The mounds of Moundville,AL

[DruidCity]

Just as we talk of modern cities in terms of "planning" and tall structures, so was the case in earlier civilizations.

One of the many places to see "mounds" in the South is Moundville in southernmost Tuscaloosa County (about 14 miles south of downtown Tuscaloosa):

Here is what the city might've looked like 800 years ago :

http://www.moundville.ua.edu/sketch.html

A few days ago, I visited the annual Native American Festival at the University of Alabama-managed park. Here's a couple of photos people took from that event :

Though certainly not a "skyscraper," it is taller than any building in the modern-day town of Moundville.

This link shows photos of a lot of artifacts were stolen a few years ago:

http://www.museums.ua.edu/oar/stolenartifacts/

I wonder how people will view our present-day society, our artifacts and buildings hundreds of years in the future ?

[pompeyjohnson]

those pics are way cool! I'm of indian decent by the way of african american. The tribe I belong to is Occaneechie of Saponi nation based here in North Carolina.

[Raleigh-NC]

Great thread, DruidCity. I have no American-Indian blood, but I do appreciate their culture. I have had some exposure to Indian history, but I knew nothing about city/town infrastructure within the Indian communities. Really interesting posting.

[tocoto]

When I lived in Santa Fe, NM Indian culture was considered very important by many people. The ruins in that area of the country are amazing. Incredible architecture and workmanship at Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon. Most people don't realize that in addition to those more famous places there are incredible signs of indian culture all over the Southwest, and many living Indian cultures as well. The entire area to the east of Los Alamos National Lab is filled with hundreds if not thousands of caves that can be explored by anyone. This is in addition to Bandalier National Monument. The living India Pueblos along the Rio Grand from Taos to Albuquerque offer a real glimpse into indian culture, religion, dress, etc. IMO the loss of the many Indian cultures of the Americas was a truly a tragedy.

Thanks for the pictures of some of the Indian ruins in the Southeast.

[Guest donaltopablo]

Yes, this is quite interesting as not much is taught about the civilization that was in North America before the Europeans showed up.  Thanks for the great thread druid!

This is pretty true. I was lucky, growing up in New Mexico, pre-european history is everywhere, so it's much easier to find/learn about than I imagine it is here on the east coast.

[DruidCity]

Thanks for the positive feedback !

Raleigh-NC, the great majority of my ancestors were European, but these assorted indigenous cultures are pretty neat,too.

Cahokia, Illinois (just east of St. Louis) was the largest site of the Moundbuilder culture (over 100 mounds), and had some similar features as Moundville (which is considerably smaller, but probably the largest in the southeast):

http://medinfo.wustl.edu/~mckinney/cahokia/centralplaza.html

pompeyjohnson, I don't know the ancestry of my great-great grandmother and might never figure it out, but most with her last name (Riddle) where she was from had some Native American ancestry, in some cases Saponi.

monsoon, it is indeed interesting to see how human nature is consistent through

different cultures on different continents. It seems that, no matter the culture,

and in ancient time or present, it's human nature for the rich guy in town to choose the big house on the high hill overlooking the water.

tocoto, thanks for the info. There are/were so many cultures that are too often just lumped together in the public mind. Alabama has about 3,000 caves, also, though most of those are small.

I think one of the interesting aspects of the ancient cultures is that they had extensive trade routes, with assorted materials showing up in artifacts native to areas many hundreds of miles away (materials from Florida showing up in mound excavations in Ohio, etc)