History of Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site
Wickliffe Mounds is the site of a Native American village of the Mississippian mound building culture, located in Ballard County, Kentucky. This archaeological site was first occupied by the Mississippian Native Americans from A.D. 1100 to 1350. Around 900 years ago, Mississippian people moved to this bluff which overlooks the Mississippi River and built a village with earthen mounds and permanent style houses and buildings all surrounding a central plaza. Mississippians were farmers and they grew corn, squash and other crops; they made pottery from clay with elaborate designs and decorations; they participated in a vast trade network up and down the rivers; they had stone, shell and bone tools; and they had a complex chiefdom level society. Sometime in the 1300s, they abandoned the village for reasons we are not quite sure, but researchers are working on this question.
Early settlers to the region probably knew about the mounds at this site, but made little mention of it. The first formal notice occurred in 1888 when surveyor Robert Loughridge mapped the mounds for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. From 1895 to 1932, the site was owned by the Wisconsin Chair Company and was used for harvesting timber. In 1932, road crews building Hwy 51 cut through the southern edge of the prehistoric site and turned up pottery and other artifacts. Colonel Fain W. King, a Paducah lumber magnate and relic collector, purchased the site and began excavating the mounds and developing a tourist attraction. Fain King, later joined by his wife, Blanche Busey King, opened the site to public visitation from the beginning of his work, calling the site at first the “King Mounds” and eventually naming it the “Ancient Buried City.” King directed excavations from 1932 until 1939. Some of their excavations followed proper archaeological techniques, but their field notes and other records have disappeared. In 1946, the Kings retired and donated the site to Western Baptist Hospital in Paducah. The Western Baptist Hospital owned the Ancient Buried City from 1946 to 1983.
In recognition of the scientific importance and the educational potential of the mounds, Western Baptist Hospital donated the site to Murray State University in 1983. Murray State University reorganized the site, calling it the Wickliffe Mounds Research Center and set out to accurately understand, interpret and preserve the site with archaeologists and museum personnel in charge. Beginning in 1984, Murray State University conducted small scale excavations and archaeological laboratory research at Wickliffe Mounds. The excavations helped verify the accuracy of the 1930s excavations and develop an overview of activities on the whole site. Exhibits were updated to provide accurate information about the Mississippian people who once lived here.
Murray State University’s archaeological research has produced significant information about the Wickliffe Mounds site. Radiocarbon dates as well as other techniques have established a chronology for the Wickliffe Mounds archaeological site (15BA4): the Early Wickliffe period lasted from about A.D. 1100-1175, the Middle Wickliffe period from about A.D. 1175-1250, and the Late Wickliffe period from about A.D. 1250-1350.
The Wickliffe village began as a small town surrounding a central plaza (where the parking lot is now), about A.D. 1100. By about A.D. 1175, they built the first stage of what became Mound B (the Architecture building), where the chief and his or her family probably lived.
Between A.D. 1175 and 1250, the villagers built Mounds A (the Ceremonial Mound) and C (where the Cemetery building is), added to Mound B, and may have begun some other mounds such as Mound D (the Lifeways building). The area covered by the village expanded, partly as families moved back to give room for the mounds, and perhaps partly due to a larger population. There are indications that trade increased during this period, especially between Wickliffe and the region around St. Louis, where Cahokia grew to be the largest Mississippian site.
Between A.D. 1250 and 1350, some interesting changes happened. The people devoted less effort to building mounds, although they completed Mounds A, B, and D, and built Mound F (west of the Ceremonial Mound) during this period. The village continued to expand, however, until it covered the entire bluff. The villagers apparently left this location about A.D. 1350. The reasons for their departure are not clear, and archaeologists are still studying the question.
Wickliffe Mounds archaeologists are still studying the artifacts that were excavated during the 1980s and 1990s. At this time there are no plans for further excavations. Because excavation destroys the part of the site being studied, modern archaeology justifies excavating only what will produce new information. Until the most recent excavations are thoroughly studied, and new questions or techniques can be brought to the study of this site, Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site will continue to preserve the site and interpret the latest findings.
In 2004, Murray State University transferred the Wickliffe Mounds archaeological site and its collections to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Commerce Cabinet. Designated as the Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site, the mounds are operated by the Kentucky Department of Parks. The site remains open to the public as a state historic site, a tourist attraction, an archaeological museum, and an educational resource.
Wickliffe Mounds is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated as a Kentucky Archaeological Landmark.