Ancient 900-year-old Settlement. In the far Southwest corner of Indiana, at Evansville, Indiana, are the remains of a 900-year-old + ancient civilization. Known today as the Mississippian Indians, they built large mounds of earth, had an advanced knowledge of tool making, weapons, weaving, pottery, art, and even made musical instruments. The Angel Mounds Interpretive Center houses some of the 2.5 million artifacts found, many dioramas, and allows visitors to walk around an ancient city with mounds and formal plazas.
Southern Indiana is an ancient place. Ancient people lived here until 10,000 years ago, leaving artifacts from their culture.
At the Angel Mounds Interpretive Center, you can learn about a civilization that lived here over 900 years ago. These ancient people are now known as Mississippian Indians. They were not simple nomadic people, moving from place to place looking for food and shelter. They were people who had a very complex culture and built permanent settlements and fortifications.
They created tools, weapons, intricate weaving, and pottery.
Art, and even musical instruments. We know this because the mounds are still here, and over 2.5 million artifacts have been found at the Angel Mounds site.
Exiting the museum’s back door and traveling across the bridge is where the Mississippian Indians created mounds of earth for ceremonial purposes, to place religious buildings and dwellings. Further, royalty in this grassy field, there are 11 mounds in all. A recreated fortification wall is to the left after you cross the bridge.
You could easily spend an entire afternoon walking around the trails around this ancient city. Back inside the interpretative center is a small museum, and nearly hidden behind the gift shop, it’s dedicated to the fine work of Eli Lilly and Glenn Black that preserved the mounds before the site was bought from the Angel family. Many thought the mounds contained treasure and tried digging them up, destroying irreplaceable ancient monuments to another time.
The Angel Mounds Interpretive Center is open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10:00 to 5:00. It’s closed on Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. The museum is open on Mondays, which are federal holidays except for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and is also open on local spring break, fall break, and the month of December, excluding Christmas. Call ahead if you expect to be visiting on a Monday.
