After departing Providence Canyon, I headed further south to the Kolomoki Mounds site, where ancient peoples constructed large earthen mounds for ceremonial, residential, and funerary purposes, or so archaeologists believe.
Upon entering the park, I headed to the most obvious of the mounds, Temple Mound, which rises sharply to an elevation of 56 feet above the grassy field that would have compromised the main plaza of the Native American village that was here centuries ago. The steep sides of the mound are overgrown with thick brush, as they would be very difficult to maintain a their angle of ascent, but the top of the mound, which was likely home to a chief or high priest-type figure is nicely manicured. From the top, I'm able to survey the entire area below and plan out my course for visiting some of the other mounds.
As I walk through the field toward the next mounds, I'm puzzled by a number of large burrows that I find. I consider that the may have been made by what I grew up knowing as ground hogs, but I'm unsure. As I walk over towards the next mound, I find a very shallow rise from the surrounding surface. Of the eight mounds that have survived into modern times, most of them are very shallow like this one and only a few feet tall. They would be easily missed by most people.
Heading to the next mound, which is the second tallest behind Temple Mound, I find more of the of the curious burrows and in one of them note the resident. A very large gopher tortoise scurries deeper into his tunnel when he hears me, but not before I catch a photo of his rear-side. Apparently, the vulnerable members of this species are excellent diggers and live most of their lives in the subterranean mazes they create.
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