Grand Village of the Natchez
Grand Village of the Natchez Indians (22AD501) · Fatherland Site
Plaquemine to Historic Natchez (1200–1730 CE)·Plaquemine / Natchez (Muskogean)·🇺🇸 Mississippi, Adams County, United States
About
About Grand Village of the Natchez
Historic capital of the Natchez polity (1200–1730 CE) on St. Catherine Creek 3 km southeast of Natchez. Three Plaquemine platform mounds (Mound B 5 m high) around a 2 ha plaza, with reconstructed wattle-and-daub Grand Sun's house and temple foundations documented by French maps (1723 Dumont). French chroniclers (Le Page du Pratz) witnessed 1725 human sacrifice atop Mound C. Destroyed by French in 1730 Natchez Revolt; excavated 1930–1985 by Neitzel and MDAH. NHL; 128-acre park with museum.
Why it mattersOnly Mississippian chiefdom documented ethnographically at contact; bridges archaeology and French colonial texts.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01How Natchez matrilineal Sun chiefdom maintained hereditary stratification
- 02Placement of 1725 retainer sacrifice burials within Mound C
Theories
- 01Fatherland as direct Plaquemine continuity — no Mississippian replacement
- 02French maps accurately depict mound-plaza cosmology (world-quarter)
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1200–1730 CE (Fatherland phase; mounds Plaquemine)
- Period
- Plaquemine to Historic Natchez (1200–1730 CE)
- Culture
- Plaquemine / Natchez (Muskogean)
- Builders
- Plaquemine–Natchez
- Purpose
- Hereditary chiefdom capital with mound-top temple and elite residence (Grand Sun)
- Abandoned
- 1730 CE (French destruction after Natchez Revolt)
- Rediscovered
- 1723 mapped by French; archaeology 1930 Neitzel
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.1200 CE
Initial Plaquemine mound construction (Fatherland phase)
1682
La Salle claims Natchez; French contact period begins
1725
Grand Sun Tattooed Serpent sacrifice witnessed by French
1730
French destroy Natchez after 1729 Fort Rosalie revolt; dispersal
On the ground
Structures & features
31.5260° N · 91.3960° W · 65 m · 2 mapped features
Mound B (Grand Sun's residence)
mound5 m platform supporting wattle-and-daub elite house, French-mapped as chief's house
31.5270° N · 91.3950° WMound C (Temple and sacrificial mound)
moundTemple platform where 1725 retainer sacrifices witnessed; bone bed
31.5249° N · 91.3968° W