The Myth of the Mound Builders
Throughout the 19th Century scholars believed there were three great New World civilizations; Inca, Aztec, and Mound Builders. They believed that the American Indians had destroyed the Mound Builders. While early scholars could not accept the idea of Indians constructing the earthworks, they could accept the idea that Indians conquered the Mound Builder race. This unfortunate explanation separated ancient civilization from Indian ancestry and showed that Indians were savages who did not deserve the lands they occupied.
Today, archaeologists call this interpretation the mound builder myth. In reality, the Indians who built these walls are the ancestors of modern Indians. They were a people who constructed earthen mounds as part of the social or religious aspects of their society.
Courtesy hmdb.org
