The present-day state of Alabama was originally inhabited by various Indigenous peoples. Visible traces of their occupancy, which spanned nearly 10,000 years, may be seen at Dust Cave, a Paleo-Indian site; at Russell Cave, a site dating to the Archaic period; and at Moundsville, a Mississippian site nestled in a series of large mounds that snake across the land. Many place-names in the state are of Native American origin, including the name Alabama itself, which derives from a word that perhaps means “thicket clearers.” The principal Indigenous groups at the time of the initial European exploration of the region were ...(100 of 5392 words)