Oxford Alabama Mound destruction continues.

Here is an update from the AP.

Note the comments referring to stone mounds "found up and down the Eastern Seaboard" and to North Smithfield. Sad as these cases are, you can see the public awareness changing a little bit at a time.


Update (Norman Muller writes):
Harry Holstein, an archaeologist in Alabama, sent me a copy of the archaeological report on the stone mound prepared by the State Archaeologist in response to one prepared by the firm of Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood, a private archaeological firm. This firm found no evidence that the stone mound was of archaeological importance, and that it could be destroyed by developers for Walmart.

In a June 4, 2009 follow-up letter by Stacye Hathorn, the Alabama State Archaeologist, to Findley Frazer of Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood, she said that site 1Ca636 (the Oxford Mound) was eligible for the National Register of Historic Places because it satisfied criteria A and C, the former being an example of an historic traditional practice or event in the Native American community.

In that same letter she wrote the following: “This stone mound was clearly constructed by Native Americans and is probably associated with the Davis Farm Complex which is already considered one of Alabama’s Places in Peril. Perhaps, the limited excavations didn’t reveal an abundance of associated artifacts but we hold that the mound itself is an artifact (my emphasis). On a national scale, these sites are beginning to be recognized for their importance. Recently, the Turner Falls Site in Massachusetts was determined for inclusion in the National Register of Historic places by the Keeper. Turner Falls is similar to 1Ca636 in that it is dry stone construction with few associated artifacts. Regarding Turner Falls the National Register cited: ‘The site is central to the cosmology of the combined tribes and the traditions that have marked Native American sacred and ceremonial practices for numerous generations.’ ‘Located in the middle of the Connecticut River region of New England, this site also possesses the potential to yield important information about traditional Native American practices, beliefs and sacred rituals.’”