Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic Site
Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic Site
813 Indian Mounds Road, S.E.
Cartersville, GA 30120
(770) 387-3747
For reservations call 1-800-864-7275.
LOCATION: Located 5 miles southwest of I-75 exit #124.
HOURS OF OPERATION: Tuesday - Saturday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Sunday 2 - 5:30 p.m.
Closed Monday (except legal holidays), Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Closed Tuesday when open Monday.
Small admission fee. Group rates available with advance notice. Bus parking available. For a more enjoyable visit, plan to spend 11/2 hours.
SITE: Visit the fortified aboriginal center that was the home to several thousand
persons more than 400 years ago. Walk among the mounds, the largest standing 63 feet tall
and covering three acres. Tour the museum where artifacts and exhibits interpret daily
life in this once self-sufficient Native American community. The Etowah Indian Mounds
symbolize a society rich in ritual. Towering over the community, these flat-topped earthen
knolls were used between 1000-1500 A.D. as a platform for the home of the priest-chief,
temples and mortuary houses. In some mounds, nobility were buried in elaborate costumes
accompanied by items they would need in their after-lives.
Although the Etowah people left no written records, artifacts help
explain their lives and culture. Many artifacts at the museum show that the natives of
this political and religious center decorated themselves with shell beads, tattoos, paint,
complicated hairdos, feathers and copper ear ornaments. Well-preserved stone effigies and
objects made of wood, seashells, stone and copper are also displayed.
CAMPING: Camping is not available on the site, however, there are some nearby state parks available: Red Top Mountain State Park and Lodge and Pickett's Mill Battlefield State Historic Site
