Ancient Native American Landmarks to Explore at Ocmulgee Mounds

Located in Macon, Georgia along the Ocmulgee River, Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park preserves the lands and landmarks of ancient Native American cultures dating back 17,000 years. The park encompasses 702 acres of wetlands, swamps, and forest with large, preserved temple mounds, ceremonial earthworks, and archaeological artifacts that provide insight into the lives and spirituality of these indigenous peoples. Here are a few ancient Native American landmarks to explore at Ocmulgee Mounds.

The most prominent features of the park are the Great Temple Mound and Lesser Temple Mound, rising 46 and 24 feet high, respectively. These were constructed starting around 900 CE and served as the center of a trading hub and spiritual grounds for the South Appalachian Mississippian culture.

Archeological finds here include copper funeral masks, shell beads traded from the Gulf Coast, and large circular ceremonial areas—indicating the advanced civilization present at the time.

In addition to the temple mounds, visitors can walk around the many earthlodge reconstructions showcasing the types of thatched-roof homes that dotted the landscape around 1,100 CE. Inside the walls of the park’s museum, guests can marvel at 17,000-year-old carved bone pins, 5,000-year-old pottery, and myriad artifacts chronicling the lifeways of Ocmulgee’s ancestral inhabitants.

The park also preserves the unique Ocmulgee Old Fields—tracts of land under Native American cultivation for hundreds of years which gave the soil a distinctively rich, black color. Nearby midden mounds also allow archeologists to study thousands of years of dietary remains.

Special events at Ocmulgee Mounds include a monthly trade day, where Cherokee and Muscogee Creek artisans come to demonstrate ancient skills like flintknapping, pottery making, bow making, and native plant use. The park also hosts regular ranger-guided tours and an annual Earth Day celebration filled with kids’ activities.

These are the most interesting ancient Native American landmarks to explore at Ocmulgee Mounds. With striking temple mounds, glimpses into centuries of indigenous history, and gorgeous wetland scenery, Ocmulgee Mounds lets visitors step back in time to experience the lives of ancient Native Americans in Georgia.