Long before Europeans ventured to the shores of Alabama, Native American peoples inhabited the area. Little is known about this time in Alabama’s history. Evidence indicates occupation of the area extends back over thousands of years.

Archaeologically, the local area contains several significant sites (mounds and shell middens). Duck Hill or 1mb1 the second identified site in Alabama, (Moundville was the first) is located on Coden beach. (in published literature the site is also known as the Andrews/Alexander place find)

David Dejarnette of the University of Alabama, during the late 1930’s first identified the site as 1mb1. Earlier ethnologists, such the likes of John R. Swanton, noted the region to be one of the richest fields for archaeological exploration in the United States. See manuscript of a paper entitled “Indian tribes of the Lower Mississippi Valley and Adjacent Coast of the Gulf of Mexico” by Dr. John R. Swanton as transmitted to the Smithsonian Institute, Bureau of Ethnology, April 12, 1909. (Reprinted by Dover Publications, New York, 1998).

In 1960, the Geological Survey of Alabama published “Indian pottery from Clarke county and Mobile county, southern Alabama,” a compilation by Steve B. Wimberley of the University of Alabama. Wimberley references nine sites in the Portersville region including the Andrews place shell midden or 1mb1. Native American burials are prevalent throughout the sites. Wimberley notes nine aborigine remains known to have been unearthed at early test excavations of 1mb1. Recent construction has also unearthed other human remains.

More information will be posted in this section as it becomes available.