Towosahgy State Historic Site

Towosahgy State Historic Site (23MI2), also known as Beckwith's Fort Archeological Site, is a large Mississippian archaeological site with a Woodland period Baytown culture component located in Mississippi County, Missouri, United States. It is believed to have been inhabited from c. 400–1350 CE.[4] The site is maintained by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources as a state historic site. The name Towosahgy is an Osage word which means "old town". It is not known if members of the historic Osage people, who dominated a large area of present-day Missouri at the beginning of the 19th century, ever occupied the site.[5][6] The site was acquired by the Missouri state park system in 1967[3] and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 as NRIS number 69000113.[1]

Towosahgy State Historic Site
(23 MI 2)
Towosahgy Site main platform mound
Towosahgy State Historic Site is located in Missouri
Towosahgy State Historic Site
Location in Missouri today
Alternative nameBeckwith's Fort Archeological Site
LocationMississippi County, Missouri, United States
RegionMissouri Bootheel
Coordinates36°41′36″N 89°14′08″W
History
CulturesMississippian culture
Architecture
Architectural stylesplatform mound
Architectural detailsNumber of monuments: 4
Beckwith's Fort Archeological Site
Area116 acres (47 ha)
NRHP reference No.69000113[1]
Added to NRHPJuly 29, 1969
Towosahgy State Historic Site
Elevation299 ft (91 m)[2]
Established1967[3]
Governing bodyMissouri Department of Natural Resources
WebsiteTowosahgy State Historic Site

History of Towosahgy

The earliest portion of Towosahgy State Historic Site is in the southern half, where a Late Woodland period village once stood. Wilkie dates this component to about 400 to 700 CE.[4]

Later the site was fortified and built up as a Mississippian village with seven platform mounds, most surrounding a central plaza area. During this time, the site was surrounded by a palisade wall of vertical logs and a moat.[7] Like other Mississippian mound centers, Towosahgy also had a borrow pit from which earth was removed to create the mounds. The largest remaining mound in the complex is Mound 2, also known as the "temple mound". Excavations on this part of the site were conducted in 1989 by James Price.[8] The site was abandoned during the late 14th century for unknown reasons, as were many similar Mississippian sites in the region.

Ceramics from the site represent typical pottery found in the Missouri Bootheel region. Sherds from the Woodland occupation are typically grog tempered. The later Mississippian culture pottery is shell tempered. Type varieties identified include Baytown Plain and Mulberry Creek Cordmarked. Mississippian ceramics were also both plain and decorated. Punctuated, incised, fabric impressed, and red, black, and brown painted/slipped sherds, typical decorating methods, are all present.[4][8] A large collection of ceramic vessels from the site are part of the Beckwith Collection displayed at the Rosemary Berkel and Harry L. Crisp II Museum at Southeast Missouri State University.

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "Towosahgy State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  3. "State Park Land Acquisition Summary". Missouri State Parks. August 25, 2011. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  4. Duncan Wilkie (1988). Field Work at Towosahgy State Historic Site. Cape Girardeau, Mo.: The Center for Regional History and Cultural Heritage, Southeast Missouri State University. OCLC 68738164.
  5. "Towosahgy State Historic Site". Missouri Department of Natural Resources. December 10, 2010. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  6. Missouri Archaeology Society (n.d.). "Towosahgy Site 23MI2". Missouri Archaeology Society. Retrieved January 1, 2017. (includes 7 photographs)
  7. John W. Cottier and Michael D. Southard (1977). An Introduction to the Archaeology of Towosahgy State Archaeological Site. Missouri Archaeologist. pp. 230–268.
  8. James E. Price; Cynthia R. Price (1990). Archaeological Investigations in Three Areas of the Towosahgy State Historic Site, 23MI2, Mississippi County, Missouri, 1989. Columbia, Mo.: University of Missouri. OCLC 68738170.
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