Annis Mound and Village Site facts for kids
Artists conception of the Annis Mound and Village Site circa 1250-1300 CE
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 Location in Kentucky
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| Location | Butler County, Kentucky,  USA |
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| Region | Western Coal Field |
| Coordinates | 37°17′23.42″N 86°45′10.4″W / 37.2898389°N 86.752889°W |
| History | |
| Founded | 800 CE |
| Abandoned | 1300 CE |
| Cultures | Middle Mississippian culture |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1916, 1939-1940, 2002-2004 |
| Archaeologists | Clarence Bloomfield Moore, William Snyder Webb, Scott W Hammerstedt |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural styles | platform mound, palisade |
| Architectural details | Number of temples: 1 |
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Annis Mound and Village Site
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| NRHP reference No. | 85003182 |
| Added to NRHP | December 21, 1985 |
The Annis Mound and Village Site is an ancient place where people lived a long time ago. It's an archaeological site in Butler County, Kentucky, right by the Green River. People lived here from about 800 CE to 1300 CE. This site tells us a lot about the Mississippian people who built amazing things.
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What Was the Annis Mound and Village Site?
The Annis site was a busy place with a large platform mound and a village. A platform mound is like a big, flat-topped hill made by people. It was about 33.5 meters (110 feet) wide and 3.7 meters (12 feet) tall. Important buildings were likely on top of this mound.
The village area surrounded the mound. It was located north of the Green River. This village had homes and was protected by strong walls.
Protecting the Village: The Palisade
The village was surrounded by a defensive wall called a palisade. This wall was made from tall, upright tree trunks. The people built this palisade three different times. Each new wall was bigger than the last, protecting a larger village area.
Archaeologists found a special lookout spot called a bastion in the corner of the last palisade. This would have helped the villagers watch for anyone approaching.
Daily Life and Food
The people living at Annis Mound were farmers. Their main food was maize, also known as corn. They grew a lot of it to feed everyone in the village.
Archaeologists also found many pieces of pottery at the site. These were typical of the Mississippian people. Some special, high-quality pottery pieces were even found. These might have come from the famous Cahokia site, a very large ancient city far away. This suggests the Annis people traded with or had connections to other important groups.
The Annis Sand Mound
The Annis site also has another interesting feature. It's a circular mound called the Annis Sand Mound. This mound is about 1 meter (3 feet) tall and 30 to 35 meters (98 to 115 feet) wide. It's located north of the village, outside the palisade walls.
This sand mound is much older than the village and the platform mound. It dates back to the Archaic period. This means it was built by people who lived there thousands of years before the Mississippian culture.
