Program planned for 2,000-year-old Ingomar Mound Saturday

Celebrating Archaeology Month in Union County, the Ingomar Mound event is set this Saturday, Oct. 24, 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., at the 63-acre site on County Road 96 south of New Albany.

Activities at the free event include an archaeologist on site helping with object identification, mound tours, demonstration of making cordage, ancient weapons and crafts for youth.

The site allows social distancing, and participants are asked to take precautions to keep themselves and others safe due to COVID.

A pot shard from the Smithsonian 1890 excavation, now on exhibit at the museum

The ancient site is one of the largest preserved Native American sites in North Mississippi and is owned by the Archaeological Conservancy.  The event is hosted by the Union County Heritage Museum and is an annual event.

The site has been carbon dated to being built approximately 2,000 years ago and is a Middle Woodland site.  Selections of artifacts discovered at the site when it was first excavated in the 1880s by the Smithsonian institution are currently on exhibit at the museum, said Jill Smith, museum director.

The site once had 12 to 14 mounds.  Agriculture and time have diminished most of the smaller mounds. The remaining mound is the large platform mound that is the focus of the site.  Archaeologists compare the Ingomar site as a sister site to Pinson Mounds in Tennessee and the Toltec Mounds in Arkansas. Characteristics of the Woodland Period are the development of pottery, agriculture and permanent settlements.  Hunting and gathering also was part of the life of the Middle Woodland person. Trade with other areas is a characteristic of the Middle Woodland Period, and the Ingomar site is part of the Hopewell Interaction area, which goes as far north as Canada, Smith said.

The interpretation of the site was done by the Union County Historical Society in 2011 with a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission.   Events for the public, for area schools and homeschooled groups are done at the site regularly.

The event will be from 10 until 2 p.m. and is weather permitting. For more information call the museum at 662-538-0014.