This foundation is all that remains of Baldwin County’s first courthouse.
Authorized in 1820 but not constructed until circa 1833, the two-story brick building contained a jail on the bottom floor with office space on the upper floor. . . . — — Map (db m131830) HM
When workers began excavating the lake for Choccolocco Park, they
uncovered several large charcoal-filled ditches that formed circles.
Archaeologists investigated these features and determined that these
were the remains of 19th century charcoal . . . — — Map (db m144947) HM
The people living during the Paleoindian period experienced a
world very different from that we know today. These people
lived during the last ice age when large mammals still roamed
North America. Archaeologists sometimes refer to these . . . — — Map (db m144948) HM
The stone mound here once sat on nearby Signal Mountain and is now
understood to be part of a much larger cultural landscape. Working with
the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the people of the Arbeka (Abihka)
Ceremonial Ground, archaeologist Robert . . . — — Map (db m144927) HM
Centered around Boiling Spring, the
Choccolocco Creek Archaeological
Complex once consisted of at least
three earthen mounds, a large stone
mound, and a large snake effigy
(representation) also made of stone.
The largest earthen mound once . . . — — Map (db m144926) HM
Woodland period people established permanent communities
within a climate and forest that was very similar to that
experienced by today's residents of the Choccolocco Valley. By
AD 100, the residents had started constructing the earthen
mound . . . — — Map (db m144977) HM
Natural and Cultural Preservation
TVA is fully committed to protecting our natural and cultural resources. And nowhere is that more evident than right here at Wilson Dam.
Here, the 25-acre Old First quarters Small Wild Area showcases the . . . — — Map (db m106189)
Site of Alabama's first permanent capital 1820-26. County seat Dallas County, 1820-66. Prison for Union soldiers during the War Between the States 1863-65. Indians were the first inhabitants over 4000 years ago. Their large fortified village could . . . — — Map (db m75779) HM
In 1858, the railroad company graded away an Indian mound that stood here. A brick warehouse was built in its place. From 1863 - 1865 the Confederate government used this warehouse to hold captured Federal Soldiers. You are standing on a pile of . . . — — Map (db m22666) HM
This structure collapsed in 1833 and its fallen remains were reportedly heaped into a railroad embankment. Consequently, we have no picture of the Statehouse that was drawn by someone who actually saw the building. Any modern picture you see of this . . . — — Map (db m75909) HM
St. Luke's was consecrated in 1854. It was an outstanding example of the Gothic Revival style, popular at the time. The contractor closely followed designs in a widely circulated book, Rural Architecture, published in 1852 by the celebrated . . . — — Map (db m75922) HM
Between AD 1500 and 1600, the
indigenous inhabitants of the area around
the confluence of the Cahaba and
Alabama Rivers built a flat-topped mound
measuring about ½ acre in size. The
mound was the central feature of a
semicircular village . . . — — Map (db m150834) HM
Imagine a clan chief 800 years
ago standing exactly where
you are. It's possible he would
see something resembling this
artist's rendering. Larger
mounds, like this one, dotted
the plaza's perimeter, serving
as elevated platforms for . . . — — Map (db m144752) HM
The mound in front of you probably once served as a platform for the principal chief's house. The noble who lived there was an extremely important political and religious figure. It is likely that this chief claimed to have divine relationships with . . . — — Map (db m144808) HM
Site of a prehistoric Native American political and ceremonial center from about A. D. 1100-1500 that, at its height in the 13th century, was America’s largest community north of Mexico. Between 1,000 and 3,000 people lived in this town fortified . . . — — Map (db m30700) HM
I do not think in the Southern States there is a group of Mounds to compare to Moundville, in the arrangement and state of preservation of the mounds.
- Clarence B. Moore, amateur archaeologist, 1910
Spanning more than . . . — — Map (db m144745) HM
Welcome to Moundville Archaeological Park, the best preserved site of its kind in
North America. At its height, Moundville was the largest and most powerful political
and religious center in the Southeast. Nobles at Moundville ruled over thousands . . . — — Map (db m144759) HM
The mounds you see here were built in a very orderly arrangement over the course of about 100 years. Surrounding them was an immense wall constructed from tens of thousands of logs. How did the rulers harness the manpower and allegiance of the . . . — — Map (db m144774) HM
Rival Mississippian chiefdoms constantly threatened one another. Warfare was a way of life for most men. By proving their valor militarily, warriors probably increased their overall status as they were promoted up through the ranks. One theory . . . — — Map (db m144815) HM
The Civilian Conservation Corps was born during the turmoil of the Great Depression. Hundreds of thousands of young men were out of work, and wasteful exploitation of the environment had devoured millions of acres across America. In 1933, as part of . . . — — Map (db m144813) HM
The Bessemer Site was the largest
indigenous mound site in what is now
Jefferson County, and it once dominated
a large territory in what became
north-central Alabama. Occupied from
about AD 1150 to 1250 during the early
Mississippian period, . . . — — Map (db m144908) HM
The Florence Indian Mound was the heart of a largely indigenous cultural center that existed along this section of the Tennessee River Valley centuries ago. A map was drawn by E. G. Squier and Edwin Davis in 1848 showed the mound as originally . . . — — Map (db m191412) HM
This is the highest domiciliary mound in the Tennessee Valley. It was probably built between 100 B.C. and 400 A.D. by a prehistoric people of the ancient Woodland Culture. Such mounds served as bases for ceremonial temples or chief's houses. This . . . — — Map (db m28457) HM
Copena Indians built this mound with baskets of dirt some 2000 years ago. The Copena name was derived from their use of copper and galena (lead ore) found in their burials along with gorgets and celts. The mounds were a burial site with the dead . . . — — Map (db m84315) HM
The cluster of three mounds known as the
Hamilton Mounds site is the largest
indigenous mound site in Marion County,
Alabama. The site includes three mounds
along the Buttahatchee River: a large
mound with a two-tiered summit, another
smaller . . . — — Map (db m174428) HM
This park and bird refuge dates from the Mississippian Period (AD 1100 to 1550). Native Americans, who roasted oysters and fished in adjacent Dauphin Island Bay, visited the shell mounds for centuries. From excavations carried out in 1990, . . . — — Map (db m122350) HM
Alabama Bicentennial Park
Alabama Bicentennial Park commemorates Alabama's
200th anniversary of statehood. The park's bronze relief
sculptures present sixteen moments from Alabama history,
complemented by narratives that provide historical . . . — — Map (db m182565) HM
Athabascans were highly nomadic, traveling in small groups to fish, hunt, and trap.
Athabascan territory, the largest area of all the Alaska Native peoples, was home to 11 different linguistic groups who lived along five major riverways: the . . . — — Map (db m72795) HM
Athabascans were masters at designing a variety of shelters--simple and functional--that kept them both warm and mobile as they set out to hunt and trade.
Emergency shelters were constructed in minutes.
A wandering hunter could pile up . . . — — Map (db m72792) HM
Raven is the Creator in many Alaska Native and American Indian legends. Elements from my different legends are incorporated into this sculpture including "Raven Stealing the Stars, Sun, and Moon." The human figures in the claws symbolize icons used . . . — — Map (db m72793) HM
For generations the Inuit people of Northern Canada, Greenland, and Alaska have constructed these rock monuments for hunting and navigational purposes. Our inuksuk is a giant version based on similar monuments found throughout the Arctic. . . . — — Map (db m69768) HM
High above river valleys, at overlooks like this, Denali’s first human visitors watch for mammoth, giant bison, and caribou. Ridge tops made the best game launching platforms; herds tend to follow sheltered stream corridors.
Hunters had to . . . — — Map (db m69724) HM
Totem poles are carved to honor deceased ancestors, record history, social events, and oral tradition. They were never worshipped as religious objects.
This totem, carved by Israel Shotridge and raised in 1989, is a replica of the Chief . . . — — Map (db m79703) HM
Totem poles are carved to honor deceased ancestors record history, social events, and oral tradition. They were never worshipped as religious objects.
This totem is the second replication of the Chief Kyan Totem Pole. The original pole was . . . — — Map (db m70746) HM
Blacksmiths and artisans who once lived and toiled on this hill were highly skilled workers of diverse ethnicities. Artifacts found here tell their forgotten story.
Under Your Feet
In 1997, archaeologists discovered Russian workshops . . . — — Map (db m181266) HM
Discovery of two well-preserved mummies led members of an 1880 archeological expedition to call this site Mummy Cave. The traditional Navajo name for this impressive setting is Tséyaa Kini — House Under Rock. Anasazi lived here for nearly a . . . — — Map (db m170537) HM
The Navajo know this prehistoric Anasazi village site as Kináázhoozhí, which means Sliding House. It is an apt description. The dwellings were constructed upon a steeply sloping ledge, and even the ingenious Anasazi builders were unable to keep many . . . — — Map (db m170548) HM
At this location in 1952, a large bone bed was discovered containing the remains of extinct mammoth, tapir, bison and horse. Found with the bones were the weapons and tools of the Indians who had killed and butchered these animals. The bones and . . . — — Map (db m43633) HM
]Panel 1:]
Between 1100 and 1200, more people lived in this area than ever before, or since. Located along routes linking large populations to the northeast and south, villages here were well situated for trade. As people, goods, and ideas . . . — — Map (db m60079) HM
Box Canyon and Lomaki ruins are a short 15-minute walk from here, along the edges of ancient earthcracks. The 1/4-mile trail will take you back in time over 800 years to the remnants of this once-thriving community. You will see the few native . . . — — Map (db m60114) HM
A Village
You are entering the “Citadel,” a ruin from the late 1100s. Research has not been completed so it is important that we leave things as they are. Will there be extra storage spaces found, possible evidence for the . . . — — Map (db m60089) HM
Eight hundred years ago, a savannah-like grassland covered much of this high desert with abundant grasses. The residents would have collected and burned much of the nearby fuel, necessitating long walks to adjacent areas to gather wood. Sparse . . . — — Map (db m60105) HM
The Box Canyon ruins are typical of many pueblos found in this region. Early inhabitants constructed walls of nearby sandstone and limestone, and used local soils to cement the stones together. The flat roofs were built of timbers laid side-by-side, . . . — — Map (db m60094) HM
Plaza
An open area in the pueblo near the rim of the earthcrack is known as the plaza. In pueblos, the plaza was the center for many daily activities including grinding corn, making pottery, working obsidian into arrowheads, processing other . . . — — Map (db m60110) HM
Volcanic activity to the south produced giant fissures or earthcracks throughout the Wupatki area in the Kaibab Limestone. This formation covers most of the western half of Wupatki National Monument. The Sinagua and Anasazi Indians who inhabited . . . — — Map (db m60098) HM
The distant San Francisco Peaks would have looked much like they do today. To the east, however, Sunset Crater Volcano would still have been belching black smoke and cinders when the Sinagua and Anasazi lived here. The thick layer of cinders over . . . — — Map (db m60107) HM
The Citadel
It was a remarkable achievement, to use primitive mortar and local stones to build the walls above you straight up from the edge of the top of the rock. “The Citadel” is the modern name given to this ruin because . . . — — Map (db m60087) HM
Wukoki, a modern Hopi word for “Big House” was once home for two or three prehistoric Indian families. The inhabitants are believed to have been of the Kayenta Anasazi culture, judging from the types of artifacts found during excavation . . . — — Map (db m60078) HM
Cohonina and ancestral Pueblo (Kayenta Anasazi) people lived in this area in prehistoric time. The ancestral Puebloans built Tusayan about AD 1185. A visit to the museum and a short walk through the remains of the village will furnish a glimpse of . . . — — Map (db m39631) HM
Allow about 30 minutes to tour Tusayan Ruin. The 0.1 mile loop trail through the main ruin is paved and wheelchair-accessible; the side loop to a prehistoric farming site is not. Signs along the way explain the site's features. An interpretive . . . — — Map (db m39633) HM
Built more than 900 years before the Grand Canyon Lodge, the foundations of this small, two-room dwelling provide a glimpse of the kinds of lodging used by ancestral Puebloan farmers of the North Rim. These native farmers built field houses like . . . — — Map (db m163577) HM
They dominate the horizon, rising 12,633 feet (3851 m) to Arizona's highest point. Visible for miles from all directions, they stand guard over a land which has long sustained people in spirit and natural resources. All of the region's Native . . . — — Map (db m41664) HM
This was a community of relatives and neighbors. Its members worked together to haul water, hunt animals, and gather plants. They likely assisted each other with large fields on the rims. They shared walls and resources, joy and sorrow, success . . . — — Map (db m61366) HM
Puebloan traditions reach far back in time and are the basis for the social organization portrayed here. What responsibilities might you have had in this community, given your age and gender?
[Captions:]
Hopi men plant and . . . — — Map (db m61350) HM
Overhanging ledges protected rooms from snow and rain, and shaded them during summer months. Thick walls of stone and mud insulated them from harsh winds and retained essential heat in winter.
Small doors were covered with animal skins, mats, . . . — — Map (db m61365) HM
Despite all it had to offer, in time Walnut Canyon became a difficult place for farmers to live. Drier, colder conditions meant crop failures. More people and diminished resources meant nutritional stress, disease, and conflict.
However, these . . . — — Map (db m61370) HM
Time has worn away details that once made these rooms complete. Still, bits of evidence tell us people devised ways to make their homes comfortable, durable, and suitable for changing circumstances.
Rooms were added as families grew or storage . . . — — Map (db m61341) HM
Most rooms in this community did not house people. Archeologists think many rooms, like the one to your left, were used to store tools, food, and water. Residents could have stored a 100-day water supply without much difficulty, given large . . . — — Map (db m61347) HM
For each room tucked into this rock alcove, nature provided the back wall, floor, and leak-proof ceiling; no excavation was needed. Builders simply laid up unshaped blocks of limestone for side walls, enclosed the front, and opened their doorway . . . — — Map (db m61340) HM
"It is very dusty work to dig for relics....We dug for an hour or more, and found...cornstalks, corncobs in abundance, beans, gourds, nuts, reeds, arrows, bowstrings,...coarse cloth, a child's sandal, a measuring stick with notches at regular . . . — — Map (db m61368) HM
This area seems quiet and lonely today - but not 800 years ago. This valley was used for farming and hunting by the people living in Citadel, Nalakihu, and other nearby pueblos, all inhabited at about the same time. (You can see the ruins of at . . . — — Map (db m41716) HM
Nalakihu - A modern Hopi name, "House Outside the Village"
Farmers lived here about 800 years ago. (Roof beams gave tree ring dates in the late 1100s.) The way the walls join show this small pueblo was not built all at once, but was added onto. . . . — — Map (db m41713) HM
Ballcourts were common in southern Arizona from A.D. 750 to 1200, but relatively rare here in the northern part of the state. This suggests that the people of Wupatki intermingled with their southern Arizona neighbors - the Hohokam - who may have . . . — — Map (db m41696) HM
This blowhole - a crevice in the earth's crust that appears to breathe - is one of several found in the Wupatki area. It connects to an underground passage - size, depth, and complexity unknown - called an earthcrack. Earthcracks resulted from . . . — — Map (db m41701) HM
Farming then did not mean vast fields like we use today. Anasazi and Sinagua people modified these small terraces to grow hand-tended corn, cotton, beans, and squash. We know the climate was about what it is now, very dry for farming. The terraces . . . — — Map (db m41715) HM
Approximately 300 B.C. Prehistoric Indians entered the Salt River Valley. They developed an extensive canal system and raised corn, beans, squash, agave and cotton.
Over 500 miles of Hohokam canal have been recorded in the Salt River . . . — — Map (db m49877) HM
It is not known if the prehistoric Indians of the canyons used this plant, but both Navajos and Hopis make medicine from it, to cure stomach-ache. The Navajos use it to cure colds and headache. — — Map (db m144404) HM
As with the narrowleaf yucca, all parts of this plant provided something for the Indians. They ate the fruit, and shredded and twisted the leaves into cord and rope. Soap comes from the crushed roots and is used as a shampoo in Navajo and Hopi . . . — — Map (db m144395) HM
Generations of Hopis have long travelled far from their arid, mesa-top homes to collect fir boughs and branches. Navajos also traded cut boughs to the Hopis in exchange for corn. Each culture requires fir neck-wreaths for the dancers of certain . . . — — Map (db m144406) HM
The most common oak in Navajoland has a hard, durable wood, which is still used for ax handles, weaving battens, and cradleboard hoops. The leafy branches are favored for shade ramadas in the summer. Solutions of root bark are used to dye wool and . . . — — Map (db m144405) HM
The Navajo Indians resourcefully met the demands of desert dwelling when they came up with this comfortable and sturdy forked-stick hogan — so called because its chief structural support is made up of three poles with their forked ends . . . — — Map (db m144378) HM
When protected from overgrazing, this bunchgrass thrives on the high desert. It was once a nutritious food source for the Hopi Indians.
While Navajos also depended on rice grass, other foods that were easier to prepare eventually replaced it. . . . — — Map (db m144391) HM
Who Was Here? Descendants of the Hopi people who built this place call it Talastima, a Hopi word for "Place of the Blue Corn Tassels." They call their ancient relatives “Hisatsinom.” Zuni, also pueblo builders, know . . . — — Map (db m144402) HM
The nut of this little tree, eaten raw or roasted, is a favorite wild food of the Southwestern Indians. Prehistoric Indians used the pitch to fasten stone arrowheads and knives to wooden shafts and handles, and to repair broken pots. Navajos made . . . — — Map (db m144399) HM
This Is The Place The Ancestral Puebloans often chose south-facing alcoves like this one for their cliff villages; here are all the basic necessities of life. Benefits of winter sun and summer shade, shelter from the elements, and springwater . . . — — Map (db m144400) HM
Hopi Indians burn rabbit brush kindling with three other wood fuels in their ceremonial kivas. Slender, flexible stems are woven into basketry. Green dye comes from the inner bark, while early autumn flowers yield a yellow dye. The Hopis once . . . — — Map (db m144448) HM
Follow the easy one-mile (1.6 km) round-trip trail to a point overlooking Betatakin Ruin—multi-level cliff-village home to a community of 13th-century Anasazi farmers.
On the way there and back, you’ll be walking through pygmy . . . — — Map (db m71519) HM
Serviceberry is one of the enduring "life medicines" of the Navajos, which insure their survival, health, and harmony. It is gathered to treat nausea, stomach problems, animal bites, and recovery from childbirth. It is also valued as a medicine in . . . — — Map (db m144449) HM
This miniature forked-stick hogan without a smoke hole is actually a highly effective bath — an ancient solution to the problem of keeping clean in a land where water is scarce.
Here’s how it works: Stones are heated in a fire, then . . . — — Map (db m71517) HM
This trail leads through vegetation typical of the plateaus of northern Arizona. Although the trees are small, they make up a true forest – the pinyon pine-juniper forest. The stunted trees and plants here may seem an unlikely source of food, . . . — — Map (db m144397) HM
Hidden away in Tsegi Canyon’s wilderness of bare rock, sand, and sparse vegetation are surprising pockets of luxuriant growth. Betatakin Canyon—home to a village of prehistoric cliff-dwellings farmers—is one of these oases. Fir Canyon, . . . — — Map (db m71514) HM
This tree had many uses. Many of the roof beams in Betatakin are juniper. Fires were started with juniper fire-drills, the shredded bark was used for tinder, and the wood was used for fuel. The shredded bark also served as diaper pads, was braided . . . — — Map (db m144396) HM
By 1286, Betatakin village had grown to fill even the most precarious shelves and niches in the alcove, and housed 100 to 125 people clustered into 20 to 25 households. Looking down at this sheltered site today you can still see most remnants of the . . . — — Map (db m144401) HM
You are standing in the oldest section of the pueblo, the Central Plaza. At one time, the rooms surrounding the plaza may have stood as high as three stories. Traditionally, the plaza area symbolized the Center of the Universe and played an integral . . . — — Map (db m187324) HM
In the distance, you can see several mesas. These are called Tuutukwi or the Hopi Buttes, sacred places in Hopi religion. Today, they are used as eagle gathering areas by certain Hopi clans.
Below you are the remains of the East Plaza. Like the . . . — — Map (db m187322) HM
Around A.D. 1330, a group of people arrived from the Hopi Mesas, 60 miles north, drawn by the lush flood plain of the Little Colorado River. These people built a 1200 room village; 750 to 1000 people lived in this pueblo.
The people farmed in . . . — — Map (db m187265) HM
These large holes, and others visible throughout the pueblo, are the result of illegal digging by treasure seekers and pot hunters. Such acts of careless vandalism not only destroy scientific information, but desecrate ancient and sacred burials. . . . — — Map (db m187267) HM
In the depression is a kiva. Kiva means "cellar" or "underground house". Men are primary users of kivas; women and children have access during certain ceremonies and seasons.
This kiva is 14 by 17 feet and 6 feet deep. The floor and benches were . . . — — Map (db m187268) HM
How the Burn was Born
Chevelon in a Nutshell
In the summers of 2003 through 2006, archaeologists from Arizona State Museum and volunteers from Earthwatch excavated the ancestral Hopi village of Chevelon which is located 9 miles from . . . — — Map (db m185334) HM
On the horizon are the highest mountains in Arizona, the San Francisco Peaks (12,670 feet). The Hopi call them Nuvatukya'ovi and believe they are the home of the Katsina spirits. Katsina are supernatural beings with the power to bring the rain . . . — — Map (db m187271) HM
Below you is Paayu, the Hopi name for the Little Colorado River, a year round source of water. Even when dry, water can be found a few feet below the sand. Paayu supported a variety of plant and animal resources, including beaver, elk, antelope, . . . — — Map (db m187270) HM
A typical room used for domestic activities would have slab-lined floor pits for cooking and heating similar to those found here in the West Plaza. Storage rooms lacked such floor features.
To the left of these five rooms is an area that was . . . — — Map (db m187266) HM
Arizona State Parks preserved this vandalized kiva. It is the largest of the kivas in Homol'ovi II and measures 19.7 by 32.8 feet and is 6.6 feet deep. The pit near the south end of the structure is a hearth, and the small stone wall deflects and . . . — — Map (db m187269) HM
Lifeline
Beaver Creek has always been a major focus of life in the Verde Valley. Prehistoric Sinagua farmers constructed Montezuma Castle and other structures near the creek. They dug ditches to carry creek water to irrigate the fields of . . . — — Map (db m40868) HM
Could This Stone Be The Opening to a Macaw Pen?
Where Did This Stone Come From?
Who Used It?
Why Is This Stone at Montezuma Castle?
Did the Ancient Sinaguans Possibly
Raise Macaws Here?
In the 15th century, near modern-day Casa . . . — — Map (db m40895) HM
A farming community of perhaps 200 people prospered here for more than three centuries. The Castle was home to 35 or so of these people. Archeologists suggest they may have fled what is today the Flagstaff area due to overpopulation around A.D. . . . — — Map (db m40840) HM
The Neighborhood
You can see Montezuma Castle and Castle A from here. If you look closely at the Cliffside, you might spot other ledges and caves used by the Sinagua.
The Sinagua people who made their homes here may have been a . . . — — Map (db m40869) HM
Here’s another “castle” – this one called “A” by the archeologists who excavated it in the 1930s.
Like neighboring Montezuma Castle, Castle A was occupied by Sinagua farmers between A.D. 1200 and 1450. However, with . . . — — Map (db m40863) HM
The Way Up
How in the world do you build a structure large enough to house 35 people high up on a steep canyon wall? Sound impossible? Here’s how Montezuma Castle’s ingenious Sinagua farmers managed it.