Food for Thought: Discovering Mabila

The views and opinions expressed in this presentation do not necessarily reflect those of the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

Join us for Food for Thought: "Discovering Mabila."

On October 18, 1540, at a native town called Mabila, indigenous chief Tascalusa and his warriors fiercely resisted a Spanish army led by Hernando de Soto. The outcome of the battle irrevocably altered the course of European colonization of North America. The exact location of this battle remains one of Alabama's most intriguing mysteries, but archaeologists can now claim with confidence that they are close to discovering the site. In this presentation, Dr. Ashley Dumas will recount the recent work by a multi-institutional team to locate Mabila and to better understand indigenous peoples' responses to the arrival of Europeans.

Dr. Dumas is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of West Alabama, where she also serves as the manager of the Fort Tombecbe archaeological site. She currently manages the Search for Mabila Project. Her primary research focuses on culture change in the late prehistory and colonial period in the Southeast. In 2021 the University of Alabama Press published her co-edited volume "Salt in Eastern North America and the Caribbean: History and Archaeology."

For additional information, call (334) 353-4689. A complete schedule of our 2022 lunchtime lecture series is available at archives.alabama.gov. Food for Thought 2022 is made possible with support in memory of Mike Jenkins IV.