Annis Mound and Village site explained

Annis Mound and Village site
15 BT 2, 15 BT 20, and 15 BT 21
Map Type:USA Kentucky
Coordinates:37.2898°N -86.7529°W
Location:Butler County, Kentucky United States
Region:Western Coal Field
Built:800 CE
Abandoned:1300 CE
Cultures:Middle Mississippian culture
Excavations:1916, 1939–1940, 2002–2004
Archaeologists:Clarence Bloomfield Moore, William Snyder Webb, Scott W Hammerstedt
Architectural Styles:platform mound, palisade
Architectural Details:Number of temples: 1
Embed:yes
Added:December 21, 1985
Area:9acres
Refnum:85003182

The Annis Mound and Village site (15BT2, 15BT20, and 15BT21) is a prehistoric Middle Mississippian culture archaeological site located on the bank of the Green River in Butler County, Kentucky, several miles northwest of Morgantown in the Big Bend region. It was occupied from about 800 CE to about 1300 CE.[1]

The site consisted of a platform mound (15 BT 2) measuring 33.5m (109.9feet) square by 3.7m (12.1feet) in height with special use structures at its summit. It was surrounded by the village area (15 BT 20) which was situated north of the generally east to west course of the Green River at the sites location. The village featured domestic structures and several sequential iterations of an encircling defensive palisade of upright tree trunks. The palisade was built three different times in the site's history; each one larger than its predecessor and encircling an expanded village area. A bastion was discovered in the northwest corner of the last version of the palisade. Agriculture was based on the cultivation of maize as a staple of the diet. Ceramics found at the site were typical Mississippian culture pottery; although a few sherds of high status pottery from the Cahokia site were discovered during excavations of the platform mound summit structure.[1]

The site also features a 1m (03feet) in height 30m (100feet) by 35m (115feet) circular feature known as the Annis Sand Mound (15 BT 21) that dates from the Archaic period. This feature lies directly north of the village area and outside of the area encompassed by the palisade.[2]

A 9acres area at the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as "Annis Mound and Village Site" in 1985.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Lewis, R. Barry . Kentucky Archaeology. Chapter 5: Mississippian Farmers . University Press of Kentucky . 0-8131-1907-3. 1996. 135–137 . https://books.google.com/books?id=aM4eBgAAQBAJ&q=annis+mound+and+village&pg=PA138 .
  2. Mississippian Status In Western Kentucky: Evidence From the Annis Mound . Southeastern Archaeology. 2005 . Scott W. . Hammerstedt . 24 . 1 .