Kincaid Indian Mounds in Southern Illinois Date From 1,000 Years Ago

As part of our family trip to the Shawnee National Forest area in the southern tip of Illinois, my oldest daughter said she wanted to see the ancient Indian mounds in the area. The Kincaid Mounds State Historic Site is located about 19 miles east of Metropolis, Illinois. It is definitely off the beaten track, but offers a cool place to visit where you can get a rare view in the Illinois of evidence of human habitation and a town from 1,000 years ago.

The 105 acre site includes several preserved platform mounds. There is a roadside interpretive platform along Kincaid Mounds Road that has sign boards that tells the story of the site.

The Mississippian era Indian settlement dates from about 900 AD. This culture had settlements all along the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. The development of agriculture enabled the Native American to abandon a hunter-gatherer life-style and create stable, fixed communities. This development of society also allowed more time to construct communal facilities such as platform mounds, defensive walls or stockades, and temples. This site was occupied from about 1050 to 1400 AD.

Visitors to the site will see flat-topped 30 foot tall mounds around a a large open field that was once the main plaza area. It was used for both social and political activities. It was a place for major ceremonies, including purification rituals and celebration of the new corn crop.

After leaving the observation area, you can drive east along the road into the neighborhood bring wooded area. On the left side of the road are additional privately owned mounds in the wooded area that were part of this large settlement. The last notable mound has the remains of an old house on it.

Learn more about the site at its website.

Other cool places to visit that are nearby include the Superman statue and museum and the restored late 1700s Fort Massac in Metropolis, Illinois.

Cool places to visit near this site include:

Unusual Illinois Camping at Dixon Springs State Park

Fort Massac Illinois was a Stop on the Louis and Clark Expedition