The large earthen mound known as the Florence Indian Mound was the heart of a large prehistoric cultural center that dominated this section of the Tennessee River Valley thousands of years ago.  An early 1800s map showed the mound as quadrilateral in shape with its four corners corresponding to the four cardinal directions.  It featured an eight to ten foot high earthen embankment that partially encircled it from river bank to river bank.  The University of Alabama conducted excavations of the mound and determined that it was originally built between AD 100 and 500, during the Woodland Stage.  These investigations also found that 1,000 years later, people associated with the Mississippian Stage added more earth to the summit and continued to use the mound as a cultural center.