Marksville Prehistoric Indian Site

The Marksville site (16 AV 1) is the type site of the Marksville culture, a southeastern expression of the Hopewell tradition, and the first site of that culture to be scientifically excavated. Its earthworks include a horseshoe-shaped earthen embankment about 3,000 feet long surrounding a group of burial mounds, with six mounds along Old River, which at the time of construction around two millennia ago was a channel of the Mississippi itself. Radiocarbon dating places occupation roughly between 1 and 400 CE. Louisiana's state archaeologist Chip McGimsey has described the site as evidence of how connected ancient North America was: some Marksville pottery decorations are nearly indistinguishable from examples found as far north as Illinois, and research at Mound 5 has shown sightlines to other mounds marking the rise and set of the sun, moon, and stars. The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964.

Its recent history is why it appears in a library of sacred places in a different register. Operated by Louisiana as a state park until August 2020, it passed to the City of Marksville after years of declining visits and deteriorating facilities, and as of November 2021 it was closed to public access. In 2022 the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, a federally recognized successor to the Tunica, Biloxi, Ofo, and Avoyel peoples, acquired the right to run the site in an agreement with the city. Tribal chairman Marshall Pierite has spoken publicly of restoring the museum, moving the tribe's educational cultural programs there, and honoring the mounds' astronomical role, saying, "I hear the voices of the blood coming out of the ground." The site is not open to visitors; stewardship belongs to the tribe.

Visiting

The site is closed to the public and has no public hours or fees; this entry is not an invitation to attempt access. The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe maintains its own public programs and museum at its reservation nearby; see tunicabiloxi.org for the tribe's work and any future announcements about the site.

Photo: J. Stephen Conn, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marksville_State_Historic_Site_Burial_Mound.jpg))