periods. Hallmarks of the Woodland Period (1000 B.C.-A.D. 1000) include the 

 persistence of seasonal hunting and gathering, indicated by the build-up of 

 shell refuse mounds; widespread manufacture of plain and decorated ceramics 

 (fiber-tempered pottery early in the period and later, sand-tempered); and 

 evidence of systematic horticulture and burial-mound construction. 



The Mississippi an Period (A.D. 900-1500) continued and further developed 

 the construction of burial mounds. Other features of this period include 

 village sites, the construction of elaborate ceremonial mounds, and the 

 practice of intensive agriculture. These traits indicate that the Missis- 

 sippi an people had a fairly organized and sedentary society and no longer 

 based their subsistence on the seasonal availability of food resources. 

 Diagnostic artifacts of this period are shell -tempered ceramics; small tri- 

 angular stone points, suggesting the use of the bow and arrow; and elaborate 

 grave goods, which in conjunction with the mounds, indicate an advanced 

 degree of religious ceremonialism (Walthall 1980). 



Sites along the coast include the shell mounds and burial sites at Bayou 

 La Batre, Bayou Coden, Shell Bank Bayou, Dauphin Island, and the Fort Morgan 

 Peninsula (Biloxi quadrangle). Other sites, many of which are located in the 

 Mobil e-Tensaw River Delta (Atmore quadrangle), include the Bottle Creek 

 Indian Mounds (Atmore quadrangle), D'Olive Creek Shell Middens (Bay Minette 

 quadrangle), Grand Bay village sites (Bay Minette quadrangle), and Dead Lake 

 shell mounds and middens (Mobile quadrangle) (Alabama Coastal Area Board 

 1978, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1981). Exact locations and descriptions 

 of the Baldwin and Mobile County sites have been omitted to avoid the 

 possibility of damage that might result from public knowledge of the data. 



Only a few areas of the coast have been adequately surveyed for the 

 presence of archaeological sites. In general, however, the margins of Mobile 

 Bay and Mississippi Sound, the distributary margins of the Mobil e-Tensaw 

 River delta, and margins of most permanent streams are considered among the 

 most archaeological ly sensitive areas in the Alabama coastal region (V. J. 

 Knight, Jr., the University of Alabama, Moundville, 15 March 1983; pers. 

 c omm . ) . 



Potential developers are urged to contact the following agencies for 

 further information concerning archaeological sites and relevant protective 

 legislation concerning them. The State Archaeological Site Files are on 

 deposit at 



The Office of Archaeological Research 

 The University of Alabama 

 1 Mound State Monument 

 Moundville, Alabama 35474 

 (205) 348-7774. 



66 



