Burnt mounds in Northern and Western Europe

Located on the West Tennessee Coastal Plain, Pinson Mounds is one of the largest Middle Woodland ceremonial centers in eastern North America. The site includes at least 12 mounds, a geometric embankment, and associated temporary habitation areas within an area of approximately 160 ha. Of particular significance is the presence of five large platform mounds ranging in height from 3 to 22 m. A series of two dozen radiocarbon determinations indicate that the Pinson Mounds site was constructed and used between approximately A.D. 1-500.

Lunettes are mounds of aeolian sediment that occur on the lee sides of pans (closed depressions) in Bostwana and South Africa. They are of frequent, though not universal occurrence, especially in south west Botswana, the northern Cape Province, and the north-western Transvaal. Those in the Kalahari are predominantly sandy, but in South Africa there are some examples which are either heavily calcreted or which contain substantial amounts of clay and silt.