UA’s Moundville Archaeological Park to Hold Indian Summer Day Camps

MOUNDVILLE, Ala. – The University of Alabama’s Moundville Archaeological Park will hold Indian Summer Day Camps in three sessions, beginning June 2, with transportation provided from Smith Hall on the UA campus.

Two identical sessions for ages 9 through 14 will be held June 2-6 and July 28-Aug 1, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. One session for ages 7 and 8 will be held June 23-27, 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Campers will experience the wonder of a vanished Native American civilization at the park, touring the archaeology lab, seeing museum artifacts, and exploring the park of prehistoric Indian mounds. Other activities include hiking nature trails, sampling Indian foods, playing Native American games, and arts and crafts.

The cost is $150 for campers 9 and older and $100 for children ages 7 and 8 for the half-day sessions. The fee includes all materials, transportation and snacks, and discounts are available for members of UA’s Alabama Museum of Natural History.
Campers are asked to bring their own lunches and beverages.

For more information, phone 205/371-8732 or 205/371-2234, e-mail mbeo@bama.ua.edu or visit the web site www.moundville.ua.edu.

At its peak, in about 1250, Moundville was the largest city north of Mexico, home to about 3,000 people. From A.D. 1000 to 1500, Mississippian Indians constructed large earthworks in Moundville, topped by temples, council houses, and the homes of their nobility. The Moundville Archaeological Park contains more than two dozen of these surviving flat-topped mounds, remnants of a ceremonial and economic center whose trade routes extended across the entire southeastern United States.

Other upcoming activities at Moundville Archaeological Park will include Reed Basketry, July 9; Gourd Masks and Containers, July 14; Flintknapping, July 19; and Beadwork, July 21.

Moundville Archaeological Park, a division of The University of Alabama, is located on the Black Warrior River 14 miles south of Tuscaloosa. The park is open daily, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. The museum is open daily, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Both the park and museum are closed for major holidays.