Alabama's Heritage Mounds

Archive for the ‘Heritage’ Category

Anniston Star – Mound of embarrassment

Re “UA professor: American Indian site is gone” (News article, Jan. 21):

I am embarrassed every time I read an article like I read this morning in The Star. It was written by reporter Patrick McCreless about our rich Native American culture in Oxford. He is obviously a man of knowledge and culture. He knows what a rich Indian history we have. Oxford, listen and learn from him.

I am embarrassed at how illiterate and culturally backward some of Oxford’s leaders are. People of Oxford, it’s my opinion you would do well to vote some of these people out of office as quickly as possible before all of the Indian history is completely destroyed. I feel sure there are many intelligent, cultured people in Oxford who would help preserve it. Find them, vote for them and make Oxford and Calhoun County proud.

Anniston Star – Second mound report released

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OXFORD — A University of Alabama archaeologist has released a report stating a pile of stones in Oxford was created by natural forces and not American Indians centuries ago — a report written two months after he signed another report stating the opposite.

Robert Clouse, director of the Office of Archaeological Research at the University of Alabama and director of the University of Alabama Museums, mailed the second report on the mound behind the Oxford Exchange to The Star at a reporter’s request.

The report cites different geologic surveys of the area and other American Indian archaeological excavations for comparison. Clouse is not a geologist, though he says he minored in geology as an undergraduate student.

The report states the mound is a natural formation and is not culturally significant.

The stone mound became the center of a dispute last summer, which ended with the City of Oxford backing away from plans to level the mound and use dirt beneath it for fill at a nearby construction site. City officials have repeatedly stated the mound was not man-made. They also later claimed they had not touched the mound, a claim contradicted by pictures contained in Clouse’s second report which show heavy equipment dismantling it.

The second report concluding the mound was natural was produced in July during the thick of the controversy over the site which began in June. The first report, which said the site was significant, was produced in April.

Anniston Star – JSU professor American Indian site is gone

OXFORD — A Jacksonville State University professor says an ancient American Indian site Oxford city officials agreed not to disturb has been destroyed, but he does not know by whom.

City officials claim the site is still intact.

JSU professor of archaeology and anthropology Harry Holstein said the site at the historic Davis Farm property in Oxford contained remnants of an American Indian village and the 3-foot-high base of a once 30-foot-high temple mound, which he says may have contained human remains.

When Holstein visited the site last summer, it was still intact.

But when he returned to the area Monday, he could find no sign of the mound or the village remnants.

The land is now flat, with tire tread marks clearly visible in the dirt.

“It’s been flattened like a pancake,” Holstein said. “There is just grass over it now.”

Holstein believes the temple mound and village are related to a stone mound on a hill behind the Oxford Exchange. Last year workers hired by the city of Oxford attempted to destroy that mound and use the dirt below it as fill for a Sam’s Club. Following protests from local residents and activists, the contractor hired by the city’s Commercial Development Authority apparently stopped work there, and a private landowner says he is now providing fill dirt from his property.

ISS – Sacred Indian mound destroyed for sports complex in Alabama

Harry Holstein, a professor of archaeology and anthropology at Alabama’s Jacksonville State University who specializes in prehistoric stone structure sites, told the Anniston Star newspaper that the ruined site — which contained remnants of an Indian village and the base of a temple mound that may have held human remains — has vanished:

When Holstein visited the site last summer, it was still intact.

But when he returned to the area Monday, he could find no sign of the mound or the village remnants.

The land is now flat, with tire tread marks clearly visible in the dirt.

“It’s been flattened like a pancake,” Holstein said. “There is just grass over it now.”

Holstein was part of a team of JSU researchers who prepared a report for the city before construction began that found the property slated for development contained some of the most significant archaeological sites in northeast Alabama. The report called for their preservation, which city leaders agreed to.

Holstein believes the structures that were at the destroyed site were related to the stone mound on a hill behind an Oxford shopping center. Last year, contractors hired by the city’s Commercial Development Authority were using dirt from that mound as fill for construction of a Sam’s Club, part of a chain operated by Arkansas-based Walmart. Following public outcry, the contractors halted that work and switched to fill dirt provided by a private landowner.

Anniston Star – UA expert Mound is still there

OXFORD — A University of Alabama archaeologist Tuesday told the City Council natural forces created a stone mound that was the source of controversy in 2009, contradicting a report he signed last year, which claimed the mound was likely made by human hands about 1,000 years ago.

During the regular meeting of the Oxford City Council Tuesday Robert Clouse, director of the Office of Archaeological Research at the University of Alabama and the director of the University of Alabama Museums, tried to answer questions about the mound behind the Oxford Exchange and the apparent removal of another mound at the historic Davis Farm site nearby.

Anniston Star – UA professor defends claims about Oxford mound

OXFORD — A University of Alabama archaeologist Wednesday said more investigation had led him to believe natural forces created a pile of stones that an earlier report bearing his signature said had been erected by humans hundreds of years ago.

The stone mound was at the center of a dispute last year that saw the City of Oxford back away from plans to level the mound to use dirt beneath it for fill at a construction site at the nearby Oxford Exchange.

Robert Clouse, director of the Office of Archaeological Research at the University of Alabama and the director of the University of Alabama Museums, said in an e-mail to The Star “the discrepancy between the two reports is the result of additional information gathered from actual on-site review of the make-up of the mound and additional research into the geological events surrounding the gradual disintegration of the makeup of the mountain.”

Anniston Star – UA archaeologist to release report on mound <–click for details—<

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A University of Alabama archaeologist says he will release a report stating his case that a stone mound in Oxford was created by natural forces and not by American Indians centuries ago, as was indicated in a report he signed last year.

Robert Clouse, director of the Office of Archaeological Research at the University of Alabama and director of the University of Alabama Museums, said in an e-mail that he would send a copy of his latest report to The Star through the post office. In his e-mail, Clouse said the report would state his case on the matter.

UPDATE:

Rob Dunaway

Great news!!! We have a date set for our Awareness and Preservation of Sacred Sites and Native American Heritage Day. The city of Jacksonville is EXCITED that we are going to use the square to educate families and children about the importance of sacred sites and Native American culture. The event is now scheduled and in the books for March 13th (9am -3pm).
—–

Okay folks!

If you need further information write me or visit this site:
Movement for Protection of Mounds and Cultural Heritage in Alabama

Thank you, for visiting.

— Cathy Ann Abernathy
weavercat@gmail.com



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  • myeagermind: Reblogged this on Lenora's Culture
  • Mashu White Feather: Sgi, Edutsi, I appreciate the advice. Donadagahv'i, Mashu
  • Leonard Lewis: There's a lot of support for this cause....don't give up.....just make sure the response is directed to those responsible for all this mess and make t

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