Morgan Mounds

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Morgan Mounds
16 VM 9
USA Louisiana location map.svg
Archaeological site icon (red).svg
Location within Louisiana today
Location Pecan Island, Louisiana Flag of the United States.svg  USA
Region Vermilion Parish, Louisiana
Coordinates 29°38′50.82″N92°26′7.656″W / 29.6474500°N 92.43546000°W / 29.6474500; -92.43546000
History
Founded700 CE
Abandoned1000 CE
Cultures Coastal Coles Creek culture
Site notes
Excavation dates1926, 1979, 1986
Archaeologists Henry B. Collins, Ian Brown, Richard Fuller,
Architecture
Architectural styles Platform mounds
Responsible body: private

Morgan Mounds (16 VM 9) is an important archaeological site of the Coastal Coles Creek culture, built and occupied by Native Americans from 700 to 1000 CE on Pecan Island in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. Of the 45 recorded Coastal Coles Creek sites in the Petite Anse region, it is the only one with ceremonial substructure mounds. These indicate that it was possibly the center of a local chiefdom. [1]

Contents

Description

The site is located on the only significant high ground in the marshy area, Pecan Island, a bifurcated backridge of alluvial deposits known as a "chenier". The geologic feature formed about 4000 to 6000 years ago when the shifting of the Mississippi delta stranded ancient beaches. The area was a rich environment with abundant marine resources from brackish and freshwater marshes and woodland resources from the forests on the cheniers (named by the early French settlers for the oak trees or "chênes" that grew on them). Much of the indigenous local population did not live permanently at the Morgan site in prehistoric times, but in scattered hamlets and homesteads, often identified by the shell middens left behind at the edges of lakes and streams. [1] The site originally included four ceremonial platform mounds arranged around the four sides of a central rectangular plaza. [2]

The mounds themselves were built in stages over an extended period, with gaps in between construction phases. These stages included a pre-mound midden, indicating people were living at the site before the construction of mounds. Later residents raised a mound over this area, and built a separate structure at its summit. This earthwork construction was a sophisticated engineering feat, using the loose and gritty sand and crushed shell material of the chenier, mixed with the scooped-up topsoil of the midden, to construct a stable rectangular embankment. This embankment was then filled in with more of the loose chenier material of sand and crushed shell. The use of the embankment created structures stable enough to last more than 1000 years without collapsing. The mound was overlain with a protective cap of silty, gray clay taken from a local bayou. [3]

At a later date, a second building episode enlarged and raised the mound higher, with the eventual height of Mound 1 reaching more than 4 metres (13 ft). Another structure was built on the new summit. The structure at the summit was a 9 metres (30 ft) in diameter circular building, with many interior partitions and a large central hearth. [1] The building was constructed of wooden posts set into the mound summit surface and covered with a layer of daub or clay, creating a relatively permanent structure. Multiple post holes at the site suggest the structures may have been rebuilt more than once. [1] [3]

Inhabitants

A map showing the extent of the Coles Creek cultural period and some important sites Coles Creek culture map HRoe 2010.jpg
A map showing the extent of the Coles Creek cultural period and some important sites

The inhabitants of the Morgan Mounds seem to have been an anomaly in the area. Before the building of Morgan, starting in about 700 CE, the local population were thinly scattered hunter-gatherers, who did not build large settlements or ceremonial mounds like their northern neighbors of the Troyville culture (400 to 700 CE) of the same time period. [1] Ceramic analysis indicates that while they were a part of Coles Creek tradition during the Coastal Coles Creek period, these people traded with and were more influenced by the peoples of the Weeden Island cultures of the Gulf Coast and Florida panhandle than they were by the Coles Creek of northern Louisiana and Mississippi. [4]

Excavations at the site have found ceramic workshops and examples of elite pottery and other goods. [1] Examination of midden deposits on the mound summits and flanks and elsewhere at the site indicates that those who lived on top of the mounds enjoyed more and better food resources than the people who did not live atop the mounds, further indicating their elite status. [5] Based on his excavations at the site in 1986, Dr. Ian Brown has speculated that the sudden appearance of substructure mound building, new pottery styles, and a burgeoning elite class may have signaled a population intrusion or, at the very least, an inspiration from outside the area, although this has not yet been confirmed. [1]

Excavations

The first archaeological investigations of the site were in 1926, undertaken by Henry B. Collins, Jr., assistant entomologist for the Smithsonian Institution. He found several different varieties of pottery at the site, as well as human burials, [2] some of which showed signs of artificial cranial deformation with pronounced fronto-occipital flattening of the skull. [6] The southernmost mound, Mound 4, was leveled in the mid-1950s during the construction of LA 82. The site was next surveyed in 1979 by Dr. Ian Brown and Richard S. Fuller, Jr. for the Lower Mississippi Survey undertaken by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. [2] After plans for leveling of some of the mounds by the landowner in 1985, and the subsequent discovery of the "Morgan effigy" in Mound 2 fill dirt, emergency salvage archaeology was undertaken at the site in 1986 by Brown, Richard Fuller, and Diane Fuller. [1]

Morgan effigy

A carved deer antler figure known as the "Morgan effigy" was found in fill dirt taken by the landowner in 1985 from one of the mounds. The artistic stylization of the small sculpture shows it to have been a human death figure. The presence of bones in the same fill dirt means it may have been interred with a prominent member of the community. It is the only known Coles Creek culture artwork to be found that is not made from ceramic. The effigy is part of a permanent display at the Alliance Center in nearby downtown Abbeville, Louisiana. A drawing of it is used as the logo for the Vermilion Historical Society. [2]

Nearby sites

Other smaller non-mound sites in the area have also produced material from the Coastal Coles Creek period. Investigations in 1946 by Robert Wauchope at the Little Pecan Island Site (16 CM 43), near Grand Chenier, Louisiana in Cameron Parish, produced ceramic chronologies dating to between 800-1100 CE. A number of flexed burials were also found at the site. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

Pecan Island is an unincorporated community with a population of about 300 located in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is located directly under the southern peak of White Lake and two ridges comprise the island, which are actually cheniers or "ridges of high ground" in the coast marsh. There is minimal land in the region, with the island being "an old Gulf beach, composed of crushed shells and sand".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holly Bluff site</span> Archaeological site in Yazoo County, Mississippi, United States

The Holly Bluff site, sometimes known as the Lake George Site, and locally as "The Mound Place," is an archaeological site that is a type site for the Lake George phase of the prehistoric Plaquemine culture period of the area. The site is on the southern margin of the Mississippian cultural advance down the Mississippi River and on the northern edge of that of the Cole's Creek and Plaquemine cultures of the South." The site was first excavated by Clarence Bloomfield Moore in 1908 and tested by Philip Phillips, Paul Gebhard and Nick Zeigler in 1949.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coles Creek culture</span> Late Woodland archaeological culture in Lower Mississippi valley, United States

Coles Creek culture is a Late Woodland archaeological culture in the Lower Mississippi valley in the Southeastern Woodlands. It followed the Troyville culture. The period marks a significant change in the cultural history of the area. Population increased dramatically and there is strong evidence of a growing cultural and political complexity, especially by the end of the Coles Creek sequence. Although many of the classic traits of chiefdom societies are not yet manifested, by 1000 CE the formation of simple elite polities had begun. Coles Creek sites are found in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. It is considered ancestral to the Plaquemine culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plaquemine culture</span> Archaeological culture in the lower Mississippi River Valley, United States

The Plaquemine culture was an archaeological culture centered on the Lower Mississippi River valley. It had a deep history in the area stretching back through the earlier Coles Creek and Troyville cultures to the Marksville culture. The Natchez and related Taensa peoples were their historic period descendants. The type site for the culture is the Medora site in Louisiana; while other examples include the Anna, Emerald, Holly Bluff, and Winterville sites in Mississippi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baytown culture</span> Pre-Columbian Native American culture

The Baytown culture was a Pre-Columbian Native American culture that existed from 300 to 700 CE in the lower Mississippi River Valley, consisting of sites in eastern Arkansas, western Tennessee, Louisiana, and western Mississippi. The Baytown Site on the White River in Monroe County, Arkansas is the type site for culture. It was a Baytown Period culture during the Late Woodland period. It was contemporaneous with the Coastal Troyville and Troyville cultures of Louisiana and Mississippi and the Fourche Maline culture and was succeeded by the Plum Bayou culture. Where the Baytown peoples built dispersed settlements, the Troyville people instead continued building major earthwork centers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medora site</span> Archaeological site in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, United States

The Medora site (16WBR1) is an archaeological site that is a type site for the prehistoric Plaquemine culture period. The name for the culture is taken from the proximity of Medora to the town of Plaquemine, Louisiana. The site is in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, and was inhabited from approximately 1300 to 1600 CE. It consisted of two mounds separated by a plaza. In the winter of 1939-40 excavation of this site was undertaken by the Louisiana State Archaeological Survey, a joint project of Louisiana State University and the Work Projects Administration. It was directed by James A. Ford, and George I. Quimby. The excavations of the site were instrumental in defining the characteristics of the Plaquemine period and culture.

The Tchefuncte site (16ST1) is an archaeological site that is a type site for the prehistoric Tchefuncte culture period. The name is pronounced Che-funk'tuh. It is located in the southeast section of Fontainebleau State Park near Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marksville culture</span> Archaeological culture in the south-eastern United States

The Marksville culture was an archaeological culture in the lower Lower Mississippi valley, Yazoo valley, and Tensas valley areas of present-day Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and extended eastward along the Gulf Coast to the Mobile Bay area, from 100 BCE to 400 CE. This culture takes its name from the Marksville Prehistoric Indian Site in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. Marksville Culture was contemporaneous with the Hopewell cultures within present-day Ohio and Illinois. It evolved from the earlier Tchefuncte culture and into the Baytown and Troyville cultures, and later the Coles Creek and Plum Bayou cultures. It is considered ancestral to the historic Natchez and Taensa peoples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frogmore Mound Site</span> United States historic place

Frogmore Mound Site is an archaeological site of the Late Coles Creek culture in Concordia Parish, Louisiana. The site is located 7 miles (11 km) west of Ferriday on US 84. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 28, 2004.

Venable Mound is an archaeological site in Morehouse Parish, Louisiana with a single mound with components from the Troyville, Coles Creek and Plaquemine period.

Sundown Mounds is an multimound archaeological site in Tensas Parish, Louisiana from the Early Coles Creek culture. It is the type site for the Sundown Phase of the Tensas Basin and Natchez Bluff Coles Creek chronology.

Flowery Mound is an archaeological site in Tensas Parish, Louisiana with components from the Late Coles Creek and Plaquemine-Mississippian culture which dates from approximately 950–1541.

Marsden Mounds is an archaeological site with components from the Poverty Point culture and the Troyville-Coles Creek period. It is located in Richland Parish, Louisiana, near Delhi. It was added to the NRHP on August 4, 2004, as NRIS number 04000803. It is the type site for the Marsden Phase of the Tensas Basin and Natchez Bluff regions local chronology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pocahontas Mounds</span>

Pocahontas Mounds is an archaeological site from the Plaquemine Mississippian culture in Hinds County, Mississippi, dating from 800 to 1300 CE. Two mounds from the site were added to the NRHP on two separate occasions, Pocahontas Mound A on November 25, 1969 as NRIS number 69000365 and Pocahontas Mound B on April 11, 1972 as NRIS number 72000694. The mounds are listed on the Mississippi Mound Trail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mott Archaeological Preserve</span> Archeological site

The Mott Archaeological Preserve or Mott Mounds Site is an archaeological site in Franklin Parish, Louisiana on the west bank of Bayou Macon. It originally had eleven mounds with components from the Marksville, Troyville, Coles Creek, and Plaquemine periods. It was at one time one of the largest mound centers in the Southeast and has one of the largest mounds in Louisiana with a base which cover more than two acres. It was purchased by the Archaeological Conservancy in 2002. and is now used for research and educational purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bayou Grande Cheniere Mounds</span>

Bayou Grande Cheniere Mounds is an archaeological site in Plaquemines Parish near the southeast corner of Louisiana. Built by the Coastal Coles Creek culture, it was inhabited from 875 to 1200 CE, from the Early Coles Creek period to the Coles Creek/Plaquemine period.

The Beaverdam Creek Archaeological Site,, is an archaeological site located on a floodplain of Beaverdam Creek in Elbert County, Georgia approximately 0.8 km from the creek's confluence with the Savannah River, and is currently inundated by the Richard B. Russell Lake. The site consisted of a platform mound and an associated village site.

The Sims site (16SC2), also known as Sims Place site, is an archaeological site located in Saint Charles Parish, Louisiana, near the town of Paradis. The location is a multi-component mound and village complex with platform mounds and extensive midden deposits. The site habitations are divided into three periods. It was first inhabited about 800 CE by peoples of the Coastal Coles Creek culture. By 1100 CE the culture of the site had transitioned into the Mississippianized Plaquemine culture that lasted until 1450 CE. A little later was a Late Mississippian/protohistoric period that lasted from 1500 until about 1700 or 1800.

The Little Pecan Island Site is an archaeological site of the Coastal Coles Creek culture, occupied by Native Americans from 800 to 1100 CE near Grand Chenier, Louisiana in Cameron Parish. Investigations by Robert Wauchope in 1946 produced a number of flexed burials and ceramic chronologies which helped determine the age and cultural affiliation of the site.

The Atchafalaya Basin Mounds is an archaeological site originally occupied by peoples of the Coastal Coles Creek and Plaquemine cultures beginning around 980 CE, and by their presumed historic period descendants, the Chitimacha, during the 18th century. It is located in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana on the northern bank of Bayou Teche at its confluence with the Lower Atchafalaya River. It consists of several earthen platform mounds and a shell midden situated around a central plaza. The site was visited by Clarence Bloomfield Moore in 1913.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Fuller, Richard S.; Fuller, Diane Silvia (1987). "Excavations at Morgan : A Coles Creek mound complex in coastal Louisiana" (PDF). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum, Harvard University.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. 1 2 3 4 Theall, Gary E. "The Morgan Effigy". Abbeville Louisiana: Vermilion Historical Society.
  3. 1 2 Schilling, Timothy M. (May 2004). Excavations at the Bayou Grande Cheniere Mounds (16PL159) : A Coles Creek Period Mound Complex (PDF) (Master of Arts thesis). LSU. p. 86. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-19. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  4. ↑ Schilling, Timothy M. (May 2004). Excavations at the Bayou Grande Cheniere Mounds (16PL159): A Coles Creek Period Mound Complex (PDF) (Master of Arts thesis). LSU. p. 24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-19. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  5. ↑ Kidder, Tristram R. (2002). Anderson, David G.; Mainfort, Robert C. Jr (eds.). The Woodland Southeast . Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. p.  89. ISBN   978-0817311377.
  6. ↑ Collins, Henry B. (1941). "Relationships of an early Indian cranial series from Louisiana" (PDF). Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences. 31 (3): 147.
  7. ↑ Gomez, Gay M. (1998). A Wetland Biography : Seasons on Louisiana's Chenier Plain. University of Texas Press. p. 49. ISBN   978-0-292-72812-7.
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