even Thomas got mixed up when it came to this, but this fact was unknown at the time.)
Thirdly, there were no alphabetically inscribed tablets in the tombs…..that were authentic. All of the tablets were proven to be fakes. End of story.
Fourth, for the “Indians were not moundbuilders when Europeans came along” story, it is definitely not true. Again, according to old written accounts, like what De Soto’s chronicler, the Gentleman of Elvas wrote, they did mention the construction of mounds. He wrote, “The lords house stoode neere the shore upon a very hie mount, made by hand for strength” (1). In case, you don’t understand outdated English, it said, “The Lord’s house was by the shore on a high mount (or mound), and they made them by hand so they’d be strong.” I think it sounds like mound building.
Lastly, the whole “metal objects” argument doesn’t count because there is no proof that the metallurgy skills that would have been needed to create the grave goods couldn’t have been possessed by the Native Americans.
After all was said and done, Thomas came to the conclusion that the mounds throughout North America were made by Native Americans. Frankly, there was no reason not to believe it, especially when there were written accounts by Europeans disproving some of the arguments.
Others asked what happened to the Moundbuilders? Well, thanks to Europeans and their disease called smallpox, whole societies were decimated; they had no antibodies to defend against a completely new disease to them (2). Otherwise, argument number four wouldn’t have even of been considered. Indians would have still been making mounds!!
Sources:
(1) Feder, Kenneth L. Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology, Second Edition. London and Toronto: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1996. Print.
(2) National Park Service. "The Mound Builders". Indian Mounds of Mississippi, 13 Jun. 2011. Web. 14 Apr. 2012. <website>
There were five arguments that people used to support the idea that Native Americans could not have built the mounds:
“1. Indians were too primitive to have built the mounds and produced the works in stone, metal, and clay attributed to the Moundbuilder culture.
2. The mounds and associated artifacts were very much more ancient than even the earliest remnants of Indian culture.
3. Stone tablets were found in the mounds that bore inscriptions in European, Asian, or African alphabets.
4. American Indians were not building mounds when first contacted by European explorers and settlers. When queries were made of the local Indians concerning mound construction or use, they invariably professed complete ignorance.
5. Metal artifacts made from iron, silver, ore-derived copper, and various alloys had been found in the mounds. “ (1)
Until 1894, there was no answer to the question of who built the mounds, but only of who didn’t. At this time, Cyrus Thomas was commissioned by the Bureau of American Ethnology to find the answer that riddled so many minds. In 1882, Thomas set out to collect as much information as he could about the Moundbuilders; he investigated 2000 mounds sites in 21 states and collected over 40,000 artifacts from the mounds. He came to his answer by debunking each of the five previous arguments (1).
First, the “Indian culture was too primitive” argument didn’t stand up because old accounts written by previous European navigators and explorers commented on the Native Americans from the Mississippi all the way to Atlantic. It is said that they were a “civilized” population that cultivated and grew their own crops. Why would the supporters of the Moundbuilder myth ignore these documented observations? From these observations, the Native Americans don’t seem too primitive too me.
Secondly, the “Mound culture was older than Indian culture” claim didn’t hold up because of the notion of the time that Indians were recent arrivals to North America; “Native Americans first arrived in the New World more than twelve thousand years ago…, and the mounds are all substantially younger” (1). (Even Thomas got mixed up when it came to this, but this fact was unknown at the time.)
Thirdly, there were no alphabetically inscribed tablets in the tombs…..that were authentic. All of the tablets were proven to be fakes. End of story.
Fourth, for the “Indians were not moundbuilders when Europeans came along” story, it is definitely not true. Again, according to old written accounts, like what De Soto’s chronicler, the Gentleman of Elvas wrote, they did mention the construction of mounds. He wrote, “The lords house stoode neere the shore upon a very hie mount, made by hand for strength” (1). In case, you don’t understand outdated English, it said, “The Lord’s house was by the shore on a high mount (or mound), and they made them by hand so they’d be strong.” I think it sounds like mound building.
Lastly, the whole “metal objects” argument doesn’t count because there is no proof that the metallurgy skills that would have been needed to create the grave goods couldn’t have been possessed by the Native Americans.
After all was said and done, Thomas came to the conclusion that the mounds throughout North America were made by Native Americans. Frankly, there was no reason not to believe it, especially when there were written accounts by Europeans disproving some of the arguments.
Others asked what happened to the Moundbuilders? Well, thanks to Europeans and their disease called smallpox, whole societies were decimated; they had no antibodies to defend against a completely new disease to them (2). Otherwise, argument number four wouldn’t have even of been considered. Indians would have still been making mounds!!
Sources:
(1) Feder, Kenneth L. Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology, Second Edition. London and Toronto: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1996. Print.
(2) National Park Service. "The Mound Builders". Indian Mounds of Mississippi, 13 Jun. 2011. Web. 14 Apr. 2012. <website>