Moundville Archaeological Park

Coker, Alabama

Weather: low 49 degrees, high 68 degrees, fog early, then clear skies

Today was one of those that we enjoy. Actually, every day is a good one - some are better than others. Out of bed when we want to be (even though we can't seem to sleep late), a late breakfast after my morning walk, surfing the Internet, watching college football including Florida win against Kentucky, a ride to an area we haven't been to before, pizza from Sam's Club, TV watching, reading, etc. It's enough to make a person tired.

Actually, we went to two little towns near Coker today. We visited Moundville several years ago, but made a return visit today. In addition, we drove down the road to Greensboro, a town we had never been to before. Both towns have enough of interest that I'm going to split up the posts about them. Today, I'll tell you about Moundville, and Greensboro tomorrow.

Moundville is a small town south of Tuscaloosa on US 69. The route down is through rolling countryside that is being developed with subdivisions and shopping areas. It is a scenic drive, and the road is a good four lane highway. It appears that most of the people in the area work in Tuscaloosa.

The thing that was of most interest about Moundville was the Moundville Archaeology Park. The park is an old Indian town site overlooking the Black Warrior River, and is composed of 172 acres with 32 platform mounds. The park contains a museum and an archaeological laboratory. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.

According to information we read at the park, the site was occupied by Native Americans of the Mississippian culture from around 1000 AD until 1450 AD. The community took the form of a residential and political area protected on three sides by a wooden palisade wall with the remaining side protected by the river bluff. The largest platform mounds are located on the northern edge of the plaza and become increasingly smaller going clockwise around the plaza to the south. Scholars think that the highest-ranking clans occupied the large northern mounds with the smaller mounds supporting buildings used for residences, mortuary, and other purposes. The tallest mound is 58 feet tall with two access ramps. The highest ranked people lived on the tallest mounds. A person's social ranking determined where they lived in the town. About 1000 people lived in the town and another 10,000 lived in the area. By 1350 the site was being used more as a religious and political center than as an actual residential town. By 1500, most of the entire area was abandoned. I did not see any conjecture about what might have caused the people to leave the area.

Below are two pictures of the mounds.











Here's a picture of some of the pottery that was recovered from the mounds.



After leaving Moundville, we continued down the road to Greensboro. I'll share our visit to that nice old town tomorrow. On the way home, we stopped at Sam's Club and picked up a pizza. Instead of bringing it home and eating, we decided to sit down in the snack area and chow down right there at the store while the pizza was still hot. Ummmmm! Very good, and we had enough left for lunch or supper tomorrow.

I didn't go out to the house today, so I don't know how successful the moth balls were in keeping the armadillos out of the flower beds. Jerry Brown says I should go ahead and shoot them, then cook 'em up. He says they taste like pork, which is kinda like chicken, which is kinda like frog legs. Carolyn says YUCK!!

More later, be safe.

Today's Town - Moundville, Alabama: Tree City, USA

Not all who wander are lost.