View source for Pinson Mounds

{{short description|Archaeological park}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox park
|name = Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park
|image = Pinson-mounds-sauls-mound.jpg
|image_caption = Sauls' Mound (Mound 9) at the park
|location = [[Pinson, Tennessee]]
|type = Tennessee State Park
|area = {{convert|1200|acre|km2}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| embed                = yes
| name                 = Pinson Mounds
| nrhp_type            = nhl
| location             = [[Madison County, Tennessee]]
| nearest_city         =
| coordinates          = {{coord|35|29|52|N|88|40|57|W|display=inline,title}}
| area                 =
| built                = 0-499 AD
| architect            =
| architecture         =
| added                = October 15, 1966
| designated_nrhp_type = January 29, 1964
| visitation_num       =
| visitation_year      =
| refnum               = 66000727
| mpsub                =
| website              = [https://tnstateparks.com/parks/pinson-mounds Pinson Mounds State Park]
}}
}}
The '''Pinson Mounds''' comprise a prehistoric [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] complex located in [[Madison County, Tennessee]], in the region that is known as the Eastern Woodlands. The complex, which includes 17 [[mound]]s, an [[earthen]] geometric [[enclosure (archaeology)|enclosure]], and numerous habitation areas, was most likely built during the [[Woodland period|Middle Woodland period]] (c. 1-500 [[AD]]).  The complex is the largest group of Middle Woodland mounds in the United States.  Sauls' Mound, at {{convert|72|ft}}, is the second-highest surviving mound in the United States.

The Pinson Mounds are now part of '''Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park''', one of two [[archaeology|archaeological]] parks in Tennessee (the other being [[Old Stone Fort (Tennessee)|Old Stone Fort]] near [[Manchester, Tennessee|Manchester]]). Pinson Mounds is a [[National Historic Landmark]] and is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].

==Geographic setting==

[[Image:Pinson-mounds-saul-view1.jpg|right|325px|thumb|The view from atop Sauls' Mound, looking east]]

The Pinson Mounds are located on a plateau-like upland above the [[wetland]]s that line the banks of the South Fork of the [[Forked Deer River]]. The river and its wetlands form the complex's southern boundary. The Pinson Mounds are located amidst three distinctive biotic zones: the [[oak]] forests atop the plateau, the [[cypress]] forests in the wet bottomlands, and the [[beech]] forests on the slopes between the uplands and the bottomlands.  The ground is mostly composed of [[Tertiary period]] rocks known for producing high-quality clay.<ref>Robert Mainfort (ed.), et al., ''Archaeological Investigations at Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Area: 1974, 1975, and 1978 Field Seasons'' (Nashville, Tenn.: Tennessee Department of Conservation - Division of Archaeology, 1980), p. 3.</ref>

The mounds complex can be roughly divided into three sections&mdash; the Inner section, situated at the center of the complex around Saul's Mound, the Western (or Ozier) section, and the Eastern section, which includes the geometric enclosure. A stream known as Hudson Branch runs perpendicular to the Forked Deer River and divides the Inner section from the Western section. The Eastern and Western sections are both roughly {{convert|1500|m}} from the Inner section.

The Pinson Mounds complex is managed by the [[Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation]]. The Western section is managed by the Tennessee Division of Forestry and includes a nursery and irrigation pond. Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park is located appx. {{convert|2.5|mi}} east of the town of [[Pinson, Tennessee|Pinson]] and approximately {{convert|10|mi}} southeast of [[Jackson, Tennessee|Jackson]].

==Archaeological features==

The Pinson Mounds complex covers approximately {{convert|400|acre|km2}} and contains at least 30 mounds, 17 of which have been identified as being completely or partially constructed by prehistoric peoples.<ref name=norton>Mark Norton, "The Pinson Mounds Complex," ''West Tennessee Historical Society Papers'' 55 (2001). Copy obtained at Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park.</ref>  The mounds range in height from the prominent {{convert|72|ft|adj=on}} Saul's Mound to barely noticeable rises.  Most mounds were probably constructed between 100 and 300 AD, based on [[radiocarbon dating]] and the predominance of Woodland-period artifacts found at the site. The following are major features at the Pinson Mounds site:

===Inner Complex===

[[Image:Pinson-mounds-mound10.jpg|right|210px|thumb|The view across the top of Mound 10 into a field below]]

* '''Sauls' Mound''' (Mound 9), at the center of the complex. The mound was named after John Sauls, the owner of the property before its purchase by the state. Sauls' Mound is the second-highest prehistoric mound in the United States.<ref name=tehc>Robert Mainfort and Mary Kwas, "[http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=1062 Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park]", ''The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2002. Retrieved: 9 December 2007.</ref>  The mound is rectangular in formation, with each corner aligned with one of the four [[cardinal directions]]. The mound's function was believed to be ceremonial. A viewing platform has been constructed atop the mound for park visitors. Dimensions: base&mdash; {{convert|112 x 91|m}}, height&mdash; {{convert|22|m}}.<ref name=signs>Information  obtained from on-site interpretive signs, except where otherwise noted. Information accessed: 8 December 2007. Dimensions converted to metric for consistency.</ref>
* '''Mound 10''', a few meters to the east of Sauls' Mound. Mound 10 is believed to have been a [[platform mound]] with a ceremonial function. Dimensions: base&mdash; {{convert|61 x 40|m}}, height&mdash; {{convert|1.3|m}}.<ref name=signs />
* '''Mound 11 Sector''', a few meters to the north of Sauls' Mound, behind the museum. Mound 11 is a natural rise that is believed to have been a habitation area during the Middle Woodland period.<ref name=signs />
* '''Mound 12''', several meters southwest of Sauls' Mound. Mound 12 was a [[burial]] mound built upon an Early Woodland habitation area. Dimensions: base&mdash; {{convert|23 x 17|m}}, height&mdash; {{convert|1.3|m}}.<ref name=signs />
* '''Mound 14 Sector''', several meters southwest of Sauls' Mound. The Mound 14 Sector was a late-Woodland/early-[[Mississippian culture|Mississippian]] habitation area.<ref name=signs />
* '''Mound 15''', several hundred meters southwest of Sauls' Mound. Part of Mound 15 has been destroyed by cultivation. Dimensions: base&mdash; {{convert|46 x 50|m}}, height&mdash; appx. {{convert|1|m}}.<ref name=signs />
* '''Mound 17''', several hundred meters southeast of Sauls' Mound. Dimensions: appx. {{convert|12|m}} long with a height of {{convert|1 |m}}.<ref>Mainfort, et al., ''Archaeological Investigations at Pinson Mounds'', p. 37.</ref>

===Eastern Section===

[[Image:Pinson-mounds-mound29.jpg|right|210px|thumb|The view from atop Mound 29 into the area enclosed by the walls of the Eastern Citadel below]]

* The '''Eastern Citadel''', an earthen geometric enclosure located approximately {{convert|1500|m|ft}} east of Sauls' Mound.  William Myer gave the enclosure its present name in the early 20th century, although [[archeologists]] believe its function to have been primarily ceremonial rather than defensive.  The walls form a near-perfect semicircle with a diameter of {{convert|366|m|ft}}, enclosing approximately {{convert|06|km2|acre}}. The height of the walls is, on average, approximately {{convert|1.5|m|ft}}.  The enclosed area is not level, with the western edge being approximately {{convert|12|m|ft}} lower than the eastern edge.<ref name=signs />
* '''Mound 29''', a rectangular platform mound located along the eastern edge of the geometric enclosure. Mound 29 is aligned with Sauls' Mound in the direction of the [[equinox]] sunrise. Dimensions: base&mdash; {{convert|49|x|52|m|ft}}, height&mdash; {{convert|3.5|m|ft}}.<ref name=signs />
* '''Mound 30''', a bird-shaped mound a few meters south of Mound 29.  The bird shape is thought to have been due to recent cultivation and subsequent erosion. Dimensions: approximately {{convert|24|m|ft}} long with a height {{convert|1|m|ft}}.<ref name=signs />
* '''Mound 28''', a rectangular platform mound located approximately {{convert|1500|m|ft}} northeast of Sauls' Mound and several hundred meters north of the Eastern Citadel.  Mound 28 is almost aligned with Sauls' Mound in the direction of the summer solstice sunrise. Dimensions: base&mdash; {{convert|62|x|65|m|ft}}, height&mdash; {{convert|4|m|ft}}.<ref name=signs />

===Western (Ozier) Section===

* The '''Ozier Mound''' (Mound 5), a rectangular platform mound with an earthen ramp facing northeast. At {{convert|33|ft}}, the Ozier Mound is the second-largest mound in the complex. Dimensions: approximately {{convert|80|m|ft}} in diameter, height of {{convert|10|m|ft}}.<ref name="ReferenceB">Mainfort, et al., ''Archaeological Investigations at Pinson Mounds'', p. 54.</ref>
* The '''Twin Mounds''' (Mound 6), a double-conical mound located a few meters south of the Ozier Mound. The Twin Mounds were burial mounds. Base approximately {{convert|30|x|50|m|ft}}.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* '''Mound 31''', a burial mound located a few meters south of the Ozier Mound. Base appx. {{convert|40 x 60|m}}.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
* The '''Cochran Area''', a site located approximately {{convert|200|m|ft}} west of the Ozier Mound section. The Cochran Area is believed to have been a temporary habitation area. The Cochran area covers appx. {{convert|5000|m2|acre}}.<ref>Mainfort, et al., ''Archaeological Investigations at Pinson Mounds'', p. 31.</ref>

== Pinson Mounds in recorded history ==
[[File:City of Cisco - Pinson Mounds - William E. Meyers - September 1922.jpg|thumb|left|"City of Cisco" - Pinson Mounds - William E. Myer - September 1922]]
After the [[Chickasaw]] were forced from much of West Tennessee in 1818, land speculator Joel Pinson arrived in what is now Madison County to survey the area. Pinson "discovered" the complex which was named after him in 1820.  The complex did not receive much attention until a [[Jackson, Tennessee|Jackson]]-area [[journalist]] named J.G. Cisco began writing about it in the late 19th century.  Cisco's articles drew the interest of the [[Smithsonian Institution]].

In 1916 the Smithsonian dispatched the [[archaeologist]] [[William E. Myer]] to investigate the site.  Myer suggested that the entire complex was built according to a master plan, and created a map for the site. In 1947, the Tennessee Division of Forestry purchased the Western section of the Pinson site.<ref name=norton />

===Archaeological surveys and excavations===

[[Image:Pinson-mounds-mound14sector.jpg|right|210px|thumb|The Mound 14 Sector]]

At the request of the Jackson Archaeological Society and the [[National Park Service]], in December 1961 the [[University of Tennessee]] archaeologists Fred Fisher and [[Charles Harrison McNutt|Charles McNutt]] carried out the first major excavation of the Pinson Mounds.  In the Mound 14 Sector, Fisher and McNutt discovered the remains of a {{convert|21|x|18|ft|m}} house surrounded by a posthole-lined wall-trench and containing a central hearth and [[storage pit (archaeology)|storage pits]].  Based primarily on the vast amount of pre-[[Mississippian culture]] debris found at the site and [[radiocarbon dating]] of [[charcoal]], Fisher and McNutt concluded that the Pinson Mounds were probably built during the Middle Woodland period, c. 1-500 AD.<ref>Fred Fisher and C.H. McNutt, "Test Excavations at Pinson Mounds, 1961," ''Tennessee Archaeologist'' 18, no. 1 (1962), pp. 1-11.</ref>

[[Image:Pinson-mounds-mound12.jpg|left|210px|thumb|Mound 12]]

Excavations by [[Dan Morse (archaeologist)|Dan Morse]] and Richard Polhemus in 1963 uncovered what they believed was an oval-shaped house, a large hearth, and various refuse pits.<ref>Mainfort, et al., ''Archaeological Investigations at Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Area'', p. 4.</ref> Morse and Polhemus agreed that the mounds were mostly built during the Middle Woodland period.  The state purchased the prehistoric property in 1965 from the Williams and Saul families. It was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] that same year.<ref name=norton />

In the 1970s, John Broster of the [[Tennessee Division of Archaeology]] carried out extensive investigations of the site's Western section and the Mound 12 Sector.  Broster uncovered a human [[cremation]] pit and evidence of [[Early Woodland]]-period habitation at Mound 12.<ref>Mainfort, et al., ''Archaeological Investigations at Pinson Mounds'', pp. 16-22.</ref>  Broster's team also found a number of "exotic" [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifact]]s at the Cochran area.  This suggested Pinson Mounds may have been a "manufacture" area for grave goods, or a regional trade center.<ref>Mainfort, et al., ''Archaeological Investigations at Pinson Mounds'', pp. 31-32.</ref>

In the 1980s, Robert Mainfort discovered six tombs in the Twin Mounds, one of which contained the remains of eight young women wearing headdresses with [[copper]] adornments.  Another tomb had four older men, one of whom had been buried with two round rattles bearing abstract designs.  Mainfort also uncovered a single burial in Mound 31 and evidence of food offerings at the base of the mounds.<ref name=norton />

Excavations carried out prior to construction of park facilities uncovered a possible habitation area at Mound 11 and a large number of 19th-century artifacts.<ref>Ann Toplovich, "Archaeological Mitigations at Pinson Mounds (40MD1) State Archaeological Area: 1978", ''Archaeological Investigations at Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Area: 1974, 1975, and 1978 Field Seasons'' (Nashville, Tenn.: Tennessee Department of Conservation - Division of Archaeology, 1980), pp. 92-99.</ref>  In the late 1990s, four additional mounds were verified as prehistoric, bringing the total to 17.<ref name=norton />

===The function of the Pinson Mounds===
[[Image:Pinson-mounds-mound28.jpg|right|210px|thumb|The southwest corner of Mound 28]]

The Middle Woodland natives most likely built the Pinson Mounds primarily for religious ceremonial purposes, although their motives have yet to be established definitively. The Ozier Mound contains no burials and because of its shape, ramped and flat-topped, it was most likely used as a ceremonial platform.<ref>Dean R. Snow, ''Archaeology of Native North America'' (2010), p. 93.</ref> It is one of the oldest such mounds in the Eastern Woodlands region. At least three of the mounds&mdash; 6, 12, and 31&mdash; contain burials or cremations.<ref name=tehc />  Excavations have turned up a relatively scant amount of cultural material (e.g., arrowheads and pottery fragments), which points to a lack of permanent habitation at the Pinson Mounds site.<ref>Mainfort, et al., ''Archaeological Investigations at Pinson Mounds'', p. 50.</ref>

Some evidence suggests that the layout of the Pinson Mounds might be due to [[astronomical]] alignment, and expresses the people's [[cosmology]], as is the case at some later mound complexes, such as [[Cahokia]].  The corners of Sauls' Mound, for instance, face the four cardinal directions.  The Eastern and Western sections of the complex are roughly equidistant (appx. {{convert|1500|m}}) from the Inner complex, although the alignment is not exact.  Mound 29 in the Eastern section is aligned with Sauls' Mound in the direction of the [[equinox]] sunrise, and Mound 28 is ''almost'' aligned with Sauls' in the direction of the Summer [[solstice]] sunrise.  To date, no mound has been found in the direction of the Winter solstice sunrise.<ref name=norton />

==Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park==

[[Image:Pinson mounds museum 1.jpg|right|210px|thumb|The Pinson Mounds Museum]]

The park's museum is built within a "replica" of a platform mound. Its exhibits include artifacts obtained from the various excavations at the Pinson site, as well as various other artifacts from around the region. The museum is also home to the West Tennessee Regional Archaeology offices and an archaeological library.

The park contains approximately {{convert|6|mi}} of walking trails, most of which explore the mounds and associated features. South of Sauls' Mound, a boardwalk looks out over the South Fork of the Forked Deer River and its wetlands. The park is also the site of Archaeofest, an event held every September that celebrates the site's prehistoric builders.

==See also==
* [[Old Stone Fort (Tennessee)|Old Stone Fort]]
* [[Hopewell culture]]
* [[List of burial mounds in the United States]]
* [[List of National Historic Landmarks in Tennessee]]
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Madison County, Tennessee]]

==References==
{{Commons category|Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park}}
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://tnstateparks.com/parks/pinson-mounds Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park] &mdash; official site
* [https://www.chickasaw.tv/places/pinson-mounds-profile Pinson Mounds Information & Videos] - Chickasaw.TV
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090317042600/http://www.tnhistoryforkids.org/places/pinson_mounds Pinson Mounds] - TN History for Kids

{{Hopewellian peoples}}
{{Pre-Columbian North America}}
{{National Register of Historic Places}}
{{Protected areas of Tennessee}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Hopewellian peoples]]
[[Category:Woodland period]]
[[Category:State parks of Tennessee]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in Tennessee]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee]]
[[Category:Museums in Madison County, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Archaeological museums in Tennessee]]
[[Category:Native American museums in Tennessee]]
[[Category:Protected areas of Madison County, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Archaeological parks]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Madison County, Tennessee]]