Mound Building Cultures Over 2,000 years ago, a mound 62 feet high and 240 feet in diameter containing 57,000 tons of dirt was built. Why would the Native Americans build such a mound? This burial site along with thousands of smaller ones was built to be a gravesite of a great warrior, chieftain, or religious leader. Platform mounds were another type of mound was used for certain buildings. These mound builders were from various groups and areas of American Indian tribes. The size, shape, and purpose of burial mounds and platform mounds varied between the mound-building cultures. Burial mounds were us