About 800 years ago, a great civilization inhabited the lands of western Alabama, located along the Black Warrior River, south of Tuscaloosa . It encompassed a known area of ​​320 acres and contained at least 29 earth mounds. Other important features include a plaza, or centralized open space, and a massive log fortification. The flat-topped pyramid mounds, ranging from three to 60 feet, are believed to have been built by moving soil, leaving large pits that are small lakes today. As a major ceremonial center, up to 3,000 people inhabited the central area between 1200 and 1400 AD. An estimated 10,000 people lived around the stockade, which surrounded three sides of the civilization (Blitz 2008: 2-3; Little et al 2001: 132). A farmer in the late 19th century, while plowing his land near Carthage, Alabama, discovered an object buried in the earth. From the ground he removed a large stone disk, polished and perfectly round. The disc was approximately 12 inches in diameter with slightly notched edges. One side had incised globular lines and the other side was "a strange engraving showing an open hand with what looked like an eye peering out from there." Surrounding the hand and eye image were two intertwined rattlesnakes with horns and long tongues. The farmer had already found tools, pieces of pottery, but he had never seen an object like this (Blitz 2008: 1). Moundville has been the subject of great archaeological interest due to its impressive earthworks. Clarence B. Moore has produced some highly publicized works. While in Moundville in 1905 and 1906, Moore drilled the "test hole" mounds, finding numerous burials and associated artifacts. Unlike many treasure hunters, Moore donated the majority of his find...... middle of paper ......ora Little2001. Moundbuilders: Edgar Cayce's Forgotten Records of Ancient America. Memphis. Eagle Wing Books, Inc.Maxham, Mintcy D.2000 Rural Communities of the Black Warrior Valley, Alabama: The Role of Commoners in Creating the Landscape of Moundville I. American Antiquity 65(2): pp. 337-354. Welch, Milner, George R. 2004. The Mound Builders: Ancient Peoples of Eastern North America. London. Thames and Hudson Ltd. Reilly III, Kent E. and James F. Garber 2007. Ancient Objects and Sacred Realms. Austin. University of Texas Press.Steponaitis, Vincas P.1983 The Smithsonian Institution surveys at Moundville in 1869 and 1882.Midcontinental Journal of Archeology 8(1):pp. 127-160. Welch, Paul D. and C. Margaret Scarry 1995. Status-related variation in dietary habits in the Moundville chiefdom. American Antiquity60(3):pp. 397-419.