Yon Mound and Village
Yon Site (8Li2) · Apalachee Yon Mound
Middle Woodland to Mississippian (100 BCE–1450 CE)·Swift Creek → Weeden Island → Fort Walton (late Mississippian)·🇺🇸 Florida, Liberty County, United States
About
About Yon Mound and Village
Middle Woodland Swift Creek to Fort Walton Mississippian mound-village (100 BCE–1450 CE) on Apalachicola River terrace: flat-topped platform 6 m high (45×30 m) with ramp to plaza, adjacent burial mound 1.5 m and shell midden scatter 4 ha along river bluff. White and colleagues excavated stratigraphy showing transitional Swift Creek Complicated Stamped → early Weeden Island → Fort Walton Incised sequence, linking panhandle coastal plain to interior Mississippian. Fort Walton ceramics on summit indicate late platform use; Spanish mission period abuts village edge (17th c. glass beads reported).
Why it mattersKey stratified site for Florida panhandle cultural chronology linking Gulf Woodland to Mississippian Fort Walton expansion.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Continuity between Weeden Island priesthood and Fort Walton chiefdom
- 02Mission-period reuse evidence
Theories
- 01Riverine entrepôt between Chattahoochee valley and coast
- 02Fort Walton frontier colonization mechanism from Apalachee heartland
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.400–800 CE initial mound, Fort Walton cap 1250–1450
- Period
- Middle Woodland to Mississippian (100 BCE–1450 CE)
- Culture
- Swift Creek → Weeden Island → Fort Walton (late Mississippian)
- Purpose
- Riverside ceremonial mound town and trade ferry crossing
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.400–800 CE initial mound, Fort Walton cap 1250–1450
Initial construction
c. 1644 CE
Abandonment
On the ground
Structures & features
30.4422° N · 84.9661° W · 30 m · 2 mapped features
Main platform mound
pyramid45×30 m platform 6 m high with southwest ramp
30.4424° N · 84.9660° WVillage shell midden and burial rise
midden4 ha Flat Creek midden and 12 m burial mound 80 m southeast
30.4419° N · 84.9657° W