Caddo Mounds State Historic Site
George C. Davis Site
Caddoan Mississippian 800–1300 CE (Early Caddo)·Caddoan (Hasinai)·🇺🇸 Texas, Cherokee County, United States
About
About Caddo Mounds State Historic Site
Southernmost Caddoan Mississippian civic-ceremonial center (800–1300 CE) on Neches River headwaters: three platform mounds (Mound A 8 m high), borrow pit, village 90 structures, grand plaza and El Camino Real trace. Westernmost mound center and timberlands trade gateway for obsidian, copper, conch shell from Gulf to Plains. Damaged by 2019 tornado destroying museum; rebuilt Caddo cultural center with Caddo Nation consultation.
Why it mattersSouthernmost Mississippian mound center; demonstrates Caddoan as distinct southern tradition bridging Jumanó and Mississippian.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why abandon large center for dispersed hamlets c.1300
- 02El Camino Real pre-Columbian causeway?
Theories
- 01Gateway center controlling Caddo–Gulf–Plains exchange
- 02Climate-driven dispersal to river hamlets
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.800–900 CE; peak 1000–1200 CE
- Period
- Caddoan Mississippian 800–1300 CE (Early Caddo)
- Culture
- Caddoan (Hasinai)
- Builders
- Caddoan Hasinai
- Purpose
- Civic-ceremonial mound center and regional trade gateway
- Abandoned
- c.1300 CE (resettlement to Neches villages)
- Rediscovered
- 1919 by J. E. Pearce; WPA excavations 1939–41
- Excavation
- Excavated
800 CE
First mound construction
2019
Tornado destroys museum; one fatality
2023
Reopened Caddo cultural center with Nation
On the ground
Structures & features
31.5964° N · 95.1486° W · 115 m · 2 mapped features
Mound A Platform
mound8 m high civic platform mound, summit structure
31.5968° N · 95.1480° WMound C Burial Mound
tumulusLow oval burial mound with shaft tombs
31.5955° N · 95.1495° W
Gallery