Lake George Mounds at Holly Bluff
Holly Bluff Site (22Yz557) · Lake George Mississippian Town · Yazoo Mound Trail Holly Bluff
Late Woodland to Mississippian (Coles Creek – Lake George phase 700–1500 CE)·Plaquemine / Mississippian (Lake George)·🇺🇸 Mississippi, Yazoo County, United States
About
About Lake George Mounds at Holly Bluff
Yazoo Basin Mississippian–Plaquemine center (700–1500 CE, peak 1300–1500): 25 mounds over 40 ha including 8-m-high concial-temple Mound C (55×40 m), flat-top Mound A 12 m high (80×60 m) second largest in Yazoo, plazas and borrow-pit canals. Continuous occupation from Coles Creek to Lake George phase; Phillips excavations demonstrated stratigraphic sequence linking Lower Yazoo to Plaquemine. Lower Mississippi Valley largest mound group north of Winterville; peripheral Hampton and Criterion villages show nested settlement hierarchy.
Why it mattersKey stratigraphic reference for Lower Mississippi Valley sequence (Phillips-Ford-Griffin); bridges Plaquemine-Mississippian interaction; among top 5 mound numbers in Mississippi.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Relationship to contemporaneous Winterville paramountcy
- 02Causeway alignment to summer solstice
Theories
- 01Yazoo basin peer polity to Natchez Plaquemine
- 02Riverine chiefdom linked to Cahokia exchange via Mississippi corridor
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.800–1350 CE
- Period
- Late Woodland to Mississippian (Coles Creek – Lake George phase 700–1500 CE)
- Culture
- Plaquemine / Mississippian (Lake George)
- Purpose
- Paramount town of Yazoo Basin chiefdom and ceremonial capital
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.800–1350 CE
Initial construction
c. 1424 CE
Abandonment
On the ground
Structures & features
32.8183° N · 90.7186° W · 33 m · 2 mapped features
Mound A (principal platform)
pyramid80×60 m platform 12 m high dominating north plaza
32.8189° N · 90.7184° WCircular Mound C and borrow canal
mound55×40 m conical mound with adjacent 200 m borrow canal
32.8178° N · 90.7192° W
Gallery