Browse Items (48 total)

Newspaper Article Describing Human remains disturbed at Canal Street and Claiborne Avenue

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,…

Field excavations in progress at Oak Island sites.

Excavations at Little Oak showed greater evidence of year-round habitation, including the remains of at least two different structures, but also a shorter period of use. The site contained dense quantities of pottery and faunal remains that…

An important development related to the Oak Island archaeology projects was the creation in 1982 of the 'Indian Youth Project'. That year, Richard Shenkel and Pete Gregory launched a project with the Inter-Tribal Council of Louisiana and the…

Perseverance Lodge, the oldest Masonic temple in Louisiana, still stands today in Louis Armstrong Park.

The excavation crew uses a backhoe to dig excavation trenches to look for evidence of Fort St. Ferdinand.