What Food Did the Mound Builders Eat?

The Mound Builders, an ancient population indigenous to the American Midwest and Southeast, ate a range of domesticated native crops, including beans, wheat and goosefoot, along with wild meat from animals, such as deer. The Mound Builders, dwelling largely around the Mississippi River, also ate freshwater fish and shellfish, such as drum and mussels.

To catch fish, the Mound Builders fashioned hooks out of bone or copper. Corn, or maize, was a staple of the Mound Builders’ diet and was cultivated alongside vegetables like squash. Following a successful hunt, the Mound Builders not only fed on the meat of animals, but used their bones for tools and hides for clothing.