This event is brought to you by the Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society.
Two millennia before Chaco Canyon, some of the earliest monuments in the Americas were constructed in the lower Mississippi valley. Monumental earthworks – pyramids, platforms, effigies, enclosures – continued to be built from 1000 BCE right up to the arrival of the Spanish, from Iowa to the tip of Florida. Some were enormous: Pyramids as large as almost anything in Mexico. Many are mysterious: serpent effigies, geometric enclosures large enough to surround a modern golf course. This talk will compare monumental building in the ancient Southeast and Southwest – particularly in light of differing regional traditions in their archaeological study.
