Gibbs Mounds 23BO8
Rescue archaeological research
at Gibbs Mounds (23BO8)
was conducted in 1954 by Professor Carl H. Chapman of the University of Missouri - Columbia.
The mounds were being removed by the bulldozers to facilitate farming.
Photograph taken in 1954 showing a stone lined vault with burials in foreground and
a second vault in background on the right side.
Drawing of the orientation and position
of human remains in Gibbs Mound number 1.
Chamber 1 analysis:
2 extended burials (# 10 & 11) with heads to west; faces north
2 flexed burials (#8 & 9) with heads to west, faces north
2 trophy skulls? (#7 at side of #11) (#3 at foot of #10)
2 unassociated skulls (#5 and 6)
1 Cremation (#6)
**The chamber was reopened
and 2 extended burials (#1 and #2) were
added with
heads east and face north
Extended burial #10 = Female
5'5" tall, young woman (no arthritis) with the bones of an
associated infant 2 to 6 years old and bones of
associated full term fetal bones
Extended burial #11 = Male
25 - 30 years of age and with
associated newborn infant
Digitized black-and-white photograph of Gibbs Mound 1 published by Chapman (1980).
Digitized black-and-white photograph of Gibbs Mound published by Chapman (1980).
Three mounds were documented by the archaeologists; each mound had an interior chamber.
Mound 1 contained 13 burials, mound 2 contained 1 burial, and mound 3 contained 11 burials.
Grave offerings with burial mound 1 were typical of the Late Woodland Period
(ca. AD 600 - 800): 2 caches of mussel shells, 3 sherds of Moreau Plain
pottery, 2 broken knife bases, 1 arrow point, 1 broken conch shell gorget,
and 5 Anculosa shell beads.
Digital scan of a black-and-white photograph from Gibbs Mounds (23BO8) published
by Chapman (1980).
Digital scan of a black-and-white photograph of J. Mett Shippee (left),
Francis Stubbs (center) and
Robert Bray (right) at Gibbs Mounds (23BO8) published
on the cover of the Missouri Archaeological Society Quarterly (1985).
Chapman, Carl H.
1980 The Archaeology of Missouri, II. University of Missouri, Columbia.
Missouri Archaeological Society
1985 Missouri Archaeological Society Quarterly. 2(3):cover.
Webpage constructed 23 December 2003
Updated 27 February 2007