Green Mound facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Green Mound
Location	Volusia County, Florida
Nearest city	Ponce Inlet, Florida
Governing body	Town of Ponce Inlet
Type	Florida Historic Site
Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).

Green Mound is one of the biggest Pre-Columbian shell mounds in the United States. It's located in Ponce Inlet, Florida. The top of the mound is the highest point in this small city.

This mound was once about 40 feet tall. But over time, road projects and natural events have made it about 10 feet shorter.

What is Green Mound?

Green Mound is a huge pile of shells and other things left behind by Native Americans. These piles are also called shell middens. They show us where people lived and what they ate a long, long time ago.

Who Built Green Mound?

Native Americans from the late St. Johns II period built Green Mound. This was after 800 AD. Archaeologists found special pottery from this time. They also found older items from the Archaic period.

The St. Johns period was a time when people started building mounds. They also began to live in one place for a long time. Before this, many groups moved around a lot.

Life at Green Mound

The people who lived here were very connected to the Atlantic Ocean. They also used the rich estuaries of the Halifax River. This river is just west of the mound.

The mound grew from many discarded oyster and clam shells. Other trash was added too. It shows us how much seafood these ancient people ate!

Discovering the Mound's Secrets

For a long time, people wondered if these shell piles were natural or made by humans. By 1859, it was clear that the shell mounds on Florida's east coast were made by Native American groups. They built up over hundreds of years.

In the 1940s, an archaeologist named Dr. John Griffin studied Green Mound. He found that people actually lived on the mound. Later digs found many layers of clay floors. They also found signs of buildings, like postholes. There was also ash, fire pits, and hearths.

Homes on the Mound

It's believed that homes on the mound were made from local materials. These included palmetto limbs and oak wood.

Archaeologists think that only the most important people lived on top of the mound. These might have been tribal chiefs or religious leaders. Other community members likely lived closer to the ground.

Green Mound Today

Green Mound is an important historical site. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2020. This helps protect it for future generations to learn from.

Images for kids