Science

Mima mounds are not a phenomenon particular to the Northwest, although they occur here in their greatest numbers. Mima mounds remain a mystery, despite the best efforts of hundreds of years of scientists and other theorists.

One of the best examples of Mima Mounds can be found just south of Olympia, a few miles off I5 outside Littlerock at the Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve. Imagine a broad prairie field. Now imagine that instead of being relatively flat, it is humped with a vast cluster of mounds, each about 30 feet around, and up to eight feet high. These mounds go on for hundreds of acres, nestled side by side with a narrow path between them.

We have ample scientific data on what the mounds are. But we know nothing about how they came to be.