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One particular reason is that historic sites that contain Mississippian culture mounds aren't that interesting - they are very hard to interpret, and there isn'
by jefflinwood 10y ago
One particular reason is that historic sites that contain Mississippian culture mounds aren't that interesting - they are very hard to interpret, and there isn't much known about the underlying civilization.
I visit many of these sites when I can (for instance, Hopewell Culture National Historic Park, Emerald Mound, and Poverty Point), and there just isn't really much to really bring in tourists. There's absolutely no comparison to something like Tikal in Guatemala. I wouldn't recommend them to any casual tourists. The only reason I went to these sites is that I'm in the process of visiting all of the national park system units in the United States.
The Anasazi ruins in the Southwest are much easier to understand - Mesa Verde and Canyon de Chelly have extremely striking settings, and the lack of vegetation means that the underlying structure is easy to see. When I visited Hovenweep, I found a pottery shard that rodents had dug up, and when I visited Mesa Verde, rodents had brought an ancient corn cob to the surface - so it's a lot more fun to visit these sites.
Also, Mesa Verde is pretty close to Durango, CO, and is on the "Grand Circle" tour of southwest US national parks, forests, and monuments. So it's going to get a lot more tourists than something like Chaco Canyon which is way off the beaten path, and doesn't have much infrastructure.
- Mendenhall 10y agoI am really into exploring the mounds and ancient dig areas. Have all sorts of old books with maps that cover many of the mound areas. Amazes me that many people have never heard of them. Taking the old maps and then using satellite maps to locate them is great fun to me. Many of the locations are forgotten about and very cool to explore. I do agree to an average tourist they arent much to "look at" at first. If anyone is in the mid east river areas they are all around you though. Ohio, Ill. Mi. Miss. etc. The history alone is fascinating and very much not talked about surprisingly. I found it to be something that the more I researched the more I want to know and more excited I get to find spots.
- VLM 10y agoI would agree with and extend your remarks in that I live in an area with geologically interesting formations, but the general public is like "um OK you've shown me a narrow valley and I heard there's an ice cream stand up ahead?"
- adevine 10y agoExactly - reading this I was thinking "You are surprised that what are now basically small hills are not tourist Meccas?" And while I don't know the exact numbers, places that are at least superficially interesting, like the cliff dwellings, have lots of recognition and are known as cool places to visit.