Effigy Mounds National Monument

Effigy Mounds National Monument is located in North East Iowa along the banks of the Mississippi River. In the centuries before Columbus arrived from Europe, a mysterious native culture built thousands of dirt mounds across the Upper Midwestern Untied States. Often, these mounds took the shape of animals; birds, bears, etc. Effigy Mounds National Monument features 31 separate mounds. From the ground, they look like ordinary dirt mounds. From the air, the mounds reveal their true artistry. Very little is known about these mound building cultures. The people who built them left few clues about themselves.