Kolomoki Mounds
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Kolomoki Mounds
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Temple Mound
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| Nearest city | Blakely, Georgia |
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| Coordinates | 31°28′17.28″N 84°55′45.72″W / 31.4714667°N 84.9293667°WCoordinates: 31°28′17.28″N 84°55′45.72″W / 31.4714667°N 84.9293667°W |
| Architect | Unknown |
| NRHP Reference # | 66000280 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | July 19, 1964 |
The Kolomoki Mounds is one of the largest and earliest Woodland period mound complexes in the Southeastern United States and is the largest in Georgia. Constructed from 350CE to 600CE, they are located in present-day Early County near the Chattahoochee River.
The mounds were designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1964. Seven of the eight mounds are protected as part of Kolomoki Mounds State Historic Park.
Kolomoki Mounds State Historic Park is an important archaeological site as well as a scenic recreational area. Kolomoki, covering some three hundred acres, is one of the larger preserved mound sites in the USA.
In the early millennium of the Common Era, Kolomoki, with its surrounding villages, burial mounds, and ceremonial plaza, was a center of population and activity in North America. The eight visible mounds of earth in the park were built between 250-950 CE by peoples of the Swift Creek and Weeden Island cultures. These mounds include Georgia's oldest great temple mound, two burial mounds and four smaller ceremonial mounds.
The park's museum was built to incorporate part of an excavated mound; it provides an authentic setting for viewing artifacts. The museum features a film about how the mound was built and excavated.
As with other mound complexes, the people built and sited the earthworks according to a complex cosmology. Researchers have noted that several mounds are aligned according to astronomical events. For example, mounds A, D, and E, which form the central axis of the site, align with the sun at the spring equinox. Mounds F and D form an alignment with the sun at the summer solstice.
Soils at the Park are mostly dark red sandy loams or loamy sands of the Americus, Greenville, and Red Bay series. Some pale brown sands of the Troup series occur on the western shores of Kolomoki Lake, and at the northern end of the lake is brown or dark gray alluvial loam of the Herod-Muckalee soil association.
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Wikipedia