mound builder

¹ American  

noun

1. megapode.

---

Mound Builder ² American  

noun

1. a member of one of the various American Indian tribes who, in prehistoric and early historic times, erected the burial mounds and other earthworks of the Mississippi drainage basin and southeastern U.S.

---

Mound Builder ¹ British  

noun

1. a member of a group of prehistoric inhabitants of the Mississippi region who built altar-mounds, tumuli, etc

---

mound-builder ² British  

noun

1. another name for megapode

---

Etymology

Origin of mound builder¹

First recorded in 1835–45

Origin of Mound Builder²

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40

Example Sentences

Reading the heavens, these mound builders constructed several circular astronomical observatories — wooden versions of Stonehenge.

From Salon

The people of these “mound builder” civilizations dispersed before the European invasion, but we know their descendants today as the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee Creek, and Natchez Nations of the Southeast.

From Literature

Rosebrough said there’s a chance that there’s not a direct correlation between the mound builders and current tribes.

From Washington Times

Butler calls the new finding “a big deal, because this solidifies what we already believe to be true … that we’re descendants of the mound builders.”

From Science Magazine

The study of ancient mound builders who lived in the Mississippi River Delta near present-day New Orleans offers fresh insight into how the settlements emerged and why they were abandoned.

From Fox News