The Nacoochee Mound is a prehistoric

Prehistory

Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...

 earthen mound

Mound

A mound is a general term for an artificial heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. The most common use is in reference to natural earthen formation such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. The term may also be applied to any rounded area of topographically...

 on the banks of the Chattahoochee River

Chattahoochee River

The Chattahoochee River flows through or along the borders of the U.S. states of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers and emptying into Apalachicola Bay in the Gulf of...

 in White County

White County, Georgia

White County is a county located in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on December 22, 1857, from part of Habersham County. The county was named for Newton County Representative David T. White, who helped a Habersham representative successfully attain passage of an...

, in the northeast part of the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 state of Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, at the junction of Georgia Highways 17

Georgia State Route 17

State Route 17 is a north–south route located in the U.S. state of Georgia. The route runs from its southern terminus at I-16 south of Bloomingdale north to the North Carolina border north of Hiawassee.-Route description:...

 and 75

Georgia State Route 75

State Route 75 is a north–south route located in the U.S. state of Georgia in Towns and White Counties. The route runs from its southern terminus in Cleveland, Georgia at S.R. 11/S.R. 75 Alt/U.S. 129 north to the North Carolina border after passing through Hiawassee, Georgia. S. R...

. Folklore traditionally stated that Nacoochee was derived from a Cherokee

Cherokee language

Cherokee is an Iroquoian language spoken by the Cherokee people which uses a unique syllabary writing system. It is the only Southern Iroquoian language that remains spoken. Cherokee is a polysynthetic language.-North American etymology:...

 word that means "evening star"; however, it is the anglicized version of the Cherokee version of the Muscogee word for "bear," nokose. In the Itsati (Hitchiti) language, nokose is pronounced, no-ko-she. It is in an area of long human habitation, and was important in the Woodland

Woodland period

The Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures was from roughly 1000 BCE to 1000 CE in the eastern part of North America. The term "Woodland Period" was introduced in the 1930s as a generic header for prehistoric sites falling between the Archaic hunter-gatherers and the...

 and Mississippian culture

Mississippian culture

The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....

 periods, from 100 BCE to about 1500 CE.

The mound was excavated beginning in 1915 by a team of archaeologists sponsored by the Heye Foundation

The George Gustav Heye Center

The George Gustav Heye Center is a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian in New York City, USA. The museum is part of the Smithsonian Institution...

 and the Bureau of American Ethnology

Bureau of American Ethnology

The Bureau of American Ethnology was established in 1879 by an act of Congress for the purpose of transferring archives, records and materials relating to the Indians of North America from the Interior Department to the Smithsonian Institution...

. The team included Frederick Webb Hodge

Frederick Webb Hodge

Frederick W. Hodge was an editor, anthropologist, archaeologist, and historian born in Plymouth, England to Edwin and Emily Hodge. His parents moved to Washington, D.C. when Frederick was seven years old....

 and George H. Pepper

George H. Pepper

George Hubbard Pepper was an ethnologist and archaeologist, was born in Tottenville, Staten Island, New York.Pepper conducted field workstarting in 1893, including archaeological digs at Burial Ridge, the largest pre-European burial ground in New York City...

. The excavation uncovered 75 human burials, including 56 adults, seven adolescents, and four children, and eight bodies that were too degraded to be aged. The burials were layered, dating from different time periods. About a third of the individuals were buried with artifacts indicative of social status, including hammered copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

 and stone celts

Celt (tool)

Celt is an archaeological term used to describe long thin prehistoric stone or bronze adzes, other axe-like tools, and hoes.-Etymology:The term "celt" came about from what was very probably a copyist's error in many medieval manuscript copies of Job 19:24 in the Latin Vulgate Bible, which became...

, conch

Conch

A conch is a common name which is applied to a number of different species of medium-sized to large sea snails or their shells, generally those which are large and have a high spire and a siphonal canal....

 shell bead

Bead

A bead is a small, decorative object that is usually pierced for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under to over in diameter. A pair of beads made from Nassarius sea snail shells, approximately 100,000 years old, are thought to be the earliest known examples of jewellery. Beadwork...

s and cups, and elaborate Mississippian culture pottery

Mississippian culture pottery

Mississippian culture pottery is the ceramic tradition of the Mississippian culture found as artifacts in archaeological sites in the American Midwest and Southeast. It is often characterized by the adoption and use of riverine shell-tempering agents in the clay paste. Shell tempering is one of...

. Some later burials included glass beads and sheet brass

Brass

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...

 ornaments, indicating that these were intrusive burials of 17th century European

European ethnic groups

The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....

s.

Archaeological evidence suggests that the area around the Nacoochee Mound, and a nearby mound site called Eastwood, served as local administrative centers in the late 15th century and early 16th centuries. There is evidence that the sites were occupied during the time when the Etowah Indian Mounds

Etowah Indian Mounds

Etowah Indian Mounds is a archaeological site in Bartow County, Georgia south of Cartersville, in the United States. Built and occupied in three phases, from 1000–1550 CE, the prehistoric site is located on the north shore of the Etowah River. Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site is a designated...

 were inhabited, approximately three centuries earlier.

At one time, an unexcavated village near the mound was thought to be Nacoochee or Chota

Chota (Cherokee town)

Chota is a historic Overhill Cherokee site in Monroe County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. For much of its history, Chota was the most important of the Overhill towns, serving as the de facto capital of the Cherokee people from the late 1740s until 1788...

, Cherokee villages recorded during a 1715 expedition by Colonel George Chicken. These appeared on maps until the mid-18th century. Many years later, members of the Cherokee

Cherokee

The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...

 tribe used the mound as the location of their most prominent townhouse and for ceremonial rites.

A historical marker at the site claims it is the "ancient Cherokee town of Gauxule, visited by Hernando de Soto

Hernando de Soto (explorer)

Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who, while leading the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States, was the first European documented to have crossed the Mississippi River....

 in 1540." But, archaeology work in 2004 by the University of Georgia

University of Georgia

The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...

 Archaeology Field School resulted in evidence that the mound and town were not occupied by Cherokee in the 16th century, if at all. Rather, the site was shown to have been significant during the earlier Woodland

Woodland period

The Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures was from roughly 1000 BCE to 1000 CE in the eastern part of North America. The term "Woodland Period" was introduced in the 1930s as a generic header for prehistoric sites falling between the Archaic hunter-gatherers and the...

 and Mississippian

Mississippian culture

The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....

 periods. Little evidence of Cherokee occupation at any time was found.

Collector George Gustav Heye

George Gustav Heye

George Gustav Heye was a collector of Native American artifacts. His collection became the core of the National Museum of the American Indian.-Biography:...

 wrote a book about the excavation, The Nacoochee mound in Georgia, with Hodge and Pepper, which was published in 1918.

The original Nacoochee Mound was partially excavated, but a reconstruction exists on the estate of former Georgia governor Lamartine Griffin Hardman

Lamartine Griffin Hardman

Lamartine Griffin Hardman served two terms as the 65th Governor of the state of Georgia from 1927 to 1931. He believed that state government should be run like a business and was best known for his effort to make governmental processes more efficient.-Family:William B. J...

, in the Nacoochee Valley in White County

White County, Georgia

White County is a county located in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on December 22, 1857, from part of Habersham County. The county was named for Newton County Representative David T. White, who helped a Habersham representative successfully attain passage of an...

, two miles south of Helen

Helen, Georgia

Helen is a city located on the Chattahoochee River in White County in the north of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2000 census, the city's population was 420.-History:...

. The mound is part of the Sautee Valley Historic District

Sautee Valley Historic District

The Sautee Valley Historic District is a historic district centered on the community of Sautee Nacoochee in White County, Georgia. It was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1986 and has agricultural, architectural and historic significance...

, which was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1986.

See also

• List of Mississippian sites
• Mississippian culture
  Mississippian culture
  The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....
  
  
• Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
  Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
  The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex is the name given to the regional stylistic similarity of artifacts, iconography, ceremonies, and mythology of the Mississippian culture that coincided with their adoption of maize agriculture and chiefdom-level complex social organization from...
  
  

External links

• Nacoochee Mound, New Georgia Encyclopedia
• Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia
• Nacoochee Mound images, National Museum of the America Indian