Browse Items (48 total)

Barbed fish hooks, similar in appearance to those used by present day fishermen, which were taken from an Indian mound in LaSalle Parish.

WPA workers of the Archaeological Project studying soil profile in an Indian mound near Lake Pontchartrain. From this site, archaeologists are unearthing evidence of an Indian culture which they believe is the oldest yet disc overed in the…

A few of the 50 or more pottery vessels, restored to their original shape with fragments taken from the LaSalle Parish mound. Intricate patterns and designs on the vessels trace their origin to the early Marksville Period.

WPA workers assigned to the Statewide Archaeological Project begin excavating at a site where scientists expect to find trace of a prehistoric Indian culture, older than any yet discovered in the Mississippi Valley.

Postcard of Old Vaults in St. Louis Cemetery, New Orleans, La.

Fort St. John Bayou St. John Hotel

The excavation crew works the Oak Island Site during Dr. Shenkel’s excavation project.

Shell middens, or deposits of refuse made up of discarded brackish water clam shells (or Rangia cunneata), are the most visible Native American sites in this area. They often form the highest land in the low-lying marshes between Lake Pontchartrain…

Interspersed within shell middens are numerous other types of material remains: bits of pottery, stone and bone tools, items of adornment, animal bones discarded from meals, and even human burials. Some shell middens also contain distinct living…

Excavating at the Oak Island sites was not easy. Supposedly the 1930s excavations were called off prematurely because of the difficult field conditions. The sites are difficult to reach, especially in wet weather, and heat, water, mosquitoes,…