On this day in Alabama history: Bottle Creek Indian Mounds recognized

March 10, 1995

The Bottle Creek Indian Mounds in Baldwin County became the second Native American site in Alabama recognized as a National Historic Landmark. Located on the swampy Mound Island within the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, Bottle Creek was occupied from about 1250 and served as the principal political and religious center of the people of the Pensacola culture for about three centuries. The mounds continued to be an important site for Native Americans into the 18th century, and French explorer Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville is believed to have visited the site in 1702. Excavations on the site’s more than 18 mounds began in 1991 and continue to be administered by the Alabama Historical Commission today.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

The approach to the Bottle Creek Indian Mounds in the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta. (Altairisfar, Wikipedia)

Shell-tempered pottery of the Pensacola culture. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Ian Brown, University of Alabama Museums)

The large number of postholes found at Mound L indicate the presence of a number of structures in the period from the late 16th century to the early 18th century. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Ian Brown, University of Alabama Museums)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.