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. 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.

Topics and series.

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This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Anthropology & Archaeology • Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Indigenous Peoples and Communities. In addition, it is included in the Alabama Tourism Department series list.

Location. 30° 15.357′ N, 88° 6.452′ W. Marker is on Dauphin Island, Alabama, in Mobile County. It 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.

Regionally, this marker is on Alabama’s Gulf Coast,

in the Mobile Bay area,

and specifically in the Mobile Metropolitan Area.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

and on the Gulf Coast.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the Viceroyalty of New France,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the

Dauphin Island Indian Shell Mound Park image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, August 22, 2018

2. Dauphin Island Indian Shell Mound Park

Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: John F. Porter, Jr. Goat Tree Reserve / The Goat Tree (approx. 0.4 miles away); Patriot (approx. 0.4 miles away); Dauphin Island (approx. 0.4 miles away); a different marker also named Dauphin Island (approx. 0.4 miles away); 19th Century Shipwreck (approx. 1.9 miles away); Fort Gaines (approx. 1.9 miles away); British Occupation of Dauphin Island (approx. 1.9 miles away); "To Be Blown To Kingdom Come" (approx. 2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Dauphin Island.

Also see . . . Wikipedia article on Dauphin Island Indian Shell Mound Park. (Submitted on August 24, 2018, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.)

The Dauphin Island Indian Shell Mound Park image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, August 22, 2018

3. The Dauphin Island Indian Shell Mound Park

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 1,264 times since then and 87 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 24, 2018, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.