Jonathan Creek Mound
Jonathan Creek Archaeological Site (15ML4) · Jonathan Creek Village
Mississippian (Jonathan Creek phase)·Mississippian (Western Kentucky)·🇺🇸 Kentucky, Marshall County, United States
About
About Jonathan Creek Mound
Mississippian village and burial mound complex (c.1200–1450 CE) on Tennessee River terrace near Jonathan Creek, with 7 flat-topped platform mounds (six on terrace, one on floodplain) and dense midden. Excavated by William S. Webb (University of Kentucky) 1940s and by Schroeder 2006; yielded Matthews Incised, wall-trench houses 6×8 m, and secondary bundle burials. Western Kentucky Mississippian civic center at Jonathan Creek phase type-site, vacated circa 1500 with regional coalescence toward Wickliffe.
Why it mattersType site for Jonathan Creek phase; demonstrates Kentucky–Tennessee Mississippian frontier between Cahokia and Middle Tennessee.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Floodplain Mound 7 function isolated from terrace cluster
- 02Reason for terrace vs floodplain mound dichotomy
Theories
- 01Jonathan Creek as secondary center to Wickliffe Mounds paramount, tandem cycling collapse 1450
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.1200–1450 CE
- Period
- Mississippian (Jonathan Creek phase)
- Culture
- Mississippian (Western Kentucky)
- Builders
- Mississippian (Jonathan Creek polity)
- Purpose
- Riverine civic-ceremonial mound center and palisaded village
- Abandoned
- c.1450–1500 CE
- Rediscovered
- 1930s by Webb; reported 1952
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
On the ground
Structures & features
36.8531° N · 88.3014° W · 112 m · 2 mapped features
Terrace Mound Cluster (Mounds 1–6)
moundSix platform mounds on loess terrace overlooking Tennessee River
36.8535° N · 88.3010° WFloodplain Mound 7
moundIsolated platform on Jonathan Creek floodplain testing seasonal inundation hypothesis
36.8525° N · 88.3020° W