The cluster of three mounds known as the Hamilton Mounds site is largest indigenous mound site in Marion county. Alabama. The site includes three mounds along the Buttahtchee River: a large mound with a two-tiered summit, another small two tiered mound and yet smaller mound situated between the two.

The mounds were built in several construction phases during the Mississippian Stage (AD 1250 - 1500) when the culture of the indigenous peoples in what is now Alabama was heavily influenced by ideas and practices of peoples in the Mississippi Valley. These and other Mississippian mounds commonly had ceremonial or residential buildings on their summits, and the mound sites served as spiritual, governmental, and cultural centers for populations scattered throughout the surrounding river valleys.

The pottery and stone items made by the people that occupied this site indicate a close association with the massive mound complex at Moundville, located about twenty miles south of present-day Tuscaloosa. These people likely relied heavily on growing corn, beans, and squash in the rich bottomlands of the Buttahatchee River.

This site is very important to numerous Southeastern indigenous tribes who assert an ancestral connection with those who built and occupied Alabama's ancient mounds. The earthwork landscapes and the objects and information recovered from them reveal a rich cultural tradition that still thrives today among these tribes. Our indigenous mound sites represent a heritage for all Alabamians to cherish, and it is important that we protect and preserve them for future generations.

For more information, click here.