Alternate Perceptions Magazine, April 2023
Caddoan Mounds, Texas
Texas State Park & Museum—located 6 miles southwest of Alto, TX on State highway 21.
by: Dr. Greg Little
Portions of this article come from the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Native American Mounds & Earthworks.
Caddoan Mounds, also known as the Davis Site, is the extreme southwestern ceremonial center of the western Mound Building culture during the Woodland Era. The culture of the tribes in the region is referred to as Caddoan. The site focused on two pyramidal, flat-topped temple mounds, a burial mound, and a much larger village area adjacent to the 94-acre site. The site was constructed around A.D. 750 and was abandoned in 1250. Excavations have shown that the site was inhabited as early as 10,000 B.C. The burial mound has been excavated several times and revealed eight elite burials—six adults and two children—in a tomb located 11-feet below the ground surface level. The upper mound had been built over a vast time span and had at least 6 distinct times when it was enlarged. The remains of at least 90 individuals were found in the above-surface level mound. There were two distinct village areas, one focused on the mound complex and the other surrounded the mound complex. The smallest rectangular mound had a base of 175 by 115-feet and at least 40 homes have been identified in the inner village area. Several astronomical alignments have been identified at the site and it is thought that the mounds were aligned to the North Pole.
Andrew Collins’ EVP experiment at the site
On Sunday March 6, 2011, British writer Andrew Collins accompanied us to Caddoan Mounds for a brief visit. Collins, who has conducted numerous EVP experiments at ancient British mounds, earthworks, and stone circles, utilized a digital phone recorder at several places around the mounds. Later that night he listened to the results and was astonished to hear a reply to one of his questions posed at the burial mound. A large turkey buzzard was flying over the mound and Collins asked what meaning the buzzard had? The reply he recorded while standing alone at the mound was clear and is apparently the Caddo phrase for “death.” The digital file and Collins’ story can be found here: http://www.andrewcollins.com/page/articles/txsa_2_caddo.htm