Copena Burial Mound - Oakville, AL
N 34° 26.735 W 087° 10.724
16S E 483581 N 3811577
The Copena Burial Mound was built with baskets of dirt some 2000 years ago.
Waymark Code: WMNCEQ
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 02/13/2015
Views: 7
The Copena Burial Mound historical marker is a metal Lawrence County Historical Commission marker. It is located on the main road in the Oakville Indian Mounds Park. The marker was placed by the Lawrence County Historical Commission.
Marker Name: Copena Burial Mound
Marker Type: Rural Roadside
Addtional Information::
Marker Text:
Copena Indians built this mound with baskets of dirt some 2000 years ago. The Copena name was derived from their use of copper and galena (lead ore) found in their burials along with gorgets and celts. The mounds were a burial site with the dead encased in a plaster of clay covered with layers of soil. The many burial mounds within a few miles are evidence of an extensive cultural center. The perennial springs and fertile lands encircled by West Flint Creek contributed to a large population. The Copena society flourished here for hundreds of years and they raised a variety of domesticated crops. some 17 miles north of here the Tennessee River provided an inexhaustible food supply of fresh water mussels. In the mid 1800's settlers were buried on the mounds under false stone crypts. In 1924, Smithsonian archaeologists noted three other burial mounds in the areas that were being leveled by farmers.
Date Dedicated / Placed: Unkown
Marker Number: None
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Visit Instructions:
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