What did the adena Indian tribe use the mounds for?

Answer 1

The Adena were not actually a tribe, but what archaeologists call a "tradition." This means that there were certain cultural traits that were prevalent in a geographic region at a certain time. The Adena tradition lasted from roughly 1000 B.C. to A.D.1-200 (depending on area) in the Ohio Valley and beyond. In some areas, such as the Hocking River Valley of Southeast Ohio, the Adena tradition persisted through the time of the Hopewell tradition to extend to the later dates.

The mounds that were created by the Adena were ceremonial burial mounds. From what can be gathered from archaeological evidence, some bodies (but not all) were placed in wooden huts along with ceremonial artifacts like beads, copper and flints, and the huts were then burned. Not all burials used the huts, though. Several bodies -- cremated, flexed (foetal or other cramped position) and extended (laying flat) -- are often found in the same stratigraphic layer of the mound. Often, the bodies were sprinkled with red ochre, graphite or manganese dioxide and then covered in dirt. This is the first layer of the mound. The process was repeated over many years and the mound grew in size.

We can see many of these and be impressed by their size, but we must remember that erosion and human activity have decreased both the number and size of mounds.

Answer 2

mounds