Dauphin Island in Mobile County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
Dauphin Island Indian Shell Mound Park
Photographed By Mark Hilton, August 22, 2018
1. Dauphin Island Indian Shell Mound Park Marker
Inscription.
Dauphin Island Indian Shell Mound Park. . 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, archaeologists learned that these shell mounds were occupied according to a seasonal schedule, most often in the late winter and spring. When viewed in profile, the shell mounds are seen to contain many layers, some thick ones made up primarily of oyster shells, and intervening layers of charcoal, fish bones, and potsherds. This pattern was produced by repeated visits to the same location by small bands of people over many centuries. The modern Choctaw and Creek tribes continued to fish and harvest oysters in the area until the 1830s. Artifacts include many pieces of cooking pots broken by prehistoric occupants. Stone tools are scarce, due to the difficulty of finding tool-quality stone in the coastal plain. The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
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, archaeologists learned that these shell mounds were occupied according to a seasonal schedule, most often in the late winter and spring. When viewed in profile, the shell mounds are seen to contain many layers, some thick ones made up primarily of oyster shells, and intervening layers of charcoal, fish bones, and potsherds. This pattern was produced by repeated visits to the same location by small bands of people over many centuries. The modern Choctaw and Creek tribes continued to fish and harvest oysters in the area until the 1830s. Artifacts include many pieces of cooking pots broken by prehistoric occupants. Stone tools are scarce, due to the difficulty of finding tool-quality stone in the coastal plain. The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
Erected 2010 by the Alabama Tourism Department and the Town of Dauphin Island.
30° 15.357′ N, 88° 6.452′ W. Marker is on Dauphin Island, Alabama, in Mobile County. Marker is on Iberville Drive north of Cadillac Avenue, on the left when traveling north. Located in Indian Shell Mound Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 758 Iberville Drive, Dauphin Island AL 36528, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Credits. This page was last revised on August 24, 2018. It was originally submitted on August 24, 2018, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 606 times since then and 77 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on August 24, 2018, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.
