Cultural Resources Evaluation of the Upper Atchafalaya Backwater Area, Iberville and Pointe Coupee Parishes, SOuth Louisiana

Authors: Douglas C. Wells; COASTAL ENVIRONMENTS INC BATON ROUGE LA

Abstract:

The results of cultural resources investigations conducted by Coastal Environments, Inc., in the Upper Atchafalaya Backwater Area of southeast Louisiana are presented. The research was carried out under contract to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District in relation to the Lower Atchafalaya Basin Reevaluation Study. The study area encompassed about 335 sq mi (539 sq km) and included portions of Iberville and Pointe Coupee parishes, specifically focusing on spoil areas for proposed dredging. The areas of potential impact included 500 foot right-of-ways on either side of Bayou Maringouin, Bayou Grosse Tete, Choctaw Bayou, Portage Canal, and Lighthouse Canal. In that large natural levee formations were the landforms with the highest probability of cultural resources, Bayous Maringouin and Grosse Tete were the foci of the sample survey. The first phase of the study involved the development of a research design that summarized existing information on the geomorphology, ecology, history and archaeology of the area and presented a model of prehistoric and historic settlement there. The second phase of the study consisted of a sample survey of 500 acres within the impact areas designed to gather data to test the model developed in the research design. In addition, previous collections from sites in the study area were reanalyzed and three previously recorded sites located in the study area were revisited and information on them updated.

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APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE