Discovering Mabila

On October 18, 1540, at a Native American town called Mabila, indigenous Chief Tascalusa and his warriors fiercely resisted a Spanish army led by Hernando de Soto. The outcome of the intense battle irrevocably altered the course of European colonization of North America. It's considered as the first bloodiest battle fought in North America. Despite having his supplies destroyed, de Soto continued his journey, but his mission ultimately ended in failure.

The exact location of this battle remains one of North America's most intriguing mysteries, but archaeologists can now claim with confidence that they are close to discovering it. 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 Soto entrada.

Ashley A. Dumas focuses on the late precolonial and colonial eras in the Southeast, including the history and archaeology of 18th-century Fort Tombecbe, excavations of salt springs, and a study of extant slave dwellings. Her current Search for Mabila Project is multi-year effort to understand the sixteenth-century cultural landscape of central Alabama and indigenous responses to European incursions. She is a professor of anthropology at the University of West Alabama.