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Indian Mound Park, also known as Shell Mound Park or Indian Shell Mound Park, is a park and bird refuge located on the northern shore of Dauphin Island, a barrier island of Mobile County, Alabama in the United States. In addition to the many birds which visit, a wide variety of botanical species contribute to the natural offerings. The site is historically significant due to the presence of prehistoric Indian shell middens, mounds composed of discarded oyster shells. The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 14, 1973. It is administered by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. ==History== The shell middens located at Indian Mound Park date to the Mississippian period (1100 to 1550). The mounds were visited throughout this period by Native American of the Pensacola culture, who harvested oysters and fished in Little Dauphin Island Sound, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico. Archaeologist Gregory Waselkov of the University of South Alabama believes that the visitors to the island came from Bottle Creek, the largest Mississippian settlement in the area. Waselkov theorizes that Bottle Creek, located on the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, served as the major village while Dauphin Island acted as a migration destination during the winter months.〔 〕 Relatively immune from the unpredictable weather conditions that affect farming, the fish and oysters from the sound were a reliable supply of food that could be immediately consumed or dried for use during later months. The oysters were collected from reefs during low tide conditions. Placed atop heated coals in a pit, the oysters were steamed by covering with seaweed. The cooking technique likely resembled a traditional New England clam bake. The steaming process would also have facilitated easy recovery of the oyster meat since the shells open naturally when heated. For preservation of the oysters, the recovered meat would be treated by smoking. Over the years, the discarded shells accumulated to form the middens.〔 Some have suggested that such waste disposal (dumping) with apparent lack of care is inherent in human behavior, not just a trait of Western civilizations. Spaniards first visited Dauphin Island in 1519.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Indian Shell Mound Park )〕 The arrival of Europeans to the region led to the disruption of the Mississippian culture.〔 The Mississippian tribes in the coastal region were replaced by or became the Choctaw and Creek tribes. The Creeks and Seminoles continued to fish and harvest oysters in the area until the 1830s when they were forcibly displaced to the Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma.〔 In 1699, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville landed on the island and discovered a large pile of human bones. Based on the discovery, d'Iberville coined the name Massacre Island. The height and serpentine shape of the shell mounds on the north side of the island indicated use or habitation by earlier civilizations. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Indian Mound Park (Dauphin Island, Alabama)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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