Murphy Mound Archeological Site
23 PM 43
View from the south
Murphy Mound Archeological Site is located in Missouri
Murphy Mound Archeological Site
Shown within Missouri
LocationCaruthersville, Missouri, Pemiscot County, Missouri,  USA
RegionPemiscot County, Missouri
Coordinates36°9′10″N 89°41′40″W / 36.15278°N 89.69444°W / 36.15278; -89.69444
History
Founded1350 CE
Abandoned1541 CE
PeriodsLate Mississippian period
CulturesMiddle Mississippian culture
Site notes
Architecture
Architectural stylesplatform mound
Architectural detailsNumber of monuments:
Murphy Mound Archeological Site
NRHP reference No.69000119
Added to NRHPMay 21, 1969[1]
Responsible body: Private

The Murphy Mound Archeological Site (23 PM 43), is a prehistoric archaeological site in the Bootheel region of the U.S. state of Missouri. Located southwest of Caruthersville in Pemiscot County, Missouri[2]: 302  the site was occupied by peoples of the Late Mississippian period, centuries before European colonization of the area.[3]

Conclusive dates for the site's occupation have not been determined; one survey concluded that occupation began around 1200 CE and continued until at least 1400.[2]: 314  A study of the site's pottery held that the location was inhabited from approximately 1350 until 1541.[3] The platform mound, now overgrown with trees, may be the largest of any Mississippian culture site in Missouri. It is located on private land and is not open to the public.[3] A selection of the pots is displayed at the University of Missouri Museum of Anthropology.

Excavation at the site's cemetery has revealed ninety-one skeletons. These were buried in numerous fashions, including bundle burials, bodies fully extended, and cremations.[2]: 314  In 1969, Murphy was listed on the National Register of Historic Places; it was the first site in Pemiscot County to be listed on the NRHP.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 Greenlee, Diana M. (1998). "Prehistoric Diet in the Central Mississippi River Valley". In O'Brien, Michael J.; Dunnell, Robert C. (eds.). Changing Perspectives on the Archaeology of the Central Mississippi Valley. Tuscaloosa and London: University of Alabama Press.
  3. 1 2 3 "Murphy Site, 23PM43". 2009. Retrieved January 1, 2010.

Further reading

  • O'Brien, Michael J. (1994) Cat Monsters and Head Pots. University of Missouri Press, Columbia.
  • O'Brien, Michael J. and Robert C. Dunnell. (1998) 1998 Changing Perspectives on the Archaeology of the Central Mississippi Valley. University of Missouri Press, Columbia.


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