On today’s new “On the Map Monday” we are going to look at Moundville, Alabama! Now I’m sure you may have never heard of Moundville, AL but I promise you, it is a very special place and an important piece to the archaeological timeline of the United States.
The Moundville site was occupied from around A.D. 1000 until A.D. 1450. It was said to have been a large settlement on the Black Warrior River in central Alabama. According to the Moundville Archeological Park’s website, “the site was enclosed with a large wooden palisade. Within the enclosure, surrounding a central plaza, were twenty-six earthen mounds, the larger ones apparently supporting noble’s residences alternating
with small ones that supported buildings used for mortuary and other purposes.” Moundville got its name from the earthen mounds that were built on this 300 acre site. The largest mounds are Mound A which sits in the most central position of the plaza, and Mound B (just north of Mound A) is the most steep, estimated at 58 feet tall. The mounds were most used to show nobility among the town’s people. Moundville was a place for large trading of maize, copper, mica, and marine shells. Then it became a center of religious and political beliefs, which eventually led to its decline somewhere around the 1500’s.
Moundville was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and the University of Alabama Museums administers 185 acres of the park.
For more detailed information on this amazing archaeological park please visit the Moundville Archaeological Park’s website: http://moundville.ua.edu/