The Alabama Anthropological Society (AAS) was an organization that promoted the study of Native American sites located in central Alabama during the first half of the twentieth century. In its active years (1909-45), the society’s members worked to identify and preserve archaeological and historical sites and collect artifacts for the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH).  

Thomas M. Owen at Work

Thomas McAdory Owen, the first director of the ADAH, and seven other men from Montgomery, Montgomery County, founded the society on May 13, 1909. In addition to Owen, the members included Henry S. Halbert, Peter A. Brannon, Herbert B. Battle, Buckner Beasley, Edgar C. Horton, John T. Letcher, and John H. Paterson. The group comprised men from various vocations, all of whom were volunteers who had no experience conducting archaeological research.

The initial and primary focus of the AAS was the exploration of Alabama’s prehistoric mounds. Throughout the Woodland (1000 BCE-1000 CE) and Mississippian (1000-1550) periods, Native American people built numerous mounds throughout what is now the eastern half of the United States, including Alabama. The mounds served diverse purposes for the communities who built them, including burial and ritual sites. All the founding members of the AAS were concerned that the artifacts from Alabama’s most significant Native American sites might become the property of museums and collections outside of the state. In the early twentieth century, numerous professional archeologists, such as Clarence B. Moore of Philadelphia, received sponsorships to excavate Native American sites in southern states by northern institutions such as the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Any artifacts recovered would leave the South and become the property of museums and archives far removed from their original location. Owen believed that only residents of Alabama should do research at the sites, and he also believed any recovered items should remain within the state.

AAS members attended monthly and annual meetings. Many of the monthly meetings included field trips and surveys of Native American sites, such as the Creek towns of Coweta on the Chattahoochee River and Tallassee on the Tallapoosa River and the mouth of Pintlala Creek on the Alabama River, the location of an Upper Creek town. Some of the outings, such as the trip to the Atasi site in Macon County in 1920, even included the wives and children of the members. Society members often faced challenges reaching the sites because of their remote locations and the poor condition of the roads and bridges that accessed them. AAS members collected numerous artifacts at the sites, often using sloppy and unprofessional methods in comparison with the increasing professionalism of archaeological efforts in other parts of the state and country. Most members of the AAS kept very few records of their digs and artifacts were seldom labeled. Excavation techniques were limited and skeletal remains were rarely saved. On several occasions, Black farmers were paid by society members for artifacts they had discovered in their fields rather than members finding and carefully examining items in place. Also, the organization frequently depended on the public to identify the location of Native American sites. Over time, with experience and training, the society’s methods improved as more detailed records were maintained and artifacts were more consistently labeled. Many AAS members regularly loaned or donated their findings to the ADAH, which increased the archive’s holdings. Public exhibits sponsored by the society increased interest in Alabama’s Native American sites and helped attract new members.

AAS Members, 1921

During the 1910s, the number of society excavations on the Tombigbee, Black Warrior, Chattahoochee, and Tennessee Rivers as well as around Mobile Bay increased. Owen encouraged laws that would help restrict digs and the movement of artifacts outside of the state. His efforts paid off in 1915, when state lawmakers passed Article 1418. This law gave the state the sole right to explore, excavate, and survey all mounds, earthworks, forts, and burial sites. Nonresidents of the state were unable to unearth any remains, and no artifacts could be sold outside of the state. Some Alabama landowners were not pleased with the new law because they did not believe the state had the right to restrict their ability to sell items from their property, but it did serve to discourage outsiders from trying to secure artifacts in the state.

Owen died on March 25, 1920. Upon his death, Peter Brannon, one of the original founding members, was elected as the new leader of the AAS. Brannon, who would later serve as the director of the ADAH following Marie Bankhead Owen’s retirement in 1955, began writing a monthly newsletter known as Arrow Points. The first issue was released on July 15, 1920. The third issue, on September 8, 1920, included a tribute to Owen, referring to him as the society’s most valued and honored member. Typical issues included meeting details, mound locations, drawings, historical documents, and photographs. There were 111 issues between 1920 and 1937. Arrow Points became very popular and brought national attention to the archaeological discoveries made by the AAS and to the state of Alabama.

AAS Excavation at Taskigi Mound

Brannon’s leadership as both the president of the society and the editor of Arrow Points boosted membership in the organization and increased the number of artifacts discovered by its members and increased Brannon’s acceptance by trained archeologists. During the 1920s and 1930s, the number of excavations increased, but criticism of AAS’s methods also increased. Professional archeologists demanded more carefully planned site management and strict recording of details. The members’ lack of formal training and a zeal for history often led to mistakes and misreading of findings. This was especially true at the Taskigi Mound site, which was located at the union of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers, at present-day Fort Toulouse-Fort Jackson Park. In 1935, James Y. Brame partially exposed a house floor that Brannon incorrectly identified as an “earthlodge” with a large bird-like figure similar to one at the Ocmulgee site in Macon, Georgia. He then included details about the find in Arrow Points. Brame remained unconvinced and in 1946 explained that he never discovered an earthlodge at Taskigi, but had uncovered the clay floor of a common lodge with a central fire pit and that what Brannon described as a bird-like figure was merely the result of an overactive imagination.

During the 1940s, the AAS’s influence began to decline. Trained archeologists based at the University of Alabama began to increase their research area to include central Alabama. Brannon, who worked for the ADAH, continued to seek donations from collectors for the state archives, but the number of AAS-sponsored digs decreased. By the 1950s, the society existed in name only and was no longer a functioning organization. Advances in archaeological research led to its decline, but the organization did make important contributions to Alabama’s body of knowledge about its past. The 111 issues of Arrow Points are extremely valuable to state and local historians. Of even greater value is the variety of artifacts excavated by the members, which remain a vital source of information to researchers regarding the early Native American cultures of the Southeast.

Many of the artifacts collected by the society were donated to the ADAH and became a part of the archive’s Native American exhibits. For many years these collections were seen as an opportunity to preserve and highlight the culture and heritage of the Native American tribes that had previously inhabited Alabama. Most Native Americans did not agree. They consider many of the artifacts that have been collected to be sacred objects which are a part of their heritage and identity. The collection of these objects is viewed as a violation of their heritage and is disrespectful to their culture and to their ancestors. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), enacted in 1990, requires museums receiving federal funding to examine their collections and return certain Native American human remains and burial items to lineal descendants and Native American tribes. In August 2022, archives officials announced the temporary closing of the First Alabamians and Alabama Voices exhibits to review and begin the process of repatriating objects to remain in compliance with NAGPRA. The agency plans to update the exhibits and highlight all the native peoples who once lived in Alabama and accurately tell their histories.