Boyd Mounds Site, Archaeological burial site in Madison County, Mississippi, United States.
Boyd Mounds Site (22MD512) is an archaeological site with six burial mounds from the Late Woodland and Early Mississippian periods. Mound 2, beside a parking area off the Natchez Trace Parkway at mile 106.9, measures 110 by 60 feet (34 by 18 m) and stands 4 feet (1.2 m) high. Excavation showed it began as two side-by-side mounds later joined by a layer of earth into one oblong mound.
The six mounds date to the Late Woodland and Early Mississippian periods. The National Park Service excavated many of them in 1964, and Mound 2 was found to have begun as two side-by-side mounds later joined by a layer of earth. Excavators recovered the remains of forty-one individuals and pottery. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 14, 1989.
The site's name comes from the Boyd family, on whose land the mounds stood, and the mounds are catalogued as state site 22MD512. Mound 2, beside the parkway parking area, is the one visitors can see; the other five lie in the surrounding woods. Excavation in 1964 recovered pottery and the remains of forty-one individuals from that mound.
The site sits at mile 106.9 on the Natchez Trace Parkway. Mound 2, the only mound open to visitors, stands beside a parking area off the parkway; the other five mounds lie in the surrounding woods. The ground is unpaved, and the mound is low enough to view from the lot.
One remarkable finding was that the largest mound actually began as two separate structures that were later joined together by adding a layer of earth on top. This reveals how communities adapted their building practices over time and how the site evolved through different periods of use.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,631 contributors worldwide.