Crooks Mound facts for kids
 Location in Louisiana
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| Location | Jonesville, Louisiana, La Salle Parish, Louisiana,  USA |
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| Region | La Salle Parish, Louisiana |
| Coordinates | 31°31′28.16″N 92°1′2.21″W / 31.5244889°N 92.0172806°W |
| History | |
| Founded | 100 BCE |
| Abandoned | 400 CE |
| Periods | Woodland period |
| Cultures | Marksville culture |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1938–1939, |
| Archaeologists | James A. Ford |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural styles | Burial mound |
| Responsible body: private | |
Crooks Mound is an ancient burial site in La Salle Parish, Louisiana. It was built by the Marksville culture, a group of people who lived in this area long ago. The site is a large, cone-shaped mound used for burying people.
Archaeologists believe Crooks Mound was used for burials over several periods. It was about 16 feet (4.9 meters) high and 85 feet (26 meters) wide. Inside, about 1,150 sets of human remains were found. The people who built the mound carefully arranged the remains to fit them all.
Sometimes, bodies were placed directly into the mound. Other times, they were put into special tombs made of logs or, rarely, stone. Only a few burials included valuable items like copper tools. These items, called grave goods, suggest that most people buried here were common members of the community.
Today, Crooks Mound is on private land. This means you usually can't visit it directly. However, you can often see it from the nearby road.
Contents
What is Crooks Mound?
Crooks Mound is an archaeological site made up of two separate mounds. It's located in south central Louisiana. The site was fully explored by archaeologists in 1938 and 1939. This work was led by a person named James A. Ford.
Mound A: The Main Burial Site
Mound A is the larger, cone-shaped mound. It stood about 17.8 feet (5.4 meters) tall and was 85 feet (26 meters) across. This mound was built in three different stages over time. It held most of the burials found at the site.
Mound B: The Smaller Mound
Mound B is a smaller, rectangular mound. It was about 3 feet (0.9 meters) high. It measured 58 feet (18 meters) long and 38 feet (12 meters) wide. Mound B was built in a single stage. It contained fewer burials compared to Mound A.
Who Was Buried at Crooks Mound?
Archaeologists found a total of 1,175 burials at Crooks Mound. Most of these, 1,159, were in Mound A. Only 13 burials were found in Mound B. The mounds were used for burials between about 100 BCE and 400 CE.
Some burials included pieces of pottery. However, the weight of the mound's soil often crushed these pots. There is no sign that people lived on or near these mounds. This makes archaeologists believe that Crooks Mound was used only for burying the dead.
- Fagan, Brian M. Ancient North America 2005. Thames and Hudson. p. 408
