The Great Temple Mound and Town Site was the capital of a thriving Mississippian civilization. Extensive old fields show that the Mississippians were master farmers, and the number of mounds suggests that many healthy individuals labored to build the village and structures and to produce enough food to sustain a large population. Their society must have had strong leaders to organize and maintain such a population, and the successive stages of mound development suggest a long period of occupation. Relatively little is known about the mounds except that they were topped by rectangular wooden structures, probably used for religious and ceremonial purposes. A stepped rampway descended from the summit of the mound to the plaza level below, and its size and presence further indicate the advanced society that built and used it, probably for important ceremonies and rituals. Although true archeological proof does not exist, recovered artifacts further suggest that an elite class of priests and or chieftains were carefully honored in death, another sign of the advanced culture of the Mississippians.