Sunday, December 27, 2009

Oxford Stone Mound "makes it to the big time"

This is the first time I remember seeing an official publication like Archeology Magazine noting a rock pile related story. The following is from their end-of-year list of most most endangered archaeological sites [click here for the complete list] (Recall also that the Indians in Alabama used the USET resolution as part of the basis for their argument to protect the mound.)

Signal Hill Mound
During construction of a Sam's Club Walmart megastore in Oxford, Alabama, contractors stripped earth from a nearby hill, destroying a stone mound that was built in the Late Woodland Period, around A.D. 1000. Archaeologists have only recently begun to realize the significance of stone-mound networks in the eastern United States so few have protected status. After public outcry over the site's destruction, Walmart halted the project.

1 comment :

Norman said...

I'm not sure the stone mound was completely destroyed. I know the hill on which the mound was constructed was partially removed for fill, but the stone mound on top I think still exists. A check of the Anniston Star newspaper can perhaps resolve this.