3. The McInnis Site
Orange Beach, Alabama
Compiled by
Sarah E. Price
&
Justin Stickler
Artifact photographs by
Lyle Ratliff
In Memory of
Harvey T. Nack, Jr.
2015
4. INTRODUCTION
In 2013, John McInnis, III contacted archaeologist
Justin Stickler regarding some remarkable artifacts he
recovered from his property on the Orange Beach
peninsula. Those artifacts – which turned out to be
Mississippian-age effigies – combined with the McInnis
family’s curiosity about them, led to a two-year
undertaking by Wiregrass Archaeological Consulting to
study the archaeological site 1BA664. Additional work
and excavations were performed by the Center for
Archaeological Studies (University of South Alabama),
numerous local volunteers and volunteer organizations,
including the Boy Scouts of America troop members,
Teresa Paglione (Alabama office of the Natural Resource
Conservation Service, who coordinated Boy Scouts and
Ground Penetrating Radar services), and Amanda Hill
(Alabama Historical Commission).
Between 2013 and 2015, shovel tests, test units, block
excavations, and mechanical stripping took place on the
eight acre McInnis property. These investigations
unearthed a wealth of information about both
prehistoric and historical occupations on this parcel. In
the end, both the archaeological community and local
residents benefitted from this work. Another piece of
the archaeological record was able to be studied, and the
site served as a touchstone for educating local
community members about archaeology, and the deep
history of Orange Beach.
*Please note the artifacts are not shown to scale.
5.
6. HISTORICAL LANDSCAPE
Historical maps assist archaeologists in many ways. They often
indicate who was at a place at a particular time and reveal
landscape changes or alterations. We know from many historical
maps that access to the Gulf from Perdido Bay has changed
significantly over the years. Perdido actually means "lost" in
Spanish, and sailors considered Perdido Bay to be a safe haven for
ships as it was difficult to find and navigate the entrance from the
Gulf of Mexico. Ono Island was originally connected to the
mainland prior to 1867, and the Perdido River flowed around its
eastern end (above left). Between 1867 and 1892, local residents
excavated a pass at the current Alabama Point location to improve
navigation into the river channel from the Gulf. This pass isolated
what would become Ono Island and resulted in the abandonment
of the old river channel.
The Orange Beach peninsula is surrounded by a variety of marine
environments that developed after the last ice age, and became
home to a diverse array of shellfish and fish species that were
heavily exploited by prehistoric peoples. The elevated ridge that
runs east/west along the shoreline provided safe and dry land for
habitation. The soils support a mesic hardwood forest that would
have provided foodstuffs for people, as well as a variety of animals
exploited by people. In short, the local environment of Orange
Beach provided the means by which people in the past needed to
live.
7. SAMUEL SUAREZ
We know from the 1830 land survey records that the
majority of the Orange Beach peninsula was owned by
a man named Samuel Suarez who was granted 468
acres during the Second Spanish period. Spain began
offering land grants in 1790, and Samuel claimed
possession by at least 1813, and his ownership was
formally recognized by the American government in
1820. Some historical documents indicate that Samuel
came to the area with his brothers, Jose and Francisco.
Other accounts indicate Samuel was an anglicized
version of Anselmo, and one of Francisco’s sons. At this
point, it is unclear how Samuel fits into the Suarez
family tree.
There are no additional accounts for Samuel Suarez. If
he was indeed Anselmo, there are a few additional
records. Anselmo served in the Second Seminole War
under Lieutenant Gonzalez in 1837. He was one of 254
people who signed an 1840 petition to annex Escambia
County (FL) to the state of Alabama. The last available
record is the administration of his estate in November
of 1848 by a Jose Suarez, who could have been his
brother, or his nephew.
There are many accounts of the Suarez family in local
histories. In 1815, a Joseph Carson was stationed at
Perdido. Carson’s commanding officer informed him
that he had destroyed a boat carrying the belongings of
Francisco Suarez. Several days later, Carson destroyed
a canoe belonging to Francisco, and several horses
belonging to him were lost to a band of Choctaw
fighting with the British. Francisco, who professed to
be supportive of the American government, and
"cheerfully submitted to his losses but expressed hope
that he would be remunerated for his losses at some
point."
10. CULTURAL CONTEXT
Originally called the "Temple Mound" culture, the
Mississippian period of prehistory in the Southeast is
much more than temple mounds. Archaeologists
believe that the origin of Mississippian culture was in
an area that spanned Florida's Gulf coast inland to the
Chattahoochee River valley of Alabama and Georgia.
The beginnings of Mississippian culture in southwest
Alabama may predate the AD 1250 date most often
used based on the Bottle Creek site, but it is terminated
at AD 1550, around the time of the earliest Spanish
entradas.
Mississippian people visited the coast during the
summer and fall, leaving behind extensive shell
middens of oyster and marsh clams; these sites are
thought of as fishing encampments. Meaning these
were not year-round occupations by any one group of
people. It has yet to be determined if there were ever
year-round occupations, but it is believed that sites like
Bottle Creek served as centers of congregation for civic
and ceremonial purposes.
Shell tempered pottery is an archaeological hallmark of
Mississippian occupations. This was a major
technological advancement, allowing for finer, thinner
walled vessels to be made. Vessel forms and decorative
motifs show continuity with Late Woodland traditions,
but there are a wider variety of vessel forms and a lack
of check stamping.
The Protohistoric period (Bear Point phase) along
Alabama’s coast dates between AD 1550 to AD 1700,
but the ramifications of contact are poorly understood
as not all groups were effected equally by European
contact.
The distribution of Bear Point phase sites differs from
the preceding period, but known sites are still clustered
around the Bear Point mound site, and to a lesser
degree the Bottle Creek site. In fact, the majority of
known sites are found near Perdido Bay and in the
Mobile Delta.
Ceramics diagnostic to the Protohistoric period are still
mainly shell tempered, but the designs are typically
more abstract than those of the Mississippian period.
Due to European contact, there are often proportionally
small amounts of European trade goods (e.g., metal
arrowheads, glass beads, and some ceramics) mixed in
with traditional assemblages.
Overall, the Protohistoric period is not well understood
due to a lack of intensive investigations at sites with
identified Protohistoric components. The coast and
delta are two of the most developed regions in southern
Alabama, and it is likely that many of the sites have
been destroyed. It is for this reason that the McInnis
site may have much to contribute to our understanding
of this period of Native American life in Alabama, and
indeed the Gulf coast.
11. TIMELINE
Specific prehistoric occupations are difficult to pin down. Archaeologists use diagnostic artifacts to indicate a span of time in which a site was used, and
radiocarbon dates can refine broad date ranges. The McInnis site was occupied multiple times, as indicated by the variety of pottery types recovered from the
excavations. The earliest occupation dates to Bottle Creek I (AD 1200-1400), with subsequent Bottle Creek II and Bear Point occupations. Whether the site was
occupied three times or a hundred times, between AD 1200 and AD 1700, is unknown.
12. VERTEBRATE FAUNAL REMAINS
Spiny fishes dominate the vertebrate faunal remains from McInnis, as they do in most coastal shell middens. A
relatively significant amount of turtle was also recovered, along with alligator scutes, deer long bones, and some
bird and mammal remains. Surprisingly, no worked bone has been recovered from the McInnis site thus far. The
photo above shows a sample of the range of fish bones recovered, including skull and facial bones, tooth plates,
vertebrae, and spines.
13. Odooileus virginianus, white tail deer leg bones
Testudines sp., turtle long bones and carapaceAlligator mississippiensis, alligator scute
Osteichthyes sp., fish jaw and teeth
14. INVERTEBRATE FAUNAL REMAINS
The majority of invertebrate faunal remains from 1BA664 is oyster shell. Clams, whelks, conch, snails, and other minor species may have been incidental to oyster
harvesting, or they may have been targeted for specific uses. Lightening whelks were sometimes modified and used as digging implements, and Mercenaria clams
may have been used for digging or as cups due to their size and sturdiness. Only one piece of modified shell, a whelk columella, has been identified in the McInnis
assemblage to date (above left). The presence of scallops in the 1BA664 midden is interesting as they are not found in Perdido or Mobile bays in the present day.
16. NATIVE AMERICAN POTTERY
The use of shell temper is a marker of the Mississippian tradition across the Southeast. Research has shown that the clays used to manufacture Mississippian
pottery in Alabama originated in Alabama. There are large deposits of ceramic-quality clays in Baldwin County, some not too distant from Orange Beach.
A description of making pottery derived from accounts by Butel-Dumont (1753) and Du Pratz (1758) provides some insight into the process. Women seek out
"greasy clay," dry it to a powder, they then remove gravels and other impurities, reconstitute it to a paste and add the tempering agent, and knead into rolls.
Formed vessels are dried, and then baked in the coals of a large fire. Butel-Dumont specifies, "Their [vessel] strength can only be attributed to the mixture which
the women make of the powdered shells with the clay." Du Pratz specified that pottery making is one of the first tasks to be completed after settling a new site.
17. Above: Owens Punctate jar
Opposite Page: D’Olive Incised shallow bowl/plate
Above: Mound Place Incised bowl. Below: UID Incised
ladle or cup
18. MOUNDVILLE
INCISED
The Moundville Incised ceramic series is decorated
using combinations of incisions and punctations on
coarse shell tempered Mississippi Plain ware.
Punctations are generally thought to be early when
gash or wedge-shaped, and the dot punctations are
believed to be later. There are five defined varieties all
of which were recovered from the McInnis site. This
page: (top) var. Bottle Creek, (bottom) var. Snows
Bend with earlier-type gash punctations.
Opposite page (clockwise from top left): var.
Moundville (Early to Middle Mississippian), var.
Bottle Creek (Middle to Late Mississippian) with later
dot punctations, var. Carrollton (Early to Middle
Mississippian), and var. Snows Bend (Middle to Late
Mississippian) with later-style dot punctations.
19.
20. D'OLIVE INCISED
D'Olive Incised is another series that
encompasses a variety of decorative motifs and
spans the Mississippian and Protohistoric
periods in southern Alabama, and at the
McInnis site. The most distinguishing
characteristic of D'Olive Incised is the
decoration is found on the interior, rather than
exterior, surface of shallow bowls and plates.
There are five defined varieties, and the rims are
often ticked, known as the D'Olive rim
treatment (shown at right). The varieties
recovered from the McInnis site are specifically
associated with Middle to Late Mississippian
occupations of the Bottle Creek Phase.
This page: D'Olive Incised with D'Olive rim
treatments.
22. MOUND PLACE
INCISED
Moundplace Incised decorative motifs occur
on Bell Plain wares. The designs consist of
combinations of parallel incised lines, with
some variations that incorporate hatching.
Generally, this series is associated with
Middle to Late Mississippian occupations.
All four defined varieties of are present in
the McInnis assemblage: Akron, Bon
Secour, McMillan, and Waltons Camp. The
Bon Secour and Akron varieties are typically
markers of the Late Mississippian Bottle
Creek II phase.
(This page, clockwise from top): var. Akron,
var. Bon Secour, var. McMillan.
The Mound Place Incised sherds shown on
the opposite page are all of the variety
Waltons Camp, which is most commonly
associated with effigy rim additions.
23.
24. PENSACOLA
INCISED
This pottery series is associated with the later
Bottle Creek and Bear Point phases. There are
eight defined varieties, most of which are
associated with Middle to Late Mississippian
phase occupations. The Bear Point, Pensacola,
and Rutherford varieties are indicative of
Protohistoric occupations. Pensacola Incised
pottery is probably the most complex and
abstract style of all Mississippian ceramic types.
Design motifs include a variety of human and
animalistic designs, some are very abstract while
others are more realistic.
This page: (top) line drawing of bird motif from
sherd at bottom, var. Holmes.
Opposite page (clockwise from top): var.
Holmes,, with hand and snake motifs, var.
Jessamine, var. Gasque (Gasque rim mode) with
vulture motif.
25.
26. Clockwise from top: Pensacola Incised, var. Louis Lake; var. Pensacola; var. Bear Point.
27. OTHER TYPES
The majority of pottery recovered from the McInnis site
is plain and shell tempered. The image at top left shows
the variation in the size of the shell temper.
A number of pottery types were recovered from 1BA664
in significantly smaller amounts than the previously
discussed series. Owens and Parkin Punctated, Barton
Incised, and L'eau Noire Incised are all present in the
McInnis assemblage, and represent possible Lower
Mississippi Valley influences. Likewise, sand tempered
sherds of the Ft. Walton series represent Florida
influences.
The Mississippian-age Ft. Walton culture is more
closely associated with Florida, although it is not
uncommon to recover Ft Walton ceramics in Alabama.
The main distinction between the two cultures is Ft.
Walton ceramics are sand, not shell, tempered. The
sherds pictured at left (bottom) are Ft. Walton Incised.
It is not surprising that Ft. Walton sherds are present at
the McInnis site, as there are several large sites in the
transitional zone between Alabama and Florida. .
28. HISTORIC NATIVE AMERICAN POTTERY
The presence of a historical Native American occupation at the site was realized during shovel testing, and there are a number of
historical Native American pottery types in the assemblage. Waselkov (2014) presented a paper interpreting the presence of historical
artifacts (e.g., gun flints, European glass and ceramics, and trade goods) and pottery types as an indicator of a Towasa occupation at the
site. Above are examples of historic Native American ceramics. Clockwise from top: cob roughened, Chattahoochee Brushed, Leon-
Jefferson rims, and a shallow colonoware bowl fragment (Native American-produced ceramics in European vessel forms).
29. LITHIC ARTIFACTS
Pitted anvil stone (sandstone)
Hammerstone (quartz)
Debitage (Coastal Plain chert)
Knappable lithic materials are rare along Alabama's coast. Presumably, prehistoric people used alternative materials (e.g., wood, bone, shell) to replenish broken
or used up tools while on the coast. The McInnis lithic assemblage is in line with this, as only a single piece of Coastal Plain chert has been recovered from a
prehistoric context. (The historical gunflints recovered from the site are made of imported European cherts.) Groundstone tools, such as the hammerstones (used
for making stone tools or processing nuts) and pitted anvil stones (used for crushing nuts) may have been acquired locally. The hammerstones are large quartz
cobbles, which are usually found in riverbeds. Sandstones slabs, like the pitted anvil stone , outcrop in Baldwin County but it could have been sourced from just
about anywhere, including in the vicinity of the McInnis site.
30. CELTS & OCHRE
The greenstone celts (right) were transported the
furthest distance from their origin in the Hillabee
Formation in northern Alabama. It has been
suggested that Moundville controlled the
extraction and distribution of greenstone during
the Mississippian period. A flake from another
ground tool, likely another celt, was also recovered
from the site. Flakes occur due to an impact, and
this one could have come off during use of a celt. It
seems unlikely that a flake was intentionally
removed from what appears to have been a
finished celt.
The presence of modified ochre (opposite page) at
this site is not surprising, and may outcrop locally.
Ochre is a soft, pigmented (usually yellow or red)
material that was ground up and mixed with water
or fat, and used for a variety of purposes. Body or
hair paint, tool and ceramic decoration, and
medicine, are just a few of the documented uses.
Cabeza de Vaca's journal includes a discussion of
the Charucco tribe trading marine shell for ochre
from the interior in Texas. He states the Charucco
used it on their faces, and to color "deer hair
tassels." C. B. Moore recovered similar ochre
artifacts from the Bear Point mound burials, and
ochre was also recovered from excavations at the
Bottle Creek site.
31.
32. EFFIGIES
"Can you or any of your readers furnish me with a reference or references as to
large numbers of small animal effigies of pottery found together in any mound
of the United States?"
C.B.M
The above is an advertisement placed in the June 2, 1893 issue of Science by Clarence B. Moore, who excavated at
the Bear Point mound in 1901. Unfortunately, we do not know what, if any, response there was to Moore's plea.
Although effigies are not unusual in Mississippian assemblages, the number of effigies recovered from the McInnis
site is unusual. In total, so far, 42 effigies and effigy fragments have been identified. In comparison, only five were
identified in the contemporary Plash Island site assemblage, and six or seven are reported from Moore's
excavations in the Bear Point mound.
Symbols are objects that represent an idea, image, belief, action, or entity. Motifs are repeated elements that have
a symbolic significance, particularly in a story, and in art they are an element of a pattern. In combination symbols
and motifs can be used to convey a story, and this is the case across the Southeast during the Mississippian.
Mississippian symbols include: hand, eye, bone, skull, equal-arm cross, sun, star, triskel (tripart interlocked
spirals), step, arrow, human, spider, bird, and snake. Mississippian motifs include: cross, sun circle (rayed circles
or arches), bi-lobed arrow, forked and open eyes, barred oval, hand and eye, death motifs. Archaeologists want to
be able to "read" the story that the combinations of symbols and motifs write, but so far we have not completely
decoded the mythology. We believe that these stories tied spatially separate groups of people together under the
auspices of warfare, cosmology, and nobility.
Opposite page: (left) Hollow human head effigy containing fragments of shell that served to make a rattling noise.
This is most likely a top-bun human effigy type, dating to the Late Bottle Creek phase, but it could be a turban-
type, which is a Bear Point phase type. At right is a smaller, solid, top-bun human effigy, dating to the Late Bottle
Creek phase.
33.
34. EARED BIRDS
This group of four effigies appear to most closely
resemble owls. All four are solid, not hollow, and
relatively large. Even though they are birds, owls
were historically viewed differently than other
species. Many cultures see them as foreshadowing
death, although not necessarily a physical death, but
rather a symbolic death or a life transition. Owls are
also believed to be able to see things that others
cannot, like the future, truth, or upcoming changes)
because of their ability to see in the dark.
The specimen at right may have mammal elements
incorporated, but the eyes and ears (partially
broken) match well with the eared category. Eared
bird effigies are most closely associated with Bottle
Creek occupations.
35.
36. CRESTED BIRDS
This effigy figure (right and opposite page) is a crested
bird; and may be a woodpecker or a wood duck. Crested
birds are closely associated with Bottle Creek
occupations.
There is an Alabama tribal myth involving woodpeckers
and a man who gambled and lost all the water:
"A woodpecker was searching for food and landed on a
cane that was as large as a tree. When he started
pecking, he heard a strange sound so he went and
found someone and told him about the cane tree and
the strange sound. The person replied that the sound
was water, so the woodpecker returned and pecked a
hole all the way through and water was returned to the
earth."
DUCKS
Ducks have a special meaning in the iconographic world.
Most Native American mythologies describe three
realms: upper (air), middle (earth), and lower (water),
and since ducks are able to fly, walk on land, and dive
under water they were viewed as mediators between the
three realms. Several origin stories tell of ducks bringing
mud up from the bottom of a lake to create the earth.
37.
38.
39.
40. The effigy above is a crested bird. It has a small, circular incision demarcating an eye, and barely discernable is the red paint in a diamond shape around the eye
area; this effigy is most likely a species of waterfowl, possibly a loon which has a red eye and a slight ridge on the top of the head.
41. There are a number of bird effigies fragments that, so far, have not been matched with other effigy pieces. Above are three bird bills that do not refit with any of
the heads that are missing bills. The bird at top left, is most likely a duck, but no additional fragments were recovered to make an identification possible.
42. COOKIE-CUTTER
BIRDS
This type of effigy may have been mass
produced, or done in such a way that the
forms are very standardized. A flattened
piece of clay was formed into a two
dimensional simplified bird head, and they
have minimal decoration. The heads are
typically composed of an eye area and a bill
or beak, but most lack an extended neck.
Cookie-cutter effigy birds likely represent a
variety of bird species: wood duck, quail,
vulture, among others. This type of effigy is
affiliated with Bottle Creek occupations.
The example at right is somewhat of a
transitional piece between a noded bird and
a cookie cutter. It is not completely flat, but
lacks a stylized bill or other decoration.
None of the previously known examples of
cookie cutter birds have a head projection,
which is what defines the noded bird
category.
43.
44. ABSTRACT
EFFIGIES
Veristic effigies are somewhat realistic, but
not necessarily identifiable to a particular
class of animals. The four examples shown at
right look somewhat like: an indeterminate
eared animal (top left), a bear (top right),
possible bird (bottom right), and a possible
deer (bottom left).
TAB TAILS
Much like a lug handle, tab tail appendages
are a common part of effigy vessels,
appearing on the opposite side of the vessel
from a head. Two varieties are present in the
McInnis assemblage (opposite page): incised
(left) and geometric (right). Some believe
that the geometric forms are associated with
the cookie-cutter type effigy heads and the
incised with the gracile birds. Fourteen tab
tails were recovered from the McInnis site,
seven each of the incised and geometric
types.
45.
46. THOUGHTS ABOUT THE McINNIS SITE
Archaeological investigation of the McInnis site was unusual, which is perhaps fitting considering the uncommon
presence of so many effigy vessels. Archaeological investigations are normally part of a federal or state mandated
compliance process. The McInnis family was intrigued enough by the artifacts to delve deeper. This book is in no
way meant to convey a complete picture of the prehistoric and historical occupations of the site. Merely, an
overview of what was recovered, and the potential of these artifacts for future research.
Compared with other contemporaneous sites, the McInnis site is not spatially the largest, or the densest deposit.
It lacks structural features, such as post molds, semi-subterranean pit houses, and mounds, found at other sites.
The midden is relatively shallow and the site has few refuse and pit features. But what this site lacks in size or
density, it more than makes up for in other ways.
The McInnis assemblage has vast potential for exploring and explaining past human behavior. What were people
doing that left behind a shallow, mostly oyster, shell midden and significant amounts of pottery, including a large
number of effigies? Were people doing the same thing at this location during subsequent occupations?
One possible explanation of how this archaeological deposit formed is feasting. Prehistoric feasting took place for
various reasons: provisioning of elites, support and motivation of labor efforts, and as ritual. The two most
abundant artifact classes, ceramics and faunal remains, could be used to examine this question. Feasting would,
presumably, require large vessels for cooking and serving as well as vessels that are suited for access, rather than
containment or storage. The faunal assemblage may reflect feasting in the depositional nature of the assemblage,
meaning large quantities of shell and bone that were deposited quickly, resulting in clean shell deposits with little
soil formation. Large shells, and low species diversity, typically indicates feasting activities rather than everyday
consumption. Instead of a resource being depleting over time by constant harvesting, targeting specific species
(oyster in this case) for isolated episodes of eating would result in large-size, mature shell remains. It is yet
unknown if the vertebrate faunal assemblage represents preferential hunting or collecting, which could also be
indicative of specialized activities such as feasting. The presence of prestige or ceremonial items, including the
whelk columella, ochre, greenstone celts, and the effigy vessels, does indicate that there was a social structure in
effect, governing or regulating the behavior and actions of the people who utilized this site.
Whatever the nature of the prehistoric use of the McInnis site, there is continuity with how people exploited the
Orange Beach area in the past with the present. No matter how strange these artifacts may seem to us today, we
can still appreciate and understand the behavior and actions that resulted in them.
47. William de Bry engraving of John White plate 44, 1590. The brovvyllinge of
their fishe ouer the flame.
John White watercolor (Plate 42), 1585. The Manner of their Fishing.
“Boy holding up a fish he has caught at Gulf State Park in Baldwin
County, Alabama” ca. 1930-19490
“Sailing, Orange Beach, Ala” ca. 1910-1939. (Back: “This is the place where we go to
get our fresh oysters, and believe me they are good.”
