Everyone in Louisiana has the right to know about the state’s legacy. The complete history of Louisiana can be recorded only through careful, detailed excavation by individuals especially trained in archaeological techniques. If a site is destroyed before it can be evaluated, that information is lost forever; it is irreplaceable. Unfortunately, sites are destroyed every day in Louisiana, both accidentally and intentionally.
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PLAN VIEW OF FEATURE THREE, LEVEL FOUR
Wall Trench Embankment Ramp Post Fire Hearth
MAJOR IMPACTS ON SITE PRESERVATION
Throughout history, the traces of people who lived before have been altered by those who followed. Even when Indians camped in places where their ancestors had camped, they destroyed a piece of the record of their past. In contrast with this age-old pattern of minor alterations, however, is the potentially devastating impact of modern-day technology. In Louisiana today, major types of land modification include energy exploration and development, timber cutting, agriculture, urban expansion, waterway modification, and transportation network construction. These are all likely to disturb archaeological sites if they are conducted without care.
Heavy machinery can destroy a site in minutes.
The country’s need for oil, gas, coal, and timber has accelerated the search for these products in the past decade. As exploration crews cut roads into otherwise inaccessible areas, previously undetected sites are exposed and disturbed. When heavy machinery is brought in to begin logging, drilling, or mining, sites can be gouged or crushed in a few seconds. Unless the crews are alert, fragile archaeological sites are destroyed before they are even recorded. In Louisiana’s coastal areas, oil and gas production has also affected sites. Pipelines are often laid through piles of shells because they are more stable than the surrounding land. Unfortunately, a great many of these piles are man-made; they are actually archaeological sites.
Mechanized agriculture affects sites when plows turn up artifacts, jumbling the materials. Whenever an area is cultivated for the first time, sites may be found. In Louisiana, previously undisturbed areas within the river valleys are now being cleared for large-scale agriculture. Many buried prehistoric sites along old river channels could be destroyed. Sites in cultivated fields may be damaged further if they are plowed more deeply than in the past. Modern subsoilers can cut three feet into the ground, disturbing even deeply buried materials.