This platform mound was created over the years 1350 to 1600 CE, with hundreds of people carrying more than 380,000 baskets of dirt one-quarter of a mile to build it. Archaeology provides the tools to discover clues about how old things are, what they are made of, how they are made, and how people used them. Stratigraphy, the layers of dirt that build up to create the ground, can include debris left by people, and archaeologists identify different layers by their colors, textures, and contents. When objects are found in the same stratigraphic layer, they are assumed to have been dropped near the same time. Study of the soils and objects removed during excavations on the west slope showed that the mound was built in three major stages, and destruction episodes before each stage suggest that the house on top of the mound was burned, perhaps upon the death of its occupant.
