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the plateau and built right at the edge of a steep natural slope to allow for maximum visual impact
while using less labor, appears an even more impressive ninety feet tall when viewed from the
Ocmulgee River to the south.7 Adjacent to the Temple Mound is the smaller Mound B or Lesser Temple
Mound. Walking west from the Temple Mound leads visitors to Mound C, or the Funeral Mound. It is
in this mound that archaeological excavations in the 1930s found and removed both human remains
and grave goods, many of which remain unreturned to their rightful keepers.

These are the “main attractions” that many tourists come to see, but taking a walk along the
approximately six miles of walking trails leads to other mounds, such as the McDougal Mound, as well
as areas that showcase various stages of Native habitation through the ages on the plateau.8 Two miles
south and east of the main mound complex, the National Park Service also maintains what is known as
the Lamar Village. This site represents a later settlement than the original mounds on the plateau
proper, and is home to another one-of-a-kind archaeological find in this area: a mound with a spiral
earthen ramp leading to the summit.

This region represents several thousand years of human occupation; a tantalizing reminder of
the land's ancient populations is a Clovis point from the Paleo-Indian period, approximately 5,000 to
9,000 B.C.E. found in the 1930s at the site.9 Throughout the years, the Macon Plateau has been
occupied by groups representing almost all of the major American Indian periods, including the
Archaic, Woodland, Early and Late Mississippian, and Modern.10 The impressive earthen mounds
along the Ocmulgee River have inspired awe in visitors since their constriction during the Early
Mississippian period, approximately 900-1200 C.E..11 The layout of the mounds represents different
periods of settlement across the plateau; an analysis of pottery sherd distribution shows at least five

7 David, Interview.
8 Ibid.
9 Charles Fairbanks, Archaeology on the Funeral Mound: Ocmulgee National Monument, Georgia. (U.S. Department of the

Interior: Washington, 1956).
10 Daniel Bigman, “An Early Mississippian Settlement History of Ocmulgee,” (PhD Dissertation, University of Georgia,

2012), 12-26.
11 Ibid., 51-65