|
|
Dauphin Island, AL
Archive of Historical Data, Books, Maps
And Other Materials
 |
The Dauphin Island Shell Mounds,
now a park and bird refuge, date from the Mississippian Period (AD
1100 to 1550). They were visited for centuries by Indians who gathered
and roasted oysters and fished in Little Dauphin Island Bay off
the Gulf of Mexico.
|
| Long a landmark on Dauphin Island, the shell mounds are still the highest geographical feature on the island. Around 1910, only cedar trees (which are tolerant of the alkaline soil of shell middens) are evident near the eroded shore line of Dauphin Island Bay (courtesy of the University of South Alabama Archives).
|
Click photo to see a larger version. |
 |
When viewed in profile(as
in the photo),the shell mounds
are also seen to contain many layers, some thick ones made up
mostly of oyster shells, and some thin intervening layers with
lots of wood charcoal, fish bones, and potsherds.
This pattern was produced by repeated visits to the same location
by small bands of people over many centuries. On each occasion,
a family or two would build a fire in which they roasted oysters;
this not only cooked but also opened the pesky creatures (a handy
trick in the days before oyster knives). As the oysters were shelled,
and the meat probably dried for storage, the shells were tossed
aside. This activity created a high pile of shells surrounding
the work area around the fire.
The next family to visit the spot might shift the location of
their fire, and over many years a complex series of overlapping
layers would be produced.
|
Few artifacts are found in the shell mounds, apart
from the pieces of cooking pots broken by prehistoric occupants. Stone tools are
particularly scarce, perhaps due to the difficulty of finding good kinds of stone
in the coastal plain. Although some stone was imported into the region,
the Mississippian peoples of the northern Gulf also seem to have used
sharpened canes in place of stone for arrowheads and knives.
In 1990 a mapping team from the University of South Alabama produced a
contour map of the Dauphin Island Shell Mounds. That project was funded by
the National Science Foundation's EPSCor program.
|
The Center for Archaeological Studies' Archaeology
website is maintained by Sarah Mattics,
under the direction of Dr. Gregory A. Waselkov.
Copyright © 2009 by The University of South Alabama
|
This Web Site is Hosted by:
Good Folks with a Great System
Richard Scott, Pres & CEO
|
