Design.
Design of the building itself was based on ideas used by the Moundville Indian in shaping and decorating his artifacts. The classic three-step motif expressed in the three roof levels of the museum, and used over the doorway, was a favorite design element of the Moundville artist. The skull and arm-bone design making up the parapet frieze was copied from a design on a Moundville Indian pot (see photograph on p. [11]). The medallion over the entrance is an enlarged reproduction of a stone pendant once owned by a Moundville Indian (see photograph on p. [4]). This pendant as well as the pot from which the frieze was copied may be seen in the exhibit hall.