Ocmulgee National Monument

Ocmulgee National Monument. . , Ocmulgee National Monument , Ocmulgee has 17,000 years of continuous human history, from Ice Age hunters to the Muscogee (Creek) people. The Mississippian Culture was the most complex and left the greatest influence here by building mounds and earth lodges for their religious and governmental purposes. , Today, visitors can explore the seven mounds constructed by the Mississippians for their elite members of society. The Mississippians built earth lodges which were used as winter council chambers for meetings and ceremonies. Today, one of the earth lodges has been reconstructed but the floor is original, carbon dated to 1000 years ago. After the arrival of the Europeans, the Muscogee (Creek) people transitioned to the European way of life but in 1836 they were forced out of Georgia to live in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). , 17,000 B.C.E. - 9,600 B.C.E. | Paleo-Indian Period (Ice Age) , Nomadic people came to the Macon Plateau to hunt large mammals. , 9,600 B.C.E. - 1,000 B.C.E. | Archaic Period , People were hunters and gathers who began making woven baskets and crude pottery. , 1,000 B.C.E. - 900 C.E. | Woodland Period , The people on the Macon plateau began settling down into small villages and experimenting with growing crops. , 900 - 1600 Mississippians Period , The people constructed mounds for their elite members of society. The culture thrived here until Europeans arrived in 1540. , 1600 - Present Day , The Muscogee (Creek) are descendants of the Mississippian Culture. They adapted to the European lifestyle of living in log cabins, farming cotton, and raising cattle.