Nacoochee Mound

34°41′01″N 83°42′32″W / 34.6835°N 83.709°W / 34.6835; -83.709

Nacoochee Mound
Ground-level view of the mound
The Nacoochee Mound
Nacoochee Mound is located in Georgia
Nacoochee Mound
Location within modern Georgia
LocationHelen, GeorgiaWhite County, Georgia USA
RegionWhite County, Georgia
Coordinates34°41′01″N 83°42′32″W / 34.68351°N 83.709°W / 34.68351; -83.709
History
Founded100 BCE
Abandoned1600 CE
PeriodsEarly Middle Woodland, Lamar phase
CulturesSouth Appalachian Mississippian culture
Site notes
Excavation dates1915, 2004
ArchaeologistsFrederick Webb Hodge, George H. Pepper
Architecture
Architectural stylesplatform mound
Architectural detailsNumber of temples: 1
Sautee Valley Historic District
NRHP reference No.86002742
Added to NRHPAugust 20, 1986[1]

The Nacoochee Mound (Smithsonian trinomial 9WH3) is an archaeological site on the banks of the Chattahoochee River in White County, in the northeast part of the U.S. state of Georgia. Georgia State Route 17 and Georgia State Route 75 have a junction near here.

First occupied as early as 100-500 CE by Woodland culture people, the site was later developed and occupied more intensively from 1350 to 1600 CE by peoples of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture (a regional variation of the Mississippian culture).[2] The latter people built a characteristic platform mound at this site, and evidence of related villages were found both east and west of the mound. A professional archeological excavation revealed a total of 75 human burials, with artifacts that support dating of the site.

The late 19th-century gazebo was installed on top of the mound in 1890 by a European-American owner of the land. After the mound was excavated, former governor Lamartine Griffin Hardman had a reconstruction of it built on his property south of Helen, Georgia.[citation needed]

George Gustav Heye, sponsor of the original excavation in 1915, claimed that the historic Cherokee had inhabited the site,[3] which was within their homelands. A 1955 historical marker on the site refers to such habitation. But, James B. Langford of The Coosawattee Foundation says that the excavation necessary to confirm such a claim has not been performed.[4]

A 1734 land grant between Great Britain and the Cherokee lists Nacoochee (Cherokee: ᎾᎫᏥ, romanized: Nagutsi) as a town of Cherokee territory but does not describe its exact location.[5]

The archeological site is part of the Sautee Valley Historic District. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 20, 1986 as reference number 86002742.[1]

  1. ^ a b "National Register of Historic Places". Archived from the original on 2012-08-03. Retrieved 2012-04-09.
  2. ^ "Southeastern Prehistory:Mississippian and Late Prehistoric Period". National Park Service. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Heye was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Langford, James B. Jr. (2002-08-08). "Nacoochee Mound". The New Georgia Encyclopedia. The Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
  5. ^ Webber, Mabel L. (October 1918). "An Indian Land Grant in 1734". The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine. 19 (4): 157–161. JSTOR 27569468.

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