Philadelphia businessman Clarence Moore excavated 850 Mississippian sites across the Southeast from 1891–1918 using his riverboat the Gopher of Philadelphia. At Moundville in 1905, he spent 35 days hauling off a boatload of burial goods. Earlier, farmers there had found the famous rattlesnake disc — a 12-inch carved stone depicting entwined snakes around an eye-in-palm motif.
Clarence Moore excavated 850 Mississippian sites from 1891 to 1918
United StatesExcavation
Key facts
- In 1866, local sheriff Hezekiah Powell claimed to find a 9-foot giant skeleton at Moundville, sold to the Smithsonian (unverified)
- Local farmers discovered the rattlesnake disc, a 12-inch stone carved with two entwined rattlesnakes around a hand with an eye in its palm
- Clarence Moore, a wealthy Philadelphia businessman, excavated from 1891 to 1918 using his riverboat the Gopher of Philadelphia
- Moore excavated a total of 850 sites, mostly earthen pyramids, and thousands of graves across the southeastern US
- Moore spent 35 days at Moundville in 1905, removing a boatload of burial artifacts
Site mentioned
Sources
An aptly named steamboat: Clarence B. Moore's Gopherresearchgate.net
The evidence reveals that Moore had the Gopher built specifically to accommodate his travels on the waterways of the Southeast in search of mounds. ResearchGate ...
Guide to the Clarence Bloomfield Moore collection, 1891-1918.rmc.library.cornell.edu
Moore was a wealthy amateur archaeologist from Philadelphia who crisscrossed the rivers of the southeast each year in his steam-powered paddleboat, the Gopher, ...
Clarence Bloomfield Moore (1852–1936)encyclopediaofarkansas.net
Clarence Bloomfield Moore was an amateur archaeologist from Philadelphia, Moore outfitted a steamboat, the Gopher, to travel rivers and other ...
Clarence Bloomfield Mooreen.wikipedia.org
Moore travelled to these sites with his crew mostly by his steamboat, named Gopher of Philadelphia.
Clarence Moore, Who May Have Lost His Life, Well Known ...encyclopedia-titanica.org
Mr. Moore was well known for his interest in horses and dogs. He was master of hounds at the Chevy Chase Club at one time. He was ...
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