We've been enjoying some beautiful weather here lately. Sunny, mild, not too hot. It's been beautiful.
So, of course, it rained yesterday. It rained a lot! But we still had fun.
The Etowah Indian Mounds is the most intact Mississippian Culture site in the Southeastern United States. It was home to several thousand Native Americans between 1000 AD and 1550 AD. The mounds are where the chief's lived -- elevated above the villagers and common areas.One thing Josh thought was interesting was how each chief had to be up higher than the chief before him... so the mounds kept growing and growing.
Here we are on our way out to the mounds --
There are three that are clearly visible. The largest, Mound A, is where the chief lived, Mound B is where the second in command -- I guess we can say "vice-chief" since we're so close to an election -- and then Mound C which is the burial mound and where many of the artifacts in the museum were excavated.
We climbed to the top of Mound A and had a nice view...
The kids counted 124 steps (I think) on the way down.
We even got to go inside the "Wattle and Daub" hut they are re-constructing.
The website has lots of great pictures of volunteers rebuilding the hut. They expect it to be fully finished in the next few weeks.
We were quite lucky -- the second graders were split into two groups. One went to the mounds first and the other did the inside museum first, then they switched. We were lucky -- we got inside first when the rain was heaviest.
It was really interesting -- lots of cool artifacts, a dugout canoe, one ranger talked about the weapons they used (Josh liked this best) and how they progressively got better and better.
It's a shame it was wet and rainy because we really only got to go up Mound A and back down again. There is much more to the site -- you can walk trails up to the river and back to see where they fished, there is a large open field where they lived and also where they had their ceremonies and sports events. It was really cool!
And then when we got home, it really started to downpour!
I like the last picture--playing in the rain looks like FUN!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea for a field trip. Here it seems they just visit farms and go to plays. Would love to have Sean doing things like this.
ReplyDeleteLook like a fun field trip. Love the last picture. Rain to the kids is another way to have fun!
ReplyDeleteLove going to historical places like that. Love the pic of the two lil men in the rain! Ahhhh, what fun to be young again and do that!
ReplyDeleteThese were the kind of field trips I loved as a kid (and as an adult, too; I chaperoned a historic field trip for my niece a few years ago because of where they were going:). You get to be outside, you learn things about history and culture, etc.
ReplyDeleteHow great! I went there many years ago and have been planning to take Sam.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder!
I love visiting historical sites! It's a shame you were nearly washed out!
ReplyDeleteEven in the rain that looks like fun!
ReplyDeleteLove the snaps! I always thought the rainy-day field trips were the most fun, anyway. BTW, please don't forget S x 3 tomorrow. Gotta good one for ya!
ReplyDeleteGood field trip. We have a lot of Indian mounds in Wisconsin, too, including ones in the shapes of animals.
ReplyDeleteI love going to historical sites. They really help you visualize that you are part of something really interesting. Sounds like everyone had a great time!
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