Most of us seem to understand the period of time of the Adena and the Hopewell and how they tie into the Jaredites and the Nephites and Mulekites timeline. I will address the Fort Ancient period and how it is separate from the Mississippian Culture.
In a nutshell the Fort Ancient people are the continuation of the Lamanites who defeated the Nephites at Hill Cumorah. The Mississippian are people who came up from Mexico as the Mayans in about 900 Ad to conquer the original Lamanites of North America. These people we called the Snake People by the Lamanites.
After the final battles at Cumorah, we understand the Lamanites survived and the Nephites as an organized Nation became extinct. I am not saying all Nephites were killed, as many did survive. A common belief about the Nephites is its organized nation was destroyed. That doesn’t mean however that every Nephite was destroyed, with no survivors, and the entire race or group ended. However, according to the Book of Mormon, the seed of Nephi, were not completely destroyed.
Nephite Remnant Remained
“…wherefore, thou seest that the Lord God will not suffer that the Gentiles will utterly destroy the mixture of thy seed, which are among thy brethren.” (1 Nephi 13:30)
Hopewell Cultural Decline
WHO WERE THE MOON-EYED PEOPLE? Nephites?
OK…so who were the Moon-Eyed People? Over the years there have been several theories on this subject, but no one knows if they even existed and simply a Cherokee legend. The folklore of the region is quite interesting, but it will likely remain a mystery. The interesting part is that they were reported by the Cherokee even before the Spaniards came to the new world.
There has long been a legend of an ancient race or tribe of ‘Whites’ that existed and thrived long before the American Indians arrived in North America. The Book of Mormon describes a similar story, identifying the race as the Nephites. Read more about the Moon Eyed People Here.
The Nephites and the Moon-eyed people both lived before Columbus in the Northern Georgia, south east Tennessee , and the south west part of North Carolina where the Cherokee museum is located today.
“The moon-eyed people are a legendary group of people who are said to have lived in Appalachia until the Cherokee expelled them. Stories about them, attributed to Cherokee tradition, are mentioned by early European settlers in America. In a 1797 book, Benjamin Smith Barton explains they are called “moon-eyed” because they saw poorly during the day. Later stories about the people add additional details, saying that they had white skin, they created the area’s pre-Columbian ruins, and they disappeared from the area. Barton cited as his source a conversation with Colonel Leonard Marbury (c. 1749 – 1796), an early settler of Georgia. Marbury, a Revolutionary War officer and a Congressman in the Second Provincial Congress of Georgia (1775), acted as intermediary between Native American Indians in the state of Georgia and the United States government.” Wikipedia
Mississippian Culture (900 to 1500 AD)
RICHARD THORNTON:
MAYA IN AMERICA, THE UNTOLD STORY OF ANCIENT AMERICA
Maya in America is a new book that shows how the ancient Maya not only reached the shores of Florida and Georgia but had a thriving gold mining operation in the north Georgia mountains.
Author Richard Thornton is a Creek Indian architect, city planner, author and researcher into Native American history. His professional work in support of archaeologists began in college, when he received a fellowship to study Mesoamerican architecture and urban planning in Mexico. In 2004 he began carrying out research projects for Native American tribes that studied their cultural history. He is a founding member and newsletter editor of the People of One Fire, a national alliance of Native American scholars. In parallel, Richard has been then architect for the restoration of several hundred buildings dating back to 1746 throughout the Southeast. On his Caucasian side, he is a direct descendant of the first leader of the Georgia during the American Revolution, a Continental officer, and Creek Indian leaders, who were allies of the Patriots.
Several of his historic preservation projects were associated with personalities or events of national importance, such as the American Revolution, Civil War battlefields, the Great Locomotive Chase, the Rev. Sam Jones, and several famous Southern writers. In 2009, he was the architect for Oklahoma’s Trail of Tears Memorial in Tulsa, OK.
In about 900 AD the Mayan civilization ended in Mexico and it seems they migrated up the Mississippi and conquered the Lamanites in North America. Later the original Native American pushed the Mayans back to Central America.
Ruins in Georgia mountains show evidence of Maya connection
The December 21, 2011 headline of the article put online by the Examiner declared: “Ruins in Georgia mountains show evidence of Maya connection.” It was written by Richard Thornton who writes articles on architecture and design for the Examiner’s Web site, which pays writers’ fees based on how many people view the ads on the Internet page. According to the article, which created a massive Internet response, “a group of archaeologists discovered the ruins of a 1,100-year-old Maya city” on the sides of a steep mountain in Georgia. The article related that 154 stone masonry walls, a sophisticated irrigation system, and other stone ruins were at the site. The archaeological team was led, back in 1999, by Dr. Mark Williams, who recovered pottery at the mounds found on the top of the mountain. The article, quite large for an Examiner post, presented virtually no evidence for the claim of Maya ruins other than the claim of the stone walls and Native language similarities to Mayan, but referred readers to Thornton’s book on the site.
One site included on the May 2012 A.R.E. Georgia Mound Tour is Ocmulgee National Monument, a massive complex inhabited as early as 17,000 years ago. There are seven huge mounds at the site with the largest being a truncated pyramid standing 55 feet high with a base of 270×300 feet. An underground earth-lodge is at the center of the site and we plan to conduct a ceremony while inside this earthen structure. Ocmulgee is one of the few American mound complexes where archaeologists concede that a definite influence from ancient Mexican cultures is present. Specific types of tobacco, clothing, pottery, and statues excavated at the site show the connection. It is thought that when the Teotihuacan pyramid-building culture collapsed around AD 600, a migration took place to the north, eventually reaching Georgia as well as other places. https://www.edgarcayce.org/about-us/blog/blog-posts/maya-ruins-in-georgia-the-real-story/
Mesoamerican Connections in North America, but Nephites began civilization in the heartland of the USA
“FOR DECADES, LDS SCHOLARS HAVE LABORED TO ESTABLISH and defend a Mesoamerican setting for the Book of Mormon because they believed they were vindicating what Joseph Smith wrote (or approved) in three articles published in the Times and Seasons on 15 September and 1 October 1842. The discovery that it was someone other than Joseph Smith, Wilford Woodruff, or John Taylor who wrote the articles, led to the further discovery that Benjamin Winchester wrote the articles linking the Book of Mormon to Central America, and that William Smith edited and published them. These discoveries raise serious questions about the original premise for both hemispheric and Mesoamerican theories of Book of Mormon geography. Although now discredited, these Times and Seasons articles have influenced generations of Latter-day Saints—members, scholars, and leaders —and have been frequently cited by those who advocate a Mesoamerican setting.” Moroni’s America Chapter 28 by Jonathan Neville
Mayan Civilization Collapses 900 AD
The remaining Lamanites after about 600 AD spread all over the continent once again as they had in 600 BC when Lehi first landed. In about 900 AD the Mayan civilization collapsed. Archaeologists and scientists explain that the Mayans most likely went north, probably using the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River and spread into the southern states of the U.S. Native Americans knew these Mayans as “Snake people” from the south as they appeared to be a fierce people that came from Mesoamerica. It then would have been easy for these Mayans to utilize the rivers to travel inland to the Midwest or southeastern parts of the U.S. We know that one of the largest ancient civilizations of North America is at Cahokia near St. Louis, Missouri which is right on the Mississippi. Cahokia is dated at about 1000-1200 AD. Cahokia is not a city that was built by the Heartland Core Nephites, but probably by the Mesoamerican Periphery Mayans.
“Who built the mounds during the Mississippian Culture period? In an interview with a Native American, Wayne May, author and publisher of Ancient American Magazine, asked a Chieftain: “Who built Cahokia?” The Chieftain responded to Wayne: “We did, the Native Americans. But we built it as slaves.” Wayne then asked: “Slaves to who?” The Chieftain replied: “We were slaves to the Snake people who had come up from the south…as a cohesive army. They enslaved us and for the space of 200-300 years they forced us to build these gigantic structures. But then we were finally able to overthrow them and drive them back out of our lands. But by that time we had intermarried with them for 200-300 years. So many of our people ended going back to the southern lands.” The “Snake people” from the south appear to be people that came from Mesoamerica during a time of severe drought in their lands.” Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum page 540 (Emphasis added)
Possible Maya site discovered in North Georgia?
Archaeological zone 9UN367 at Track Rock Gap, near Georgia’s highest mountain, Brasstown Bald, is a half mile (800 m) square and rises 700 feet (213 m) in elevation up a steep mountainside. Visible are at least 154 stone masonry walls for agricultural terraces, plus evidence of a sophisticated irrigation system and ruins of several other stone structures. Much more may be hidden underground. It is possibly the site of the fabled city of Yupaha, which Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto failed to find in 1540, and certainly one of the most important archaeological discoveries in recent times.
BLAIRSVILLE, GA (December 21, 2011) — Around the year 800 AD the flourishing Maya civilization of Central America suddenly began a rapid collapse. A series of catastrophic volcanic eruptions were followed by two long periods of extreme drought conditions and unending wars between city states.
Cities and agricultural villages in the fertile, abundantly watered, Maya Highlands were the first to be abandoned. Here, for 16 centuries, Itza Maya farmers produced an abundance of food on mountainside terraces. Their agricultural surpluses made possible the rise of great cities in the Maya Lowlands and Yucatan Peninsula. When the combination of volcanic eruptions, wars and drought erased the abundance of food, famines struck the densely populated Maya Lowlands. Within a century, most of the cities were abandoned. However, some of the cities in the far north were taken over by the Itza Maya and thrived for two more centuries.” Read the full article here: http://www.examiner.com/architecture-design-in-national/massive-1-100-year-old-maya-site-discovered-georgia-s-mountains
Fort Ancient- (900 to 1500 AD)
Largest Prehistoric Hilltop Enclosure in the United States
“Fort Ancient (33 WA 2)is a collection of Native American earthworks located in Washington Township, Warren County, Ohio, along the eastern shore of the Little Miami River about seven miles (11 km) southeast of Lebanon on State Route 350. The site is the largest prehistoric hilltop enclosure in the United States, with three and one-half miles (18,000 ft) of walls in a 100-acre (0.40 km2) complex. Built by the Hopewell peoples, who lived in the area from the 1st century BC to the 6th century AD, the site is situated on a wooded bluff 270 feet (82 m) above the Little Miami. It is the namesake of a culture known as Fort Ancient, who lived near the complex long after it was constructed.
Maintained as a state historical park, the site was designated a National Historic Landmark for its significance. In addition, this is part of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, one of 14 sites nominated in January 2008 by the U.S. Department of the Interior for potential submission by the United States to the UNESCO World Heritage List.” Wikipedia
Fort Ancient Culture Descendants of the Lamanites
Lamanites are the People of Joseph
“We have a great responsibility as citizens in this land, for the Lord said that he would fight its battles and be its king, if we will just serve him. So it’s appropriate at this time that we express our appreciation for this great land. I like the words Moses used when he gave a blessing to the twelve tribes of Israel. When he blessed Joseph he promised him a new land in the utmost bowels of the everlasting hills (see Deut. 33:15). Now that isn’t in Jerusalem because they don’t have everlasting hills over there, and the prophets have never predicted a regathering of all nations to the land of Israel. But they have predicted the gathering of Israel to this land of America, which is the land of Joseph. And we are the only people in the world who know what that land is that Moses promised to Joseph. It was so great in his eyes as he received the revelations of the Holy Spirit that in describing the land he used the word “precious” five times in just four verses…We have so much to be grateful for. We are not here by chance. We are here because of the sacrifices of our pioneer fathers who came to this choice land that the Lord, according to the Book of Mormon, had hidden away from the eyes of the world that it should not be overrun. He preserved it for us, for the day and time in which we now live here in these valleys of the mountains.” LEGRAND RICHARDS of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Serpent Mound
Aerial view in color of Serpent Mound, Adams County, Ohio. Excavations conducted in 1991 recovered charcoal that returned radiocarbon dates suggesting that the Fort Ancient people built the mound between about 1025 A.D. and 1215 A.D.
The Fort Ancient culture thrived in southern Ohio and northern Kentucky. Villages were made up of a number of circular or rectangular houses surrounding an open plaza. The Fort Ancient people continued to build small burial mounds, but gradually shifted to burials in a cemetery area with no mounds.
“There is evidence that the Fort Ancient culture built Serpent Mound in Adams County, Ohio. They also may have built the “Alligator” Mound of Licking County, but that effigy is not likely a sculpture of an alligator. It is more likely an effigy of a panther, opossum, or a salamander.” https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Fort_Ancient_Culture
Explore the largest and best-preserved prehistoric hilltop enclosure in the United States with Rod Meldrum at Fort Ancient Earthworks & Nature Preserve’s 2,000-year-old monument. The site also offers more than 2.5 miles of hiking trails, two scenic overlooks, a museum, a seasonal outdoor garden and a picnic area.
Who Built Cahokia? (Fort Ancient, Influenced by the Mississippian’s)
Remeber as I said earlier, the Fort Ancient people are the continuation of the Lamanites who defeated the Nephites at Hill Cumorah. The Mississippian are people who came up from Mexico as the Mayans in about 900 Ad to conquer the original Lamanites of North America. These people we called thee Snake People by the Lamanites.
Determining exactly which culture designed and built the effigy mound, and when, is a matter of ongoing inquiry. A broad answer may lie in viewing the work as being designed, built, and/or refurbished over an extended period of time by several Indigenous groups. The leading theory is that the Fort Ancient Culture (1000–1650 C.E.) is principally responsible for the mound, having erected it in c. 1070 C.E. This mound-building society lived in the Ohio Valley and was influenced by the contemporary Mississippian culture (700–1550), whose urban center was located at Cahokia in Illinois. The rattlesnake was a common theme among the Mississippian culture, and thus it is possible that the Fort Ancient Culture appropriated this symbol from them (although there is no clear reference to a rattle to identify the species as such).
View of the Great Serpent Mound, 1070(?), Adams County, Ohio (photo: Vasenka Photography)
An alternative theory is that the Fort Ancient Culture refurbished the site c. 1070, reworking a preexisting mound built by the Adena Culture (c.1100 B.C.E.–200 C.E.) and/or the Hopewell Culture (c. 100 B.C.E.–550 C.E.). Whether the site was built by the Fort Ancient peoples, or by the earlier Adena or Hopewell Cultures, the mound is atypical. The mound contains no artifacts, and both the Fort Ancient and Adena groups typically buried objects inside their mounds. Although there are no graves found inside the Great Serpent Mound, there are burials found nearby, but none of them are the kinds of burials typical for the Fort Ancient culture and are more closely associated with Adena burial practices. Archaeological evidence does not support a burial purpose for the Great Serpent Mound. https://smarthistory.org/fort-ancient-culture-great-serpent-mound/
Fort Ancient Ceramic Jar
The decorations incised on this ceramic jar identify it as a product of the Fort Ancient people, a late pre-contact culture living in southern Ohio between 1100 and 450 years ago. Fort Ancient people were Ohio’s original farmers, growing crops of corn, beans, and squash, and thrived in southern Ohio and northern Kentucky. Villages were made up of a number of circular or rectangular houses surrounding an open plaza. The Fort Ancient people continued to build small burial mounds, but gradually shifted to burials in a cemetery area with no mounds. The jar measures approximately 6.5″ (16.51 cm) in diameter and is 5.5″ (13.97 cm) tall.
The Fort Ancient people occupied the Middle Ohio Valley from approximately 900 -1750 AD, a culture of the Late Prehistoric period. The end of the period of Fort Ancient settlement is marked by a dramatic decline in population and village sites in the area prior to European settlement. The reasons for this decline are unknown, but many factors may have contributed:
- malnutrition resulting from a long-term carb-based diet
- decline in maize production
- exposure to European diseases through trade and contact with other tribes
- abandonment of the area [Return to Mesoamerica where most were from]
Occupation of the Fort Ancient culture
TIMELINE OF OCCUPATION
TURPIN PHASE: 1000-1250
- First evidence of contact with Mississippian tribes: trade materials and influence on locally-made items
- Larger settlements than the Newtown villages, some with a central plaza, some with a stockade
- Buried dead in mounds or in limestone coffins in graves
- Most Fort Ancient sites discovered are dated to this time period
- Serpent Mound was likely built during this time period
SCHOMAKER PHASE: 1250-1400
- Distinctive shift in ceramic industry; decorated vessel necks and handles
- Fewer sites; most located on high bluff tops, only one site still located in the valley
- Villages arranged in a circular pattern surrounding a public plaza
- Houses were built partially underground for warmth in the winter and to stay cool in the summer
- Development of new crop storage techniques: dug cylinders with flat bottoms, appx. 1 meter in diameter and 1-2 meters deep
- Change in burial patterns; mound building had ceased, buried in graves in a belt around the village plaza
MARIEMONT PHASE: 1400-1670
- Only 1-2 sites were discovered for this period; lower Miami valleys
- This phase ended approximately 100 years before the founding of Cincinnati
- Graves now contained small pots representative of pots used for everyday use; placed near the head and waist, probably contained food for the afterlife
- Abandonment of the circular village arrangement – no apparent arrangements
- Houses were 3-4 times larger and likely held several families
ANCESTRY
The Fort Ancient were likely descendants of the Late Woodland Newtown culture, who occupied the region from approximately AD 400 – 1000.
The Newtown culture evolved from the Hopewell traditions, and were marked by their shift in living situations (larger villages) and subsistence practices (began to depend more on horticulture).
The shift from Newtown culture to Fort Ancient is defined by a dependence on farming and contact with Mississippian tribes and the adoption of their culture and industry, including the bow and arrow, new pottery forms, and the cultivation of maize.
The people of the Fort Ancient culture were most likely the ancestors of the Shawnee tribe. Therefore, most of our assumptions of their cultural practices and beliefs are based on Shawnee practices.
SETTLEMENTS
Settlements were occupied for several years. Small settlements were common during earlier phases, and later grew into large villages arranged in a circular pattern.
SUBSISTENCE
BURIAL PRACTICES
Fort Ancient Culture: Great Serpent Mound
Fort Ancient Culture(?), Great Serpent Mound, c. 1070, Adams County, Ohio (photo: Arthur T. LaBar, CC BY-NC 2.0)
A serpent 1300 feet long
The Great Serpent Mound in rural, southwestern Ohio is the largest serpent effigy in the world. Numerous mounds were made by the ancient Native American cultures that flourished along the fertile valleys of the Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri Rivers a thousand years ago, though many were destroyed as farms spread across this region during the modern era. They invite us to contemplate the rich spiritual beliefs of the ancient Native American cultures that created them.
The Great Serpent Mound measures approximately 1,300 feet in length and ranges from one to three feet in height. The complex mound is both architectural and sculptural and was erected by settled peoples who cultivated maize, beans and squash and who maintained a stratified society with an organized labor force, but left no written records. Let’s take a look at both aerial and close-up views that can help us understand the mound in relationship to its site and the possible intentions of its makers.
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Rod Describes Serpent Mound
As Rod Meldrum has been on many tours to this Serpent Mound, he has studied and researched it quite a bit in the past 12 years. There are all types of explanations for this mound. I have heard Rod describe it to me as possibly one of the most holy explanations I have ever heard. We know the Native Americans love the Great Spirit and the Mother Earth and all Creation. To a Native American, Creation is vital to this life. Could this possibly be a sperm and egg representing life itself. Could these sacred Natives understand the very essence of life from our Creator? I will let you decide for yourself.
Supernatural Powers?
Ephraim George Squier and E. H. Davis, “The Serpent;” entry 1014, Adams County Ohio. Pl. XXXV, Ancient monuments of the Mississippi Valley: comprising the results of extensive original surveys and explorations, Washington: Smithsonian institution, 1848
The serpent is slightly crescent-shaped and oriented such that the head is at the east and the tail at the west, with seven winding coils in between. The shape of the head perhaps invites the most speculation. Whereas some scholars read the oval shape as an enlarged eye, others see a hollow egg or even a frog about to be swallowed by wide, open jaws. But perhaps that lower jaw is an indication of appendages, such as small arms that might imply the creature is a lizard rather than a snake. Many native cultures in both North and Central America attributed supernatural powers to snakes or reptiles and included them in their spiritual practices. The native peoples of the Middle Ohio Valley in particular frequently created snake-shapes out of copper sheets.
Aerial view of the Great Serpent Mound, c. 1070, Adams County, Ohio (underlying map © Google)
The mound conforms to the natural topography of the site, which is a high plateau overlooking Ohio Brush Creek. In fact, the head of the creature approaches a steep, natural cliff above the creek. https://www.earthancients.com/?portfolio=wayne-may-ancient-america-why-our-history-is-wrong
WAYNE MAY: ANCIENT AMERICA, WHY OUR HISTORY IS WRONG
About Ancient American Magazine
The purpose of Ancient American magazine is to describe the prehistory of the American Continent, regardless of presently fashionable beliefs— to provide a public forum for certified experts and nonprofessionals alike to freely express their views without fear nor favor.
In sharp contrast to majority academic opinion, its editorial position stands firmly on behalf of evidence for the arrival of overseas visitors to the Americas hundreds and even thousands of years before Columbus— not only from Europe, but the Near East, Africa, Asia, and the Western Pacific. Each issue presents such otherwise neglected and even suppressed factual evidence demonstrating the lasting impact made on the Americas by Scandinavian Norsemen, Pharaonic Egyptians, Bronze Age Mediterraneans, Semitic Phoenicians, West Africans, Dynastic Chinese, seafaring Polynesians, and many other culture- bearers. All contributed to the birth and development of numerous and sophisticated civilizations which flourished throughout the American Continents in pre-Columbian times.
It is the magazine’s purpose to show readers just how, when, and why these once powerful societies arose to great heights of cultural splendor and fell into deep obscurity as dramatic object lessons for our time. No rehash of well-worn theories, Ancient American offers up-to-the-moment news about ongoing discoveries and original perspectives, bringing to light a surprising abundance of fresh material that is seriously challenging entrenched conceptions of our past.
As such, our staff and contributing reporters believe they are writing a New History of our nation by convincingly offering research that, in the coming century, will amount to virtually a total revision of American antiquity. Because of its revolutionary potential, Ancient American, although authoritatively written, is not a scholarly journal. It is a popular science publication specifically aimed at attracting the broadest possible general readership, while refusing to compromise its scientific credibility.
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