Indian Mound

A short distance north is the Ely Mound, the best-preserved Indian mound in Virginia. It dates to the Late Woodland-Mississippian Period (AD 1200-1650), during which more complex societies and practices evolved, including chiefdoms and religious ceremonies. Often, temples, elite residences, and council buildings stood atop substructure or townhouse mounds such as Ely Mound. Lucien Carr, assistant curator of the Peabody Museum in Boston, led an excavation here in 1877. By proving the connection between this mound and present-day Indians, Carr refuted the then-popular "lost race" hypothesis for Mound Builders in eastern North America.