The Mound Walls Meet the Cliffs

The Mound Walls Meet the Cliffs. . Hilltop enclosures are constructed to conform to the natural setting., The east section of the mound wall ends here. Replacing the mounds are steep cliffs, allowing the landscape to define the site. Once again, this fits the pattern of hilltop enclosures that conform to the shape of high ground and use natural features as opposed to classes of geometrically shaped enclosures. The structure enhances the special landscape setting and the builders may also have chosen hilltops with particular directional orientation, orientation to water, and centrality to the zone of the builders., The construction and maintenance of the mounds brought together groups of people living on the Highland Rim, its valleys leading into the Central Basin and, perhaps, those living along the Elk River as well. Mound building and ceremony involved social processes that likely had as much importance as the existence of the structure itself. These activities built communal identity and encouraged a bonding that eased social tensions. The cultural dynamics would, when combined with advances in agriculture and pottery development, eventually lead to the creation of tribes. Woodland peoples were already quite settled compared to the earlier, seasonally nomadic Archaic hunters and gatherers. Larger, more permanent settlements would develop with time and become the basis for the latter Mississippian tradition.