nearly the end of the nineteenth century, the Ohio River was clear and potable. In the mid-twentieth century, the channel was known as an excellent fishing area.) When the site was first settled, the slough was deeper and the Mississippian people kept it cleared of brush and trees; however, by 1939, when official excavation of the Angel site began, the stream had dried-up and the channel had eroded, providing a land surface that was often stable enough to walk across. The Mississippians found the site along the Ohio River ideal for agricultural purposes. Annual spring floods regularly replenished the nutrients in the soil and allowed cultivation of crops that included maize (corn), beans, and squash. The fertile soil enabled production of surplus crops, which the Mississippian people used for trade and to support a higher density population that developed artisan and craft specialties such as pottery. Mounds The site includes six large platform mounds (Mounds A through F), five smaller mounds (Mounds H through L), and at least one large plaza. Mound G, which is older than the others, may not have been part of the Angel phase group. A defensive palisade with bastions nearly surrounded the approximately town. Mounds A (Central Mound), E, and F (Temple Mound), the largest mounds at the site, are truncate pyramidal earthen structures with either a square or rectangular base. Mound A and Mound F, constructed about AD 1050 to 1100, were used until the Mississippians abandoned the site about AD 1400, and then burned. Mounds I and K may have been constructed over older mound structures. Mound A (Central Mound) Mound A, also called the Central Mound, is the largest and highest () in the complex. It also among the largest prehistoric structures in the eastern United States. Central Mound contains three levels with a smaller conical mound in the southeast corner of the upper level. The base mound is long and wide. Laborers carried of dirt in baskets from the chute (a waterway along the south side of the town) to create the mound. The lower terrace, measuring by , is on the south side of the mound. The upper terrace is above the surrounding area. Based on reports from early European explorers in the southeastern United States who encountered active Mississippian culture villages, this mound was likely the residence of the hereditary chief of the town and the surrounding communities. (It