Garden Creek site

Garden Creek site
(31 HW 1-3) and (31 HW 7)

Location within North Carolina today
Location	Haywood County, North Carolina,  USA
Region	Haywood County, North Carolina
Coordinates	35°31′1.96″N 82°50′45.02″W / 35.5172111°N 82.8458389°W / 35.5172111; -82.8458389
History
Founded	600
Abandoned	1200
Periods	Pisgah phase
Cultures	South Appalachian Mississippian culture
Architecture
Architectural styles	platform mound, plaza
Architectural details	Number of temples: 2

Garden Creek site is an archaeological site located 24 miles (39 km) west of Asheville, North Carolina in Haywood County, on the south side of the Pigeon River and near the confluence of its tributary Garden Creek.^[1] It is near modern Canton and the Pisgah National Forest. The earliest human occupation at the site dates to 8000 BCE.^[1] The 12-acre site features remains of two villages (31Hw7) occupied first in the Woodland period and, most prominently, in the Pisgah phase (1000 to 1450/1500 CE) associated with the South Appalachian Mississippian culture. A total of four earthwork mounds have been found at the site; three have been excavated.

One of the three Garden Creek Mounds (31Hw1-3) is believed to have been constructed by indigenous peoples during the Middle Woodland period, or Connestee phase (200 CE to 600 CE). Another, now mostly disappeared, is believed constructed after that. The third and largest was constructed last, in the Pisgah phase.^[2] (A fourth mound was discovered in this area in the early 21st century but it has not been excavated or dated.)^[2]