A magnetic field gradient survey was conducted at Poverty Point to determine if that technique could detect discrete subsurface features and differentiate the ridges and swales in an area that today exhibits very little topographic relief. The survey area (280 m long by 20 to 60 m wide) crossed Ridges 1 through 5 in the southwest portion of the site. The ridges were revealed as variegated bands of positive and negative magnetic anomalies whereas the swales appeared to be relatively homogeneous. Ridge 1, nearest the plaza, is wider and higher but has less of a flank midden than the other ridges. Two roughly circular arrangements of anomalies on Ridge I are potentially important but cannot be reliably interpreted without ground truthing excavations. Future large-area, high-resolution magnetic gradient surveys could dramatically enhance our understanding of this enigmatic site.
Engineered projects resulting in unintended consequences, coastal erosion, subsidence, and sea-level rise are rapidly destroying archaeological sites in the Mississippi River Delta (MRD). The processes of site obliteration are intensifying and accelerating due to anthropogenic transformation of the environment, including cumulative engineered alterations of the landscape and climate change. Combined with increased inundation and erosion from storm surges, hundreds of terrestrial sites formerly located on natural levees, barrier islands, and other coastal landforms are progressively eroded, redeposited, deeply buried, and submerged. These include thousand-year-old earthen mounds and shell middens constructed by Native Americans, as well as centuries-old fishing communities along the coast. These irreplaceable cultural properties can provide crucial information on the unique history and ecology of the MRD. Ongoing studies include consulting with interested parties and implementing data sharing agreements. Researchers have formed a consortium of universities and state and federal agencies, and are partnering with culturally affiliated Native American tribes, descendant groups, and coastal communities. The consortium is developing a robust GIS-enabled risk matrix for analyzing threats and effects to endangered sites. It is using the risk matrix to select 30 sites for monitoring, assessment, aerial photogrammetry, and recording environmental data on water table fluctuations. Analysis of action-based scientific data on these imperiled and rapidly disappearing places is urgently needed and will provide the impetus and baseline for future studies. Otherwise, ongoing site destruction will erase any remaining opportunities for learning about Louisiana's deep history and diverse cultural heritage.
This report presents the thematic landscape approach that will be taken to prepare the regional prehistoric context for the San Diego Subregion of the Southern Coast Archeological Region (SDSSCAR). The goal of this project was to research and develop a regional, archeologically based, historic context that will facilitate a programmatic approach to determining National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligibility for archeological sites at a subset of Navy Region Southwest and Marine Corps installations. The cultural resource research questions to be addressed by this project are those common to pre/protohistoric archeological sites of the SDSSCAR. This work identified gaps in the current body of knowledge, and serves as a foundation for addressing these deficiencies and as a resource to aid in determining NRHP significance, assessing effects, and creating innovative management/treatment plans at the regional level. The study identified and evaluated a variety of classes of archeological sites and other types of cultural resources that characterize distinct landscapes in the SDSSCAR. The outlined approach will significantly decrease the number of individual, case-bycase undertakings, facilitate a more effective management process, and contribute to a better collective understanding of the precontact (prior to A.D. 1769) Native American regional perspective.
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