Tower Mounds

Tower Mounds are more compact in shape in comparison to pyramidal mounds.They are usually only 2-3 wide at the base, and no more than 3 feet tall. They also use a different technique in how the rocks were stacked. Instead of laying rocks directly on top of the adjacent rocks, they are placed at an angle on only a portion of the adjacent rock. I call this style “feathering” because it reminds me of how bird feathers overlay each other.

Tower mounds are also unique in that located in the center top of the mound, large piles of very small crushed cobble are placed in the center. 

The most interesting feature of Tower Mounds is that the outer outline of some of the stone mounds are intentionally shaped into the effigy of an animal. I have seen some mounds that have very large stones on top of the mound that one would think would be at the bottom of the mound for structural integrity. On closer inspection, these oversized stones are the heads of different animals. I have seen an effigy of a buffalo lying down, and a full bodied serpent.

Tower Mounds typically are a more modern construct. I have seen them at sites that date to the late Hopewell Period making them around 1,500 years old.