Prairie mounds
Prairie mounds are low, naturally occurring hillocks, randomly distributed over level terrain or more rarely on hill slopes. Mound fields are extensive in Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma, the Gulf Coastal Plain and in places along the Pacific Coast from California to Oregon.
Called “pimples” in Texas and “mima” mounds in Oregon they have been subject to much speculation.
Theories of origin (20 or so) include the idea of human manufacture, (almost perfect symmetry) and other organic agencies. Bretz (1913) and Ritchie (1953) related the mima mounds to periglacial mechanics.
The mounds of Arkansas, however, are far removed from glacial and periglacial areas as well as coastal areas, thus eliminating such explanations here. Nonetheless, similarity in size, shape, orientation, and distribution of prairie mounds, regardless of locality, suggests a common mode of origin and furnishes an explanation of the way in which these mounds are formed.
Mounds range from 20-60 feet in diameter and from 2-8...
References
- Bretz, J H., 1913, Glaciation of the Puget Sound region, Wash. Geol. Surv. Bull., 8.Google Scholar
- Dalaquest, W. W., and Scheffer, V. B., 1942, The origin of the Mima Mounds of western Washington, J. Geol., 50, No. 1.Google Scholar
- Gravenor, C. P., 1955, The origin and significance of prairie mounds, Am. J. Sci., 253, 475–481.Google Scholar
- Quinn. J. H., 1961, Prairie mounds of Arkansas, Newsletter of the Arkansas Archeological Society, 2, No. 6.Google Scholar
- Ritchie, A. M., 1953, The erosional origin of the Mima Mounds of southwest Washington, J. Geol., 61, No. 1, 41–50.Google Scholar