Many archaeologists have long determined that the Poverty Point site in Louisiana was probably the oldest Native American Mound Site (1650 BC). Also the Watson Brake site in LA. is dated at 3500 BC which would be even older. Below is information however about the Bilbo Mound site that is lesser known near Savannah Georgia that may be even older than Poverty Point and Watson Brake. Along with the additional article below about the ancient use of copper in Georgia, this makes me consider the possible voyage of the Jaredites from the Atlantic as a strong possibility. The head of the Savannah River begins just 5-8 miles from Helen, GA and near the head of the Chattahoochee and Hiawassee Rivers where I think Nephi may have pitched his tents after retreating from his brothers. He left them from Florida near Tallahassee where it is proposed that Lehi landed. Lehi could have also landed near Crystal River on the west coast of GA as well. See Map below. Also see maps at the end to share a possible Jaredite voyage from the Pacific or from the Atlantic.
Also near Savannah and down south to Tallahassee some of the pottery found in the Deptford culture is dated from 600 to 500 BC which matches up nicely with the time frame of Lehi and Nephi. See blog here and here for more about the Jaredites. For more about Nephi’s route visit here:
Savannah’s Bilbo Mound . . . the oldest architecture and civil engineering in North America
by Richard L. Thornton, Architect & City Planner
The Bilbo Mound in Savannah, GA is one of the oldest known examples of architecture and civil engineering in the Americas and certainly the oldest in North America. Currently, it predates any mound or public works project in Mexico. The base of the structure was radiocarbon dated in 1957 by the famous Louisiana archaeologist William C. Haag. Construction began around 3,545 BC. It may have merely been a man-made island within a man-made harbor initially, but over many years grew incrementally due to multiple burials and applications of soil layers. At a yet to be determined point in time, it also became a timber platform village.
Middle layers of the mound dated from around 2165 BC and contained some of the earliest pottery in North America – the Bilbo style pottery. It was fiber tempered like its contemporary Stallings Island Pottery upstream, but had little or no decoration on it. The last construction levels of the mound were dated to about 1750 BC. There is evidence that later peoples utilized the mound for burials, but did not significantly increase its size.
Archaeologists Joseph Caldwell and Antonio Waring first studied the Bilbo Mound in 1941. The mound was partially excavated by WPA-funded laborers under the supervision of these two famous archaeologists. Artifacts removed from the site were found to be similar to those of the Dulany Shell Mound to the west and stored for future analysis. At the time, radiocarbon dating didn’t exist and the archaeology profession had no clue that the oldest pottery in North America was in Georgia.
Haag had professional credentials in both civil engineering and anthropology. He was originally hired in 1957 to study the Bilbo site in anticipation of an oil company terminal being built on the site. Fortunately, the ancient excavations and earthworks were never disturbed. In the process, he became intrigued by the ancient mounds in that part of Savannah and thus excavated the Bilbo Mound because of his own initiative.
Other archaeologists thought both dates for the charcoal and pottery were impossible and so did not publicize Haag’s full results. They speculated that the builders of the mound had burned “old wood” while starting its construction. The profession’s decades long hostility to Haag’s research was so comprehensive that the mere existence of the Bilbo Mound would have been forgotten, had not his friend and Savannah-born archaeologist, Antonio Waring, added Haag’s report in one of his reports.
Haag went on to lead the excavation of Poverty Point, Louisiana, a semicircular earthen platform village with large mounds, dating from 1700 BC. He also assisted in the initial studies of the Watson Brake earthworks in northern Louisiana, which have been radiocarbon dated to 3450 BC. Other archaeologists determined that Georgia’s Stallings Island pottery dated from around 2400 BC or earlier, plus there were several mounds near the Bilbo, which were built as early as 2800 BC. Until recently, Stallings Island pottery was the oldest ceramic in the Americas, but older pottery has now been found in the Amazon Basin. Meanwhile, the archaeology profession completely forgot about the time when they dissed Haag’s discoveries at the Bilbo Mound.
Subsequent generations of archeology students were not told about the Bilbo Mound. This is the reason that there is so little information about the mound in such sources as Wikipedia. It is only in the period beginning in 2012 that Savannah residents became aware again of the many ancient mounds clustered between the Savannah Golf Course and Savannah River, immediately southeast of its historic downtown. The Savannah Golf Course and Country Club is the oldest golf course in the nation. It began during the American Revolution when bored Scottish occupation soldiers played golf among the ancient mounds and ponds southeast of the Colonial city.
In recent years, Savannah Area archaeologists have continued the study of the Bilbo Mound and its environs. Construction on the site began as the excavation of a canal to the Savannah River with a circular pond at its end. In its earliest form, the Bilbo Mound was an island in the center of the pond, created by piling the soil, excavated to create the pond. Archaeologists have also found extensive evidence that at one time, there was a village, built on timber pilings around the peripheral areas of the pond and on the surrounding low-lying wetland. Thus, Bilbo Mound appears to have been a man-made port of extraordinary age, older than most timber pile villages in Europe. It is from the same time period of the oldest known timber pile villages in France and Switzerland.
The identity of who initially excavated the canal, harbor and mound is anybody’s guess at this point. It strongly resembles the man-made harbors, built along the southern coast of the Iberian Peninsula and northwestern Africa during the Early and Middle Bronze Age . . . BUT is a thousand years older. No ceramics or metals were discovered below the 1850 BC level. It is possible that the acidic brine water of the Savannah might have completely dissolved copper, but there is absolutely no evidence at this point. The burials in the mound seem to be quite similar to those of contemporary indigenous American burials elsewhere in the lower Southeast. DNA testing will be impossible because the moist, acid soil decomposed most of the skeletal remains…” Source
A Light on Fort Mountain
That prehistoric Georgia may have been inhabited for 17,000 years, throughout the Paleoindian, Archaic, and Woodland periods is evidenced by sites along the Macon plateau at the fall-line. Archaic period pottery found in a mound at Stallings Island near Augusta is the oldest yet to be confirmed in North America, ALTHOUGH the base of another mound near Savannah’s Irene site, known as the Bilbo Mound may be even older – it’s been dated at 3,540 B.C. If this is correct, the culture represented by this Savannah site may well be the OLDEST in North America, preceding ALL others.
Achievements credited to the “Neolithic Revolution,” of the Early Farmers from this period include more substantial dwellings and permanent settlements, decorative symbolic pottery (Swift Creek & Weeden Island – Middle/Late Woodland), limited agricultural advancements, and the use of the bow and arrow. They also participated in the broader Adena, Hopewellian and Fort Ancient trading cultures.
Along the Etowah River southwest of Cartersville, Georgia in Bartow County, the Leake Mounds site contains the remains of a prehistoric occupation that lasted from approximately 300 B.C. until 650 A.D. A major center during the Middle Woodland period, it figured prominently in the interaction among peoples throughout the Southeastern and the Midwestern United States.Swift Creek pottery has been discovered throughout a major portion of Georgia as well as portions of surrounding states. The Leake site is at the northernmost edge of its distribution.
Complete Article Here: https://realspooks.com/tag/richard-thornton/
Architect/historian/author Richard Thornton said, “The Uchee, Apalache and Itsate all told early British settlers that the first place <their ancestors> lived when they arrived in their current homeland was the general vicinity of Savannah. High King Chikili told the settlers that ‘our first emperor is buried in a mound near Savannah’.” (The Bilbo Mound)
Early metal use and crematory practices in the American Southeast
Long-distance exchange of copper objects during the Archaic Period (ca. 8000-3000 cal B.P.) is a bellwether of emergent social complexity in the Eastern Woodlands. Originating from the Great Lakes, the Canadian Maritimes, and the Appalachian Mountains, Archaic-age copper is found in significant amounts as far south as Tennessee and in isolated pockets at major trade centers in Louisiana but is absent from most of the southeastern United States. Here we report the discovery of a copper band found with the cremated remains of at least seven individuals buried in the direct center of a Late Archaic shell ring located in coastal Georgia. Late Archaic shell rings are massive circular middens thought to be constructed, in part, during large-scale ritual gatherings and feasting events. The exotic copper and cremated remains are unique in coastal South Carolina and Georgia where Archaic-age cremations are conspicuously absent and no other Archaic copper objects have been reported. Elemental data produced through laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry shows the copper originated from the Great Lakes, effectively extending Archaic copper exchange almost 1,000 km beyond its traditional boundaries. Similarities in mortuary practices and the presence of copper originating from the Great Lakes reveal the presence of long-distance exchange relations spanning vast portions of the eastern United States and suggest an unexpected level of societal complexity at shell ring localities. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that elite actors solidified their positions through ritual gatherings and the long-distance exchange of exotic objects during the Archaic.
Significance
Chemical sourcing of a Late Archaic (ca. 4100–3980 cal B.P.) copper artifact reveals extensive trade networks linking the coastal southeastern United States with the Great Lakes. Found alongside the cremated remains of at least seven individuals and in the direct center of a plaza defined by a circular shell midden, the copper artifact demonstrates the existence of long-distance networks that transmitted both objects and mortuary practices. In contrast with models that assume coastal hunter-gatherer-fishers typically lived in small, simple societies, we propose that trading for and utilizing copper is evidence of emergent hierarchical social organization during the Archaic and the likelihood that power was gained and displayed during large-scale gatherings and ceremonial events.
In summary, the McQueen site contains the remains of at least seven people who died on or near St. Catherines Island during the Late Archaic Period. The first to be interred was probably a young female adult who suffered an injury that became infected. Her body was cremated, and the remains were buried at the center of the McQueen Shell Ring. At some point not long thereafter, six other individuals died and were cremated and interred. They may have been interred in one or more events. The interred people had suffered some minor ailments during their lives, including evidence that at least one individual suffered an injury. Their remains were interred at the center of a shell ring, along with faunal remains, especially from fish and deer, and lithic, ceramic, and copper artifacts. Analysis of zooarchaeological materials is ongoing, but along with the more common taxa mentioned above, preliminary results include the identification of animals rarely encountered in Late Archaic deposits, such as pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) and eagle ray (Myliobatidae), as well as high proportions of bird and alligator remains (65).
Discussion/Conclusion
The discovery of a Late Archaic-age cremation with associated mortuary items, including copper objects made from materials originating from the Great Lakes, contradicts interpretations that characterize shell ring residents as simple, provincial groups, largely disconnected from their more interior neighbors. These interpretations often rely on outdated models that suggest maritime economies are inherently poor and not stable enough to provide for societal expansion, diversification, or complexity (40). Instead, our findings are consistent with hypotheses that characterize ring residents as both living in social groups that included emergent elites (51) and participating in long-distance trade. Prior research suggests that aspiring elites could have utilized marine and terrestrial resources, including tree nuts, to host large-scale gatherings during the winter months (37). These gatherings likely included the mass consumption of shellfish that were then piled, perhaps to display the relative status of individuals or groups. We suggest that long-distance exchange played a key role in helping aspiring elites attain, display, and share social capital. The copper object originating from the Great Lakes is likely part of larger pattern in which ring residents participated in long-distance exchange networks trading raw materials and objects. Considering that a copper object was emplaced alongside cremated human and nonhuman remains, we propose that long-distance exchange practices were intertwined with ritual events. It is likely that emergent elites used both exotic items and ceremonies to elevate their positions within the broader political landscape. To this point, it is important to note that the placement of the copper band among the cremated remains of at least seven individuals, some of whom may have died violently, suggests that this object was purposefully taken out of circulation, likely during a very visible event in which human bodies were burned, pulverized, and then emplaced in the ring center. We know little about who these individuals were, why they were buried together, and why they were interred in the ring center along with the copper object and other potent items, including a whale vertebra. Perhaps these individuals were exalted members of the community and were given a high-status burial to reflect their position(s) in life. It is equally possible that these individuals were murdered by ring residents for political, social, or religious reasons, and their burial in the ring center had motives other than honoring the lives of the interred. It is also possible this group died an abnormal death, perhaps caused by disease or accident, and their burial was an act designed to alleviate the suffering of the dead or to protect the living from similar calamity.
Excavation units at McQueen; the center block is outlined. (C) Plan view of
burial pit. (D) Profile of burial pit.
Below is a very interesting video about the McQueen Shell site in Georgia where ancient 2,500 BC Copper from the Great Lakes was found.
Jaredites from the East or the West?
Some researchers believe that the Jaredites may have come from the Near East and traveled the Atlantic and arrived up the St Lawrence River near the Great Lakes. Some believe the Jaredites traveled on foot east from the Tower of Babel across Asia and traveled the Pacific arriving at the Columbia River. With the information dating Louisiana and Georgia as places of the oldest North American known civilizations, I am beginning to consider that the Jaredites may have taken the same route to North America as Lehi near Tallahassee Florida, and/or Mulek up the Mississippi River locating near Montrose, Iowa. I believe information is so ancient as to not be very accurate in determining the correct route of the Jaredites, but it is very interesting to speculate on the plausibility of each location. (See two maps at the end of this blog that show one Jaredite voyage by way of the Atlantic and another one by way of the Pacific).
I share some things about the Georgia/Tennessee area based on many years of research that may be significant as a location of the Nephites. The area of northern Georgia is an amazing area for possible Nephite locations. Near Helen, Georgia and the source of the Hiawasee and Chattahoochee Rivers is what I call Nephi’s Valley. From the mouth of the Apalachicola River where is found 600 BC artifacts, is a possible landing place for Lehi. Nephi would have left the Florida area by way of the Chattahoochee River up to the area called Unicoi Gap, Georgia. By taking the source of the Hiwassee River, Nephi could have traveled up that River which connects to the Tennessee River with an easy stopping place near Chattanooga, Tennessee where I feel is a good possible location for the first Nephite Temple. The eastern hills of eastern Tennessee is rich with gold, silver, and copper where Nephi could have made swords. This area of northern Georgia and eastern Tennessee is the location of the great Cherokee Indians. The area of Chattanooga is close to hundreds of beautiful springs in northern Georgia where a location for the Waters of Mormon is possible. If you have questions, please ask. I acknowledge much of this geography is plausible based on archaeology, geology and other factors. (See map of Unicoi Gap, Georgia for possible Nephite locations at the end of this blog).
