How Do You Identify Native American Burial Mounds In East Texas?
While many Native American tribes built mounds, most of the mounds in East Texas were created by the Caddo people. The Caddo constructed three types: temple, platform and burial. All were primarily earthen, requiring workers to haul tons of dirt in baskets. Temple mounds included the burned remains of old buildings. Platform mounds had flat tops and were used as foundations for new buildings. Some burial mounds were dome-shaped while others were conical. Burial mounds were reserved for important figures, and the tombs contained up to eight bodies. Note the size and shape of the mound. Most burial mounds are 8 to 16 feet high and about 90 feet in diameter. Take photos from a number of angles. Look for signs that the hill may be man-made, such as a highly symmetrical shape not normally found in nature. Search the surrounding area, on foot or with binoculars, for signs of other mounds. Mounds were sometimes constructed as three points of a triangle, with the area in the middle forming a p
