Natchez Trace Parkway – Pharr Mounds

img alt tags

Pharr Mounds is the next stop on my Natchez Trace Parkway exploration at milepost 286. Quote from the entrance sign:

Pharr Mounds is the largest and most important archaeological site in northern Mississippi. Eight large dome-shaped burial mounds are scattered over an area of 90 acres (100 football fields). These mounds were built and used about 1-200 A.D. by a tribe of nomadic Indian hunters and gatherers who returned to this site at times to bury the dead with their possessions. – United States Department of the Interior National Park Service

Pharr Mounds – National Park Service entrance sign

At the mounds overlook you will find a covered area with educational signs.

Pharr Mounds – Interpretive signs at the mounds overlook

Another view without the signs blocking the way. Here you can clearly see four of the mounds with walking paths cut through the field.

Pharr Mounds – View of mounds from the overlook

Another view with a little more zoom showing three mounds to my left to better convey the size and shape against trees in the background.

Pharr Mounds – Zoomed-in view of mounds from the overlook

One more with all the zoom I have available. I decided against hiking out across the vast field because I don’t think walking up closer would yield any better photos, because I’m on a time limit, and because walking on the actual mounds is not allowed / disrespectful to the Native people.

Pharr Mounds – Zoomed-in view of mound from the overlook

A sign titled “Trade from Afar” details how the native people built Pharr Mounds, living in nearby villages, and connected a vast trading network from the southeastern US to the shores of Lake Ontario in the north.

Pharr Mounds – “Trade from Afar” sign

A sign titled “Objects and Ideas” notes how people in the Woodland era created fine crafts based on the natural world, and how those objects were linked to spiritual meanings and trading meant also sharing these ideas. Note the map showing how vast these trading regions were, and the timeline of mounds along the parkway.

Pharr Mounds – “Objects and Ideas” sign

Finally a sign titled “Coming Home” discusses connections to modern people including the Chickasaw Nation who consider them sacred.

“I am astounded by the levels of science, of spirituality, and of community and organization evident in the creation and existence of Pharr Mounds and how it relates to the larger region. I am proud of my ancestors.” – Kirk Perry, Executive Officer for Historic Preservation, Chickasaw Nation

Pharr Mounds – “Coming Home” sign