Although an archaeologist can gain some information from artifacts that
have been removed from a site, much more information can be gleaned
through careful survey and excavation. During a survey, the
archaeologist examines artifacts remaining on the ground and records
large concentrations as sites. The archaeologist evaluates each site’s
size and age, and determines how it contributes to an overall
understanding of Louisiana’s past.
No two sites exactly duplicate each other, but some are more unusual
than others. Some provide new or important information linking a group
of people with a certain location or activity for the first time. This
means that sometimes a small site, without elaborate or especially
beautiful artifacts, may be more important to the understanding of the
past than another site that is larger. An archaeologist who records an
important site will recommend protection or excavation for it.
The archaeologist will evaluate threats to the site to determine the
possibility of preserving the site intact. Some sites must be protected
to insure that future generations can see unexcavated sites, and so that
future archaeologists with improved techniques will have sites left to
study. Even if an archaeologist excavates a site, he or she will usually
leave parts of it untouched.
Archaeological excavation of a site is meticulous in order to preserve
every piece of information. The archaeologist photographs and draws soil
changes and artifacts as they are uncovered. This provides a permanent
record of the relationships of materials to each other and to other
parts of the site. Samples of charcoal, soil, bones, and decayed plants
are collected for laboratory analysis.
Long months of study and interpretation follow excavations as the
archaeologist and technicians piece together the many bits of
information. Laboratory analysis may indicate what people ate, what
plants were growing around the site, and perhaps even the date the site
was used. Study of the artifacts may tell how the site was used, who
used it, and whether they were trading with other groups.
Relationships of the remains show what parts of the site were used for
butchering game, cooking food, making tools, gardening, building houses,
burying the dead, and conducting ceremonial activities. Artifact
relationships may tell whether men and women worked in different areas,
and whether the site was used repeatedly through the years. An
archaeologist may even be able to discover very detailed information
like whether the people cooked their fish whole or in fillets, what
strains of corn they grew, and what kind of wood they used to build
their houses. This detailed understanding can result only from careful
study of a well-preserved site.
The archaeological sites of Louisiana span the time from the arrival of
the earliest inhabitants, approximately 12,000 years ago, to the 20th
century. These sites are as important in understanding Louisiana’s past
as original journals from early explorers. Each is a unique description
of the land and people from years past. Just as a journal with all its
pages tells more than a single page out of context, a complete site
tells many times more than artifacts on a shelf or a site half-destroyed
by modern-day construction activities.
[Illustration: Excavation of a mound site in Iberville Parish was
meticulous in order to record the relationships of materials and to
collect remains for laboratory analysis (above). Archaeologists were
able to determine that under the mound was a circular house built of
cypress and ash poles that were covered with thatch (right). Inside
were interior support posts and wooden furniture such as beds or
racks, as well as a central fire hearth and four smaller fire pits.
Honey locust seeds, persimmon seeds and bones from four kinds of
fish indicate some of the things these prehistoric people ate.
Radiocarbon dates show that the structure was being used at A. D.
1000.]
Everyone in Louisiana has the right to know about the state’s legacy.
The complete history of Louisiana can be recorded only through careful,
detailed excavation by individuals especially trained in archaeological
techniques. If a site is destroyed before it can be evaluated, that
information is lost forever; it is irreplaceable. Unfortunately, sites
are destroyed every day in Louisiana, both accidentally and
intentionally.
[Illustration: 16 lv 128
PLAN VIEW OF FEATURE THREE, LEVEL FOUR]
Wall Trench
Embankment
Ramp
Post
Fire Hearth