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Welcome to the Indian Mound Environmental Tour

The purpose of this tour is offer insight to the environment of thousands of years ago before present. The scope of the tour is local, focusing primarily on the Northwestern counties—this includes Lauderdale, Colbert, Franklin, Marion, and Winston County. Follow along this tour to become immersed in the evolution of the environment from the Paleoindian Period to the Tuscumbia Landing. Journey through Northwest Alabama’s rapid environmental change from the Pleistocene period to the current Holocene period. Follow the region once ensconced in glacial sheets succumb to warm temperatures, which supported a flourishing environment rich and varied in its fauna and plants. Learn that, much like animals and the first peoples, plant communities also migrated in order to survive. And most importantly, observe how people changing the environment can cause significant changes to the climate.

This tour was researched, written, and prepared by University of North Alabama History student Tequila Cohen in 2019.

The Physiographic Regions of Northwest Alabama

Northwest Alabama has sustained significant climate changes over the last several thousands years. Rich and varied in its landscape, the Tennessee River Valley supported habitats for aquatic and land animals, and to a wide variety of plants. Lauderdale, Colbert, Franklin, Marion, and Winston County are known as the northwestern quadrant of the Alabama, encapsulated with in the Highland Rim—comprised of the Tennessee Valley, Little Mountain, and Moulton Valley Regions; the Cumberland Plateau; and the Fall Line Hills. The regions were composed of complex vegetation: oak-hickory-pine, oak-hickory, cedar glades, and a mixed mesophytic forest.

The PaleoIndian Environment in Northwest Alabama

Within oak-hickory forest lived white-tailed deer, various rodent, eastern cottontail, and wild turkeys, who lived on the outer edges of the forest and took advantage of the cover to hide from natural predators such as the red fox and gray wolf. Gray squirrels and flying squirrels preferred the dense cover of the woods. Typically, the terrestrial animals and plants of the northwestern counties were similar to one another. Aquatic animals, however, differed widely depending on the region it found itself in. The Tennessee Valley region was divided by a narrow river, separating the area into lowlands and uplands. The lowlands had to have a higher net productivity due to greater access to moisture, which supported a greater diversity of species. The uplands did not support the same quantity of aquatic species, but still offered mass resources. The acorns and nuts produced from the forest attracted the same terrestrial and bird species seen in the lowlands.

From Pleistocene Period to Holocene Period

By 14,500 BP, an increase in summertime solar radiation and the resulting retreat of the glacial sheets began to change the climate of North America. The whole of North America did not experience a universal change at once, rather, various regions experienced different rates of change depending on the region. Between 14,000 BP and 11,000 BP temperatures in the Paleoindian Northwest Alabama were cooler than present temperatures and the percentage of precipitation the region experienced was significantly higher than present (2,000 mm vs the present 1,250 mm today), probably due in part to higher winter precipitation.

Temperatures increased over the course of the next 2,000 years, while precipitation decreased significantly to present day percentages as North America transitioned from the Pleistocene to Holocene period. The Early Archaic period coincides with the onset of the Holocene period, marked by warmer climatic conditions resulting in changes in vegetation, fauna, and seasonal temperatures. While temperatures in Muscle Shoals temperatures experienced little change, there were significant, differences between summer and winter temperatures by the end of the early Archaic Period.

Regional Climate Change Influences Migration of Trees

The change in climates within regions would eventually influence the northward migration of trees associated with cooler temperatures. Coupled with manipulation by the people, trees such as spruce, birch, fir, hemlock, and alder started to make their way northward as early as 12,000 years BP. Regional forests saw a spike in Oaks by 11,000 years BP. Pine, elms, and maple were also intermingled within forest composition. By the time the Early Archaic period came to an end around 8,900 BP, trees associated with colder climates had completely migrated out of the area; some pines migrated southward; and oaks had completely dominated the area.

From Archaic Period to Woodland Period

The Woodland Period (1000 BC to 1000 AD) had warmer and drier conditions than the Archaic period. This led to stabilized aquatic systems. Streams were shallow and the Tennessee River provided better habitats for the surrounding fauna, mussels, and gastropods living within the river. The communities living within the Woodland Period continued to grow in size, which gave rise to a noticeable cyclical pattern. Increases in second-line resources—fauna, foliage—led to an increase in population. The increase in population led to resource stress. As the population continued to grow, people could only continually exploit the resources within a specific area. Stressed resources in their own area would lead to people to search outside of their own area, and to exploit shellfish populations further. Shell mounds were primarily found with the Woodland period, would decrease during Mississippian period.

The Significance of Mound Building in The Mississippian Period

The climate changed little during change during the Mississippian period, and was continually marked by dry weather and periodic rainfall. People began to shape the environment to better support their communities. Plots of land were continually cleared out in order to support crops, such as corn, squash, beans, and sunflowers. The mounds constructed within the Woodland period were used for an entirely different purpose during the duration of the Mississippian Period.

During the Woodland Period, early mounds were conical or dome-shaped and were comparatively small next to the mounds constructed in the Mississippian Period. The mounds were built upon burial pits or tombs of important individuals, however, this was not always the case with Early Woodland burials. Some villages used round pits scattered all over their settlements.

The End of The Mississippian Period

By the time Hernando de Soto led his expedition through Alabama in 1540 AD, the Mississippian Period had come to an end. The tradition of mound building was on the decline before European contact. Mound sites were being abandoned or in decline as early as 1450 AD. Archaeologist are unsure why people were abandoning sites, but speculate drought, crop failures, and warfare caused them to seek out new land to support their communities.

Alabama Fever Fuels the Cotton Industry

Conflicts between the Native Americans and white European settlers had been occurring since the Europeans arrived, and escalated the early 19th century as white settlers continually encroached on Native lands. As the 19th century began, land-seeking Americans poured into the backcountry of the south, migrating into what would become Mississippi and Alabama (in 1817 and 1819, respectively). The population of white settlers and enslaved Africans skyrocketed from under 10,000 in 1810 to 127,000 in 1820 as surveyors, planters, and slave owners rushed to establish land claims. The rapid influx was propelled the global demand for cotton as textile industries proliferated around the world. English textile machinery had been adapted to produce high quality products and Alabama’s cotton industry thrived off exporting the produce to textile mills in the northern United States and England. Historians dubbed this phenomenon “Alabama Fever” to describe the rapid expansion of the cotton frontier before 1860.

The Beginning of the Indian Removal

The process of removal started soon after the United States became a sovereign nation and was expedited in 1830 by the Jackson Administration and continued under the Van Buren Administration until 1841. Once Native Americans had been removed from their land, it was surveyed, and placed on sale—often by government ages who had helped negotiate removal treaties and would benefit by selecting some of the best lands for themselves. The land was quickly settled and clared to prepare for cash crops and livestock, while the Native Americans were systematically forced from their lands.

The Move Towards Environment Restoration

The overreliance on cotton and poor farming practices led to the rapid depletion of soil nutrients in the Tennessee Valley. The creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1933 helped to bring about better environmental and agricultural practices. In addition to outdated farming practices which led to soil depletion and erosion, poor logging practices had stripped large forested areas; and unchecked forest fires caused further damage to the remain forest every year. Congress gave TVA a mandate to regulate the flow of the Tennessee River system, create a deep water navigation channel, and act in the interest of agricultural and industrial development.