WICKLIFFE, Ky. -- The mystery of the "mound builders" still exists at Wickliffe Mounds Research Center, where student groups and visitors can explore the remains of a Mississippian village in a self-guided tour.

The four mounds and display buildings house the clues to Mississippian life, from building habits to burial practices.

Wickliffe Mounds Research Center, just 45 miles from Cape Girardeau, is open to student groups, who make up the bulk of its visitors during the year, and the public. It is open daily from March through November and charges a nominal admission.

Wickliffe Mounds, just across the Ohio River from Southern Illinois, offers some insight into the prehistoric culture that lived in Western Kentucky from 800 to 1500 A.D. However, few scholars know exactly what happened to the people or what Native American tribes might have descended from them. The Mississippians were tribes that lived in the lower Mississippi River valley, farming the land and trading for other goods. The tribe living near Wickliffe and even some in Southeast Missouri were smaller groups than those at the more well-known Cahokia Mounds.

A 10-minute video played at the Wickliffe Mounds visitor center tells more about the site's history and discovery. The site was first mapped in 1880 and a study of the mounds began after Fain White King purchased the land in the 1930s. King wanted to uncover artifacts and evidence of the Mississippian life in order to turn the area into a tourist site.

He opened the land to public visits and by 1946 had donated it to Western Baptist Hospital. In 1983, the hospital donated the site to Murray State University in Murray, Ky., which still oversees its operation today.

Self-guided tour

After seeing the video, visitors can take a self-guided tour to the buildings that show Mississippian life, architecture, burial rituals and a cemetery and the ceremonial mound.

All of the artifacts in the buildings were found during research digs at the site. "You can walk through and see what's been excavated here," said Carla Hildebrand, assistant director.

A guidebook offers more information about each area and placards and displays inside the buildings tell about the specific topic. Inside the lifeways building are details about how the tribe lived and how the villages were laid out. The location of infant burials, where were often close to a family's house or hut, are marked and labeled using a grid pattern.

A display case at the rear of the building shows the steps for making pottery, which would have been used inside the homes for storing food and water. There also is a display of arrowheads found in the area and other rocks and minerals that were likely traded among the different tribes living in the area.

From the lifeways building visitors are led down the short, paved path to a replica of a Mississippian home. The house was reconstructed for a display at the 1994 Kentucky State Fair. It is made of long sticks bundled together to serve as walls and filled with dirt and clay. A thatched roof covers the structure.

Plastic replicas of bones

Past the house is a mound that the Mississippian people likely used as a cemetery. Several burial artifacts and skeletal remains were found near this mound.

Often the elite among the tribe -- the chief or members of his family -- were buried with things like pottery or tools. The non-elite members of a tribe seldom were buried with things they might need in an afterlife. The average age of a Mississippian at death was about 35 for women and 42 for men, according to research. The skeletal remains in the Cemetery building are plastic replicas. The bones are being stored elsewhere until they can be reburied by descendants of the Mississippians.

But finding those descendants has proven difficult. Since no one truly knows what happened to the Mississippian people, no one can rightfully claim them as ancestors, said Hildebrand. Because there were Chicksaw Indians living in the area years later, some guess they are likely descendants, but that hasn't been proven.

Inside the building, a taped recording can be played so visitors can hear modern Native Americans speak about burials and the importance of that rite of passage.

Wattle and daub

After leaving the Cemetery building, visitors can get a glimpse into the architecture used by the Mississippians. The concrete walls of the building are painted to show the layers in the mound. The houses built in the village were constructed using wattle and daub, which is like a basket-weaving arrangement used on the walls. Any holes were filled with a plaster made from clay and straw that is called daub.

While the houses were built for families, the mounds were built by the community.

Researchers speculate that the mounds were built with a flat top on the hill so that a public building or ceremonial hut could be constructed.

The buildings likely sat at a higher elevation than villagers' homes to show their importance. Most of the public buildings were rectangular, although evidence of a round building was found in Wickliffe.

For years, research was a key component to uncovering the mysteries of the site but there are no active excavating projects now. It could take scientists years to catalogue and understand everything they've found, said Hildebrand.

"Now we are preserving the site and doing lab analysis," she said.

How to get there

Wickliffe Mounds Research Center in Wickliffe, Ky., is just a short trip from Cape Girardeau. Here are some basic driving directions from Southeast Missouri:

From Cape Girardeau, cross the Mississippi River into Illinois on Highway 3.

Travel Highway 3 for about 26 miles and then make a slight right onto U.S. 51.

Take U.S. 51 for about 10 miles through Cairo and cross the Ohio River into Kentucky.

The entrance to Wickliffe Mounds is just off the highway before you reach the town.