Cultural Transitions

Cultural Transitions. Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. , Mound 1, covered with trees in the woods before you, is much the way Squier and Davis found Mound City's earthworks in 1846. By 1,500 years ago the high ceremony of the Hopewell culture had declined. They stopped building large ceremonial centers and produced much less art. Within a few centuries hunting spears were replaced with bows and arrows., But ties to past traditions remained. The new culture did not build mounds here but dug graves in the existing mounds. Within Mound 1, and many other mounds here, they dug graves, burying their dead there. Archaeologists named these people the "intrusive culture” based on their burial practices. Unlike their Mound City ancestors, they buried the body, not its cremated remains. They also placed commonly used objects as grave offerings with their dead., Mound 2, the large mound ahead on your left, contained intrusive burials. As this sketch by Squier and Davis details, a new grave was dug 3 feet into the old mound and two bodies placed there., [Captions:] , Tree-covered Mound 1 (above) is hidden by thick foliage much of the year. This winter scene permits a clearer view., A club made of elk antler, similar to this one, was uncovered in Mound 2 with the intrusive burials. Tools made from deer antlers and a buffalo's shoulder blade also were found here.