mound-builder
Ancient hill maker
A mound-builder is any of the ancient peoples who constructed earthen mounds across North America, particularly in the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys.
These mounds served as burial sites, ceremonial platforms, and foundations for buildings.
The term also refers to megapode birds of Australia and the Pacific that build large mounds of decomposing vegetation to incubate their eggs.
Ancient burial mound
- barrowLoad carrier or tumulus
- cairnMemorial stone pile
- tellConvey information verbally
- embankmentRaised earth structure
earthen · construction · soil · labor · engineering · ditch · palisade · enclosure
Native of a southern state
- HopewellPre-Columbian earthwork civilization
- tribeSocial group sharing ancestry
- clanRelated group sharing ancestry
- chiefdomPolitical unit under chief
society · ancestors · heritage · tradition · customs · ethnography · settlement · village
Ceremonial set of actions
- sacredWorthy of reverence
- offeringSomething presented or given
- plazaPublic open square
- altarSacred ritual table
burial · effigy · totem · shaman · oracle · initiation · pilgrimage · spiritual
Act of unearthing
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
- earthworksConstructed soil fortifications
- potteryFired clay objects
- settlementsEstablished communities or agreements
burials · carbon-dating · stratigraphy · potsherds · flintknapping · habitation · relics · ceramics
Ground-nesting Australian fowl
- incubationDevelopment before emergence
- compostingDecomposing organic matter deliberately
- fermentationMicrobial sugar conversion
- thermometerHeat-measuring instrument
Australia · New Guinea · Polynesia · hatchling · eggs · vegetation · decaying · burrowing
tumulus
Ancient burial mound
embankment · earthen · construction · soil · labor · engineering · ditch · palisade · enclosure · geometric
Mississippian
Native of a southern state
- HopewellPre-Columbian earthwork civilization
- tribeSocial group sharing ancestry
- clanRelated group sharing ancestry
chiefdom · society · ancestors · heritage · tradition · customs · ethnography · settlement · village · Native American
ritual
Ceremonial set of actions
altar · burial · effigy · totem · shaman · oracle · initiation · pilgrimage · spiritual · consecration
excavation
Act of unearthing
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
- earthworksConstructed soil fortifications
- potteryFired clay objects
settlements · burials · carbon-dating · stratigraphy · potsherds · flintknapping · habitation · relics · ceramics · agricultural
brush-turkey
Ground-nesting Australian fowl
- incubationDevelopment before emergence
- compostingDecomposing organic matter deliberately
- fermentationMicrobial sugar conversion
thermometer · Australia · New Guinea · Polynesia · hatchling · eggs · vegetation · decaying · burrowing