Astronomy of the Mississippian Mound Builders
At Ocmulgee National Monument
Recent
findings of architect, Richard L. Thornton
As
published in his book, Ocmulgee
Under Five Suns
Ocmulgee National Monument in Macon, GA is one of our country’s most significant archaeological sites. It is one of the very few remnants of a once great Southeastern Mississippian Culture and a contemporary of the well-studied and preserved Cahokia on the Mississippi River. Under the protection of the Department of the Interior, at least a portion of the once vast complex has been saved from farming and urban development, though even today it is under assault by highway planners.
Richard
Thornton is a native Georgian, a registered architect and city planner who takes
great pride in his Creek/Yuchi heritage. Since childhood, Richard has been on
the path of learning all he can about his heritage. Richard decided to use the
tools and techniques of his profession to do an independent study of
Ocmulgee. And thus began one man's journey into ‘Virtual Reality
Archaeology.’
Drawing of overall layout of
Ocmulgee on the fall line of the Ocmulgee River.
Large Temple Mound and the Main Plaza in Foreground
Center of Government and
Religious activities.
Each separate village defined by natural terrain
Had
it’s own mounds, public buildings and surrounding cultivated areas
Richard located accurate aerial photographs and topography maps of all the major archaeological sites in the vicinity of Ocmulgee that were compatible with his CADD program. When the maps and photos and grids all came together, what his computer screen revealed astonished him. All the structures at Ocmulgee were aligned on either a 0-90 degree or 65-25 degree axis. There were several significant directional relationships – perhaps pointing to where the sun rose or set on the Solstices and Equinoxes; or perhaps constellations on certain days of the year. Ocmulgee’s site plan was an enormous observatory!
CADD enables one to measure distances, angles and areas with extreme
accuracy. How, he wondered, could a people with Neolithic technology produce
such precision? The sort of
precision he discovered, over uneven terrain, was not accomplished in our times
until the mid-to-late 1800s when the need for precision railroad construction
fostered the advancement of surveying and civil engineering. Merely using line of sight and a long string could not have
achieved this accuracy. Only some type of optical transit combined with a
knowledge of geometry, degrees and math would have made it possible.
Richard’s best guess is that the accomplishment of this feat probably involved mirrors, since many large mirrors have been found in Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. Whatever technology was utilized, there is a clear implication that the people of Ocmulgee also knew the basics of astronomy, had a standard unit of measurement and some graphical means of passing down complex technical knowledge from one generation to the next.
Ocmulgee’s Geometric and Spatial Relationships
Radiating
out from Mound A were structures placed in straight lines which ran true
North-South - Mound B and the McDougal Mound to the North and mile Track and
Stubb’s Mound ten miles to the south.
There
was a line of structures which ran true East-West - Earth Lodges D-1 & D-4.
Other
lines of structures were on diagonal lines which aligned with the point were the
sun would rise or set on the Winter Solstice, Summer Solstice, Spring Equinox or
Fall Equinox.
The McDougal Mound and the Dunlop Mound were both exactly 3,424 feet from Mound A and exactly one-half that distance (1712ft.) apart from each other.
Another
line of structures (Mound A, Mound D, Dunlap Mound and Fort Hawkins Hill) seem
to have pointed at the setting point of the North Star. A line from Mound A through Earth Lodge D-4 seems to point at
the apogee of the North Star.
Mound
E and Earth Lodge D-4 are equidistant from mound A.. Earth Lodge D-1 is exactly
halfway between Mound E and Earth Lodge D-4 – possibly pointing to some
constellation.
Perhaps
the most astonishing discovery in the illustration below, is that the center of Mound A, the center of the
circular mound at
Ochesee, (the Lamar Village site)
and a mound on Brown’s Mount – a total distance of six miles – were all
aligned to define the point where the sun rose at the Winter Solstice.
Mound A
Ichesi
Brown's Mount
For an in-depth look at Ocmulgee National Monument visit: http://www.nps.gov/ocmu/
A New Way of Thinking and Teaching about
CREEK INDIANS OF THE SOUTHEAST
Images of Ocmulgee as it might have looked around 1100 AD.
Question to Ponder:
What if in our present-day world, we suddenly lost all our thinkers – mathematicians, engineers and scientists - keepers of modern technology and ancient wisdom, and most of our accumulated knowledge along with 90 - 95% of our total population?
Could we reorganize to form a functioning society?
Would we have the skills to even survive?
Think about it.
In fact –
This is exactly what happened to the ancestors of the Creek People!
In just a few years, beginning with the DeSoto Expedition in 1540
A holocaust of Spanish Swords and Spanish Diseases
Befell
the ancient People of the Southeast
The amazing thing is that these hearty, adaptable, self sufficient People did survive
Over the next 100 years or so the People made these great accomplishments
1. They UNITED
- They pulled
together the scattered remnants of
several culturally diverse yet inter - related peoples speaking several languages
or dialects into a loose confederation of independent towns and villages. This
would later become known as the Creek Confederacy
2.
Created a new form of GOVERNMENT
- They
adopted an egalitarian form of government far different than the hierarchy of
the past which was based on
heredity and rank
3.
Preserved TRADITIONS - They
carefully preserved & adapted many of their cultural traditions which have carried over as compelling links to the past.
4.
Utilized SKILLS & LABOR
- Everyone
had certain skills to help provide for the family and was expected to use them
in a very well defined division of labor
a. They knew the techniques of farming, and had long been cultivating many
food plants.
b.
They knew how, when and where to hunt
and fish.
c.
They knew what wild plants
were used for medicines, food and flavoring.
d. They knew how to make everything they needed from the bounty of the land.
They were self sufficient
5.
They had an ordered reckoning of KINSHIP
which fostered strong families and community.
6. They had STRICT RULES OF CONDUCT which, when broken were swiftly punished.
Thus, very little crime.
7. COUNCIL OF THE WISE - They had an orderly way of discussing problems and problem solving. (Our leaders today might be wise to take a few notes)
8.
They had a deep respect for a HIGHER
AUTHORITY which permeated every aspect of their daily lives, requiring them to be pure and
to live in harmony with nature and one another.
9. They worked to provide all they needed to live well, yet they had a
PERSONAL FREEDOM AND
LEISURE available to only an elite few in Europe.
When the Europeans came again, they could not see the beauty and logic of the Creek Peoples' way of life. The Europeans thought them to be ignorant, lazy, childlike savages - less intelligent and less human than themselves.
Sadly,
this
way of thinking has not changed considerably even unto the present day.
Muscogee Creek Town as it May Have Looked Around 1650
Though their way of life was vastly different from their mound-builder ancestors, many aspects of Creek oral traditions, counting system, architecture and ceremony harkens back to the life ways of the ancients.
A new wind is blowing as traditional Creeks and people of Southeastern Creek descent do the work of discovering and sharing a greater knowledge and understanding of our proud heritage.
The time has come for the contributions of our Creek ancestors to the rich historical and cultural fabric of our Southeastern homeland to receive the place of honor and recognition it rightfully deserves.
What do you think?
For much more on the Early Creek Way of Life -
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