Wickliffe Mounds is a Mississippian culture archaeological site located in Ballard County, Kentucky, just outside the town of Wickliffe, Kentucky, about three miles from the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 900 to 1500 CE, varying regionally. ... Ballard County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. ... Wickliffe is a city located in Ballard County, Kentucky. ... The Ohio River is the largest tributary by volume of the Mississippi River. ... The Mississippi River, derived from the old Ojibwe word misi-ziibi meaning great river (gichi-ziibi big river at its headwaters), is the second-longest river in the United States; the longest is the Missouri River, which flows into the Mississippi. ...

The Community at Wickliffe Mounds

The town at Wickliffe Mounds was both a ceremonial and administrative center of an important chiefdom in the Mississippian culture. At it's peak it had a population probably reaching into the hundreds. A chiefdom is any community led by an individual known as a chief. ... The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 900 to 1500 CE, varying regionally. ...

It was apparently inhabited between 1000CE and 1300 CE. The site is dominated by two large platform mounds, with at least eight smaller mounds scattered around the area around a central plaza area. Their agriculture was based on corn as a staple, and they had trade with societies as far away as North Carolina, Wisconsin, and the Gulf of Mexico. As most other Mississippian chiefdoms, the community of Wickliffe had a social hierarchy ruled by a hereditary chief. The Common Era (CE), sometimes known as the Current Era or as the Christian Era, is the period of measured time beginning with the year 1 on the Gregorian calendar. ... A Platform Mound is any earthwork intended to support a structure or activity. ... Look up mound on Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Plaza is a Spanish word related to field which describes an open urban public space, such as a city square. ... Binomial name Zea mays L. Maize (Zea mays ssp. ... Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Area  Ranked 28th  - Total 53,865 sq mi (139,509 km²)  - Width 150 miles (240 km)  - Length 560[1] miles (901 km)  - % water 9. ... Official language(s) None Capital Madison Largest city Milwaukee Area  Ranked 23rd  - Total 65,498 sq mi (169,790 km²)  - Width 260 miles (420 km)  - Length 310 miles (500 km)  - % water 17  - Latitude 42°30N to 47°3N  - Longitude 86°49W to 92°54W Population  Ranked... Gulf of Mexico in 3D perspective. ... Social hierarchy, a multi-tiered pyramid-like social or functional structure having an apex as the centralization of power. ... The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view. ...

Exploitation and Excavation

Amateur and semi-professional excavations first began in the site around 1913, and continued sporadically for several decades. In 1930, Fain W. King, a businessman from Paducah, Kentucky, began private excavations of the site in earnest, with the intention of turning the site into a tourist attraction. In cooperation with his wife, Blanche Busey King, they opened the site as a tourist attraction under the name "Ancient Buried City". Their venture was highly controversial because they used sensational and misleading advertising, altered the site in some ways to make it more visually appealing, and had very dubious and exaggerated interpretations of the site, acts which put them directly in opposition to professional archaeologists that had examined the site. They deeded the site to Western Baptist Hospital in Paducah upon their death in 1946, which continued to operate the site as a tourism business until 1983. In that year, the site was donated to Murray State University, which used it to conduct research and to train students. In 1984 the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 2004, the site became the 11th State Historical Site of Kentucky and entered the control of the State Parks Service. Paducah is a city in McCracken County, Kentucky at the confluence of the Tennessee River and the Ohio River. ... A tourist attraction is a place where tourists, foreign and domestic, normally visit. ... Murray State University, located in the town of Murray in Kentuckys far-western Jackson Purchase, is an approximately 10,000-student, four-year public university. ... The National Register of Historic Places is the USAs official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects worthy of preservation. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area  Ranked 37th  - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 1. ... State park is a term used in the United States and in Mexico for an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreation, or other reason, and under the administration of the government of a U.S. state or one of the states of Mexico. ...

External links

• Wickliffe Mounds State Park
• Wickliffe Mounds Research Center

Books

Kleber, John J. et al. (1992). The Kentucky Encyclopedia. Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky Press. ISBN 0-8131-1772-0.