Marksville Prehistoric Indian Site

Marksville Prehistoric Indian Site
16 AV 1

Burial mound at the site
Location in Louisiana today
Location	Marksville, Louisiana, Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana,  USA
Region	Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana
Coordinates	31°7′29″N 92°2′52″W / 31.12472°N 92.04778°W
History
Cultures	Marksville culture, Avoyel and Natchez peoples
Site notes
Responsible body: State
Marksville Prehistoric Indian Site
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Architect	Unknown
NRHP Reference #	66000372
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966[1]
Designated NHL	July 19, 1964[2]

Marksville Prehistoric Indian Site (16 AV 1), also known as the Marksville State Historic Site, is a Marksville culture archaeological site located 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of Marksville in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. The site features numerous earthworks built by the prehistoric indigenous peoples of southeastern North America.

Description

Marksville is the type site for the Marksville culture (a local variation of the Hopewell tradition) and was the first scientifically excavated site for the culture. Centuries later the Avoyel and Natchez peoples lived in the vicinity of the site until 1700.^[3] Burial mounds at the site are surrounded by a horseshoe-shaped earthen embankment about 3,000 feet (910 m) long. The site is also one of the largest of the period in the southeastern United States, with large and distinctive ring features not found elsewhere. The site's importance has been known since the 1920s, when it was first formally investigated, and it is regularly the subject of further investigation. Radiometric dating of the sites features have yielded occupancy dates from 0-400 CE.^[4]

Landmark and access

The archaeological site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964.^[2][5] The site is now also a State Commemorative Area.

The 42-acre (170,000 m²) site is maintained by the state of Louisiana and features a museum with artifacts found at the site and exhibits about the prehistoric people that lived in the Marksville culture area.^[6] There are also trails to the mounds and picnic facilities.

See also

• Crooks mound
• Grand Gulf Mound
• List of Hopewell sites
• List of National Historic Landmarks in Louisiana
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana

References

1. Staff (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
2. "Marksville Prehistoric Indian Site". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
3. Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. "Marksville Indian Museum Historical Marker".
4. McGimsey, Chip (Summer 2003). "The Rings of Marksville". Southeastern Archaeology (Volume 22, No. 1): 47–62. JSTOR 40713264.
5. Griffin, John W. (February 28, 1964). "National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings: Marksville" (pdf). National Park Service. and Accompanying photos, exterior and interior, from 19. PDF (32 KB)
6. "Louisiana Prehistory-Marksville, Troyville-Coles Creek, and Caddo". Retrieved 2010-02-04.

External links

• Marksville State Historic Site - official site
• Jones, Dennis (1991). Weinsten, Richard A., ed. "The Avoyelles Prairie Terrace : Concentrated Archaeology" (PDF). Louisiana Archaeological Society Newsletter (Louisiana Archaeological Society) 18 (1): 10–15.