new acquisition
Acquiring A Mysterious Mound Very little is known about Bates Mound Number 2.
T
George Lowry
he bluffs above the Mississippi River in southwest Mississippi are known for their historic sites. The town of Natchez, which is known for its Civil War history and antebellum homes, was named for the Indian tribe that French explorers observed in the 1700s building mounds for their leaders and for use in elaborate ceremonies. Native Americans in the Lower Mississippi Valley were building mounds thousands of years before the Natchez existed,however,and the Conservancy’s latest acquisition in Mississippi, Bates Mound Number 2, may or may not be one of those very ancient mounds. Bates Number 2, which is located just north of Natchez, was recorded by archaeologists in 1971. The archaeologists didn’t excavate the mound, nor did they find enough surface artifacts Southeast Regional Director Jessica Crawford stands in front of Bates Mound Number 2, a conical shaped mound that is typical of those built during the Middle Woodland period. However, no work that can confirm its age has been done at the site.
associated with it to determine its age or cultural affiliation. It was speculated that, because of its conical shape and six-foot height, Bates Number 2 could be a Middle Woodland burial mound, but there’s no evidence to confirm this. It’s one of two mounds located about a half a mile apart that belonged to the Bates family of Church Hill, Mississippi. The edge of the mound was slightly damaged years ago by road construction, but for the most part it remains intact. Gene and Suzy Bates recently donated the mound to the Conservancy.The other mound, known as Bates Number 1, was donated to the
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Conservancy last year by other family members. Core samples taken from that mound indicated it dates to at least 500 b.c., and it’s possible that Bates Number 2 is of equal antiquity. The area around the latter mound is dense with archaeological sites, some of which also have mounds that date from Archaic through Historic times. Bates Number 2 could be thousands, or hundreds, of years old. With so little known about the mound, it has great research potential and it’s almost certain to make a significant contribution to our understanding of the archaeology of this area rich in history. —Jessica Crawford
spring • 2010
