Pee Dee Culture

What is known as Pee Dee culture began in the 11th century, and this site was chosen at the confluence of the Town Creek and Little Creek, for one of their political and ceremonial centers. The Pee Dee were friendly and cooperated with surrounding tribes. One important yearly ceremony was called the busk. It was a time of cleaning and repair. Fires were doused, other villages came, and grievances buried. The ceremony continued with ceremonial bathing, fasting, and ended with the eating of new corn (Green Corn Ceremony). Villagers would leave the busk with embers from a newly lit fire, which was considered sacred, and noted that they were "people of one fire."

The South Appalachian Mississippian culture itself began about 980 AD, with the Pee Dee village at Town Creek occupied from about 1150 AD (CE) to 1400 AD (CE). Why the village was abandoned still remains a mystery. They left no written record. On site, there are 563 burial locations. Today, the Pee Dee tribe is located in South Carolina with four recognized groups and one band.

Photo above: Tablet wayside at entrance to path leading from the Visitor Center to the gate at Town Creek Indian Mound, 2025. Courtesy America's Best History.

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History of the Mound

In the earliest days of the site, the location of today's mound was an earthen lodge surrounded by dirt, which eventually collapsed, was filled in, and atop it built a temple. The temple was destroyed by fire, then reconstructed, but at a different location (some sources state same location). There were burial houses within the stockade, which was built over five periods. The plaza was used for public meetings and ceremonies. Huts or lodges dotted the inside.

Image above: View from top of Indian Mound over stockade and hut. More huts were likely within the area during the Pee Dee era, probably around six, 2025. Courtesy America's Best History. Below: Interior of structure atop the Town Creek Indian Mound, 2025. Courtesy America's Best History.

Excavations and Maintenance

Amateur archaeologist began surveying the site in 1927, with professional teams starting ten years later. They were working for the Works Progress Administration as a depression era work project. These were professors and students from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill led by Joffre Coe. The owner of the land, L. D. Frutchey, would donate the mound and one acre to become a state park, which originally took his name. It has been known as Town Creek since the 1940's. The team found the remnants of the stockade, burial vaults, and artifacts.

Today, what you will see is a reconstructed ceremonial center, platform mound, and temple. There is also a minor temple and mortuary reconstructed, as well as the stockade fence.

Photo above: Picnic Grove at Town Creek Indian Mound North Carolina State Historic Site, 2025. Courtesy America's Best History.

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