Highsmith, Carol M. Moundville Archaeological Park, Moundville, Alabama. 2010. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2010637712/.
Students will engage with a historic photograph of Moundville Archaeological Park, focusing on the mounds and surrounding landscape. The lesson will begin with a “mystery image” activity in which the primary source is projected without context. Students and teachers will then build context together by learning about the Mississippian people and how they lived, focusing on the purposes of the mounds, the structure of their communities, and their use of natural resources. Students will revisit the image with new understanding and annotate it with what they’ve learned. The teacher will expect students to ask questions, make connections, and explain how the mounds reflect the beliefs and leadership of the people who built them.
The photograph of Moundville Archaeological Park captures the remains of a once thriving Mississippian civilization that existed over 800 years ago in present-day Alabama. As one of the largest Indigenous settlements in North America, Moundville served as a political, religious, and trade center for a complex society long before European contact.
Source: https://www.ruralswalabama.org/attraction/moundville-al-archaeological-park/
- What do you notice in the photo? What stands out to you?
- How is the rural environment at Moundville different from where you live now? How is it the same?
- Who might have lived in this place, and what might their daily life have been like?
- What materials do you think they used to build the mounds?
- What clues in the photo tell you this was an important place?
ELA Standards
AL.4.42. Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes, and speaking clearly with adequate volume, appropriate pacing, and clear pronunciation.
Social Studies Standard
D2.H.2.3-5. Compare life in specific historical time periods to life today.
Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
- This lesson invites students to explore a photograph of Moundville Archaeological Park as a primary source to investigate the complexity of Indigenous civilizations in what is now Alabama. Students will begin by closely observing the image without prior context, paying careful attention to detail, visual literacy, and curiosity. This introduction allows learners to draw inferences and develop initial questions about the people who built and used the mounds. Have them consider the following questions during their observation:
- What are some ways that daily life in Moundville might have been different from life in a city today?
- How do you think people in a rural community like Moundville got their food, clothing, or tools?
- What do the mounds and surrounding spaces tell us about how the community was organized in a rural setting?
- Where is it possible for bias to creep in?
- What would a future archaeologist think about us and the artifacts we are leaving behind?
- What public buildings, signs, or spaces in your town or neighborhood represent your community’s identity? Who decided they were important?
- If someone 100 years from now looked only at your local landmarks or media, what might they assume about the people who live there? Would it be accurate? Why or why not?
- What voices, stories, or experiences in your community are most visible—and which ones are often left out? How might this shape how your town is remembered in the future?
- What are some ways your community preserves or honors its own history? What stories do those choices tell—and what do they leave untold?
- After the initial analysis, the teacher will provide historical context, explaining that Moundville was once a thriving center of Mississippian culture—home to a large, organized Native American community that existed more than 800 years ago. Students will learn about the Mississippian people’s use of the mounds for leadership, ceremonies, and burials, as well as their agricultural practices and trade networks. They will use maps, illustrations, and timelines to situate the site geographically and historically.
- In small groups, students will revisit the photo with guiding questions, such as: Who built this? What might it have been used for? What does it tell us about the society that lived here? They will then synthesize their findings by writing a short reflection, a journal entry from the perspective of a Mississippian child, or creating a class museum placard interpreting the photo.
- The lesson closes with an extension discussion: What places in your world today remind you of this one? Why is it important to remember and protect places like Moundville?
Evans, Walker. Mrs. Frank Tengle and Laura Minnie Lee Tengle, sharecroppers, near Moundville, Hale County, Alabama. 1936. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017758163/.