Oxford in Calhoun County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
Mississippi Earthen Mounds
AD 1000 to AD 1625
Choccolocco Park Interpretive Trail
Photographed by Mark Hilton, January 26, 2020
1. Mississippi Earthen Mounds Marker
Inscription.
Mississippi Earthen Mounds. AD 1000 to AD 1625. During the Mississippi period earthen mound construction resumed at Choccolocco. Mound building was a community effort and these earthen constructions served as the center of community life for large towns like the one depicted at right. This scene would have been very similar to the view from the top of the mound looking to the south. The earthen mound here was largely destroyed in the 1950s by the previous land owner and has been reconstructed based on information obtained by archaeologists. The archaeologists used ground-penetrating radar and a tool called a flux-gate gradiometer that detects subtle variations in earth's magnetic field in order to look into the subsurface to "see" what remained of the mound and how it was oriented. This was followed by excavations that produced cross-sections of the different soil layers that remained from the original mound construction.
During the Mississippi period earthen mound construction
resumed at Choccolocco. Mound building was a community
effort and these earthen constructions served as the center of
community life for large towns like the one depicted at right.
This scene would have been very similar to the view from the
top of the mound looking to the south. The earthen mound here
was largely destroyed in the 1950s by the previous land owner
and has been reconstructed based on information obtained by
archaeologists. The archaeologists used ground-penetrating
radar and a tool called a flux-gate gradiometer that detects
subtle variations in earth's magnetic field in order to look into
the subsurface to "see" what remained of the mound and how it
was oriented. This was followed by excavations that produced
cross-sections of the different soil layers that remained from the
original mound construction.
is in Oxford, Alabama, in Calhoun County. It can be reached from Leon Smith Parkway. Located within Choccolocco Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 954 Leon Smith Parkway, Oxford AL 36203, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in East Alabama. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Deep South. 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 the original Cherokee Nation, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
3. View of marker (on left of two) and the rebuilt mound.
Photographed by Mark Hilton, January 26, 2020
4. Entrance sign to the Chocolocco Park.
Credits. This page was last revised on January 28, 2020. It was originally submitted on January 28, 2020, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 727 times since then and 17 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on January 28, 2020, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.
