Experts refute claims in 2nd mound report

Experts refute claims in 2nd mound report

Some experts and academics around the state are disagreeing with a University of Alabama archaeologist’s report concluding a pile of stones in Oxford is a natural phenomenon — not built by American Indians centuries ago.

Kelly Gregg, a Jacksonville State University geology professor who has visited the site located behind the Oxford Exchange, has repeatedly said the stone mound is not natural. He was not dissuaded from his opinion after reviewing the report.(…more)

Anniston Star: Second mound report released

Anniston Star – Second mound report released

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OXFORD — A University of Alabama archaeologist has released a report stating a pile of stones in Oxford was created by natural forces and not American Indians centuries ago — a report written two months after he signed another report stating the opposite.

Robert Clouse, director of the Office of Archaeological Research at the University of Alabama and director of the University of Alabama Museums, mailed the second report on the mound behind the Oxford Exchange to The Star at a reporter’s request.

The report cites different geologic surveys of the area and other American Indian archaeological excavations for comparison. Clouse is not a geologist, though he says he minored in geology as an undergraduate student.

The report states the mound is a natural formation and is not culturally significant.

The stone mound became the center of a dispute last summer, which ended with the City of Oxford backing away from plans to level the mound and use dirt beneath it for fill at a nearby construction site. City officials have repeatedly stated the mound was not man-made. They also later claimed they had not touched the mound, a claim contradicted by pictures contained in Clouse’s second report which show heavy equipment dismantling it.

The second report concluding the mound was natural was produced in July during the thick of the controversy over the site which began in June. The first report, which said the site was significant, was produced in April.

Jacksonville News: Native American Day: Education About Preservation of Sites and Culture

Jacksonville News

Native American Day: Education About Preservation of Sites and Culture
education preservation native american sites culture day about
date: Sat, Mar 13, 2010 09:00 AM to 03:00 PM
location: Jacksonville, AL 36265
On the Square in Jacksonville!
cost: $0 + This educational event is free to the public. Bring your kinds out for a day of fun!
more info: www.facebook.com/profile.php#!/group.php?gid=268415789931&ref=mf

Facebook: Movement to Preserve Native American Sacred Sites and Culture in Alabama

Facebook | Movement to Preserve Native American Sacred Sites and Culture in Alabama <—click for further details—<

Basic Info

Name:
Movement to Preserve Native American Sacred Sites and Culture in Alabama
Category:
Common Interest – Current Events
Description:
Alabama Needs YOUR HELP: Protect Sacred Prehistoric Sites

The people and culture of Alabama need your help. Alabama has NO laws to protect prehistoric Native American sites. Prehistoric culture is being destroyed and it must stop. Please help by joining people from all over the world to appeal to the Alabama legislature to add a bill or law in Alabama’s Constitution to protect prehistoric sites and educate our children of the future. Alabama has a rich cultural history and it must be preserved. We must act and educate now! Within the past weeks, January 18 – January 21, 2010, a mound was destroyed in Oxford, Alabama.

Alabama’s Native American Culture is an intricate, fundamental, and important element of Alabama’s history that must be kept alive.

The Movement for Education and Preservation of Native American Sacred Sites and Culture in Alabama

Alabama Needs YOUR HELP: Protect Sacred Prehistoric Sites

The people and culture of Alabama need your help. Alabama has NO laws to protect prehistoric Native American sites. Prehistoric culture is being destroyed and it must stop. Please help by joining people from all over the world to appeal to the Alabama legislature to add a bill or law in Alabama’s Constitution to protect prehistoric sites and educate our children of the future. Alabama has a rich cultural history and it must be preserved. We must act and educate now! Within the past weeks, January 18 – January 21, 2010, a mound was destroyed in Oxford, Alabama.

Alabama’s Native American Culture is an intricate, fundamental, and important element of Alabama’s history that must be kept alive.

– The Movement for Education and Preservation of Native American Sacred Sites and Culture in Alabama.

Privacy Type:
Open: All content is public.

——————
Click through for further details

Movement for Protection of Mounds and Cultural Heritage in Alabama

Folks:

I choose my causes carefully — this is one I feel is important. Please, read the note below and let me know what you think. We need input on this issue.
—–
From FB Page:

“Movement for Protection of Mounds and Cultural Heritage in Alabama”

“Hi everyone,

Based on the suggestion of Rainey Welch (Thanks, Rainey), we have decided that we wanted to hold an awareness and preservation of Native American and prehistoric culture in Alabama day. We have spoken to Dr. Harry Holstein of Jacksonville State University and Sharon Jackson of The Creek Nation to start getting the ball rolling. We have an appointment with an official in Jacksonville, Alabama, Thursday to discuss holding this on the square or at the recreation center. We do not have a date set, but we hope to have a date on Thursday, and we will keep all of you posted.

Once we get the date set, we will need volunteers (Native American drummers, story tellers, any musicians, artists, dancers, craft and food venders, and anyone who cares about this cause and is willing to help other people care too). Anyone interested in helping please contact us @raidernationdna@yahoo.com , so that we can try to start organizing and planning. We are trying to do what we can because we truly believe in this cause. We will post something in the next couple of days concerning our background information and why we care so much. We just want to let you know who we are on a personal level. Preservation of the past is very important and close to our hearts. The people in the past are all of our ancestors because we would not be here without them. It is time to honor that, stand up, and give those people a voice.

Bowing Humbly,

Cora and Rob”

—–

Want to know more?

Contact Rob and Cora, me, or search for the “Oxford, Alabama Mound Site” using Google.

Thank you, for your time.

– Cathy Ann Abernathy
weavercat@gmail.com

Destruction of An Indian Mound – Oxford, Alabama

Deep Fried Kudzu [<---click for full details--<]

Friday, July 10, 2009
Oxford, Alabama Destroying A 1500-Year-Old Indian Mound To Build A Sam’s Club
After writing the post yesterday about how the city of Oxford is destroying a 1500-year-old Indian mound to use it as fill for the building of a Sam’s Club, I just had to go see it for myself.

It towers over the shopping center “Oxford Exchange”:

Buried in Oxford: Secrecy is a Damning Trait

Anniston Star – Buried in Oxford Secrecy is a damning trait

Of all the troubling aspects surrounding the ongoing saga of Native American sites in Oxford, one has bubbled to the top.

It’s the secrecy.

The discovery of human remains at the Davis Farm site strengthens the concerns of those who have long felt the city’s Native American sites could be burial grounds. Today, that’s no longer supposition.

Where there’s one grave, there may be others.

But it’s impossible to defend the secrecy (by some) and the convenient indifference (by others) that has kept the public in the dark about the activities and findings at the Oxford sites.

It’s appropriate that University of Alabama archeologists monitored the construction of Oxford’s sports park at the Davis Farm location. It’s also comforting to know that city officials are expecting soon a “full report” from the archeologists, The Star reported last week.

But it’s incomprehensible that the UA team told the Alabama Historical Commission that human remains were found and reburied — and Oxford officials weren’t told beforehand.

William Spruill – Obituary – Sep. 2006 – Anniston, Alabama

RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Susan’s Extended Family, Calhoun County, AL and Beyond

Susan’s Extended Family, Calhoun County, AL and Beyond
Entries: 15633 Updated: 2008-07-13 03:03:08 UTC (Sun) Contact: Susan
Please be careful. Not all information has been confirmed or documented. I know there are some flaws. Changes in my database are made almost daily. If you notice mistakes, please contact me so I can make corrections. Not all corrections are made immediately, so please be patient. If you use information found here that is not available from other sources, please be considerate and acknowledge my contribution to your files. My objective is not to have the most names, but to have accurate information.
Index | Descendancy | Register | Public Profile | Add Post-em
# ID: I15276
# Name: William SPRUILL
# Given Name: William
# Surname: Spruill
# Sex: M
# _UID: EB50983FB59A3C41AFCA989F6A4D05F13BD1
# Change Date: 10 Jul 2007
# Death: 14 SEP 2006
# Note:

SPRUILL

Anniston — Funeral services for William Spruill, 87, of Anniston will b e Saturday at 2 p.m. at Anniston Memorial Funeral Home with the Rev. Wi lliam P. Nelson, the Rev. Alan Jones and the Rev. Jeffrey Jones, offici ating. Burial will be in Anniston Memorial Gardens. The family will rec eive friends Saturday from 12:30 until service time at the funeral home . Mr. Spruill died Thursday at his home.

Survivors include his wife, Mary Francis Spruill; his daughter, Patrici a Gail Lusk and her husband, William H. of Glencoe; two grandsons, Marc us Lusk and his wife, Rachel, of Southside and Kristin Lusk and his wif e, Sandra, of Adamsville, TN; four great-grandchildren, Jonah Lusk, Abi gail Lusk, Ethan Lusk and Benjamin Lusk; his sister, Alliece Webb of La Grange, Ga.; two sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Gloria and Carl Jo nes and Maynard and Imogene Windom.

Pallbearers will be Willie Grant, Carl Jones, Marcus Lusk, Kris Lusk, R andy Lusk, Michael Bannister, Larry Webb, Terry Jones, Smith Wilkins an d Bobby Reed. Honorary pallbearers will be Mike Bailey, Morris Turner a nd Kenneth Fields. Mr. Spruill was a former member of Northside Baptist C hurch and a member of Anniston First Baptist Church at McClellan. He wa s a Veteran of the Navy and served during World War II. He was a retire d Fireman at Anniston Army Depot and other military bases. He also had o perated Food Mart #2. Anniston Memorial Funeral Home 3865 US Hwy 431 No rth Anniston, AL 36206 820-0024

Johnny Depp is NOT Dead

Johnny Depp is Dead; Long Live ‘Dead Man’ Johnny Depp – Associated Content – associatedcontent.com

I was sorry to see that acting great Johnny Depp had been found dead again Sunday. It seems that the guy can’t go anywhere without getting killed — at home, on the road, in Manhattan… It is difficult to say exactly when Johnny Depp first died, but he’s been dying pretty regularly
Johnny Depp is Dead; Long Live ‘Dead Man’ Johnny Depp
Date: January 24, 2010
over the years, only to be resurrected by time and a reliable publicist. But a quick search through the internet suffices to find several stories of his tragic deaths — and the fact that he has not died at all.

But such are wages of traveling the information highway — death, that is. It isn’t uncommon to wake up and find just about any celebrity dead, although some seem to be killed or found dead far more frequently than others.

Cashing in on history: Moundville brings money to west Alabama, but price is too high for Oxford

Anniston Star – Cashing in on history Moundville brings money to west Alabama but price is too high for Oxford

Centuries ago, American Indians settled in an area near Tuscaloosa, where they built towering mounds and a thriving cultural center. Today the area is known as the Moundville Archaeological Park and it too is thriving — drawing thousands of visitors and generating millions for the economy of west Alabama each year.

The city of Oxford was once home to a similar Indian culture long ago and though it is not as elaborate, the city today contains many archaeological sites. In addition, near some of the Indian sites is a 19th century home with plenty of history of its own.

In recent years, some have suggested that like Moundville, Oxford could have its own historic attraction. However, creating such a facility may not be easy, especially since some of the sites may have recently been destroyed.

For years Harry Holstein, professor of archaeology and anthropology at Jacksonville State University, has researched the Davis Farm property — much of which is being used as the construction site for Oxford’s multi-million-dollar sports complex — and uncovered large amounts of ancient artifacts and the remnants of a temple mound and village.

University of Alabama archaeologists on Jan. 8 reported discovering ancient American Indian remains at the site. On Monday, Holstein claimed the mound had disappeared. City officials maintain nothing has been done to the site.