Etowah Indian Mounds, a 54-acre site on the Etowah River south of Cartersville, is one of the Southeast’s most intact Mississippian centers and remains sacred to both the Muscogee Creek and the Cherokee. Occupied in three main phases from about 1000 to 1550 CE, with evidence of an earlier Swift Creek village, it included major platform mounds, a ceremonial plaza, strong fortifications, and a broad trade network. Excavations and surveys revealed a large, complex town and produced important artifacts, including ceremonial objects and textiles, that helped scholars define the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex and better understand the Mississippian world.