2005 Field School

2004 Field School

2003 Field School

The Plaquemine Mounds Archaeological Project (PMAP) is designed to investigate poorly-known American Indian mound sites dating from the Mississippi period (ca. AD 1100-1700) on the western edge of the Atchafalaya Basin in south-central Louisiana. It is a three-year project intended to generate previously unavailable information on Plaquemine mound sites, support professional development and collaboration, and increase student participation in archaeological research. The PMAP was initiated in 2001 with a UL Lafayette field school at Bayou Portage Guidry, a Plaquemine mound site in St. Martin Parish.

Among the long-term goals of the PMAP are to develop a detailed database on mound sites in the region with which to examine Plaquemine settlement patterns, community organization, subsistence, and political integration. The objectives for the first year include the identification and assessment of mound sites with potential for yielding Plaquemine components. Surveys are planned to locate (and relocate) sites, collect information on site components, and determine cultural affiliations. The goals for the second and third years are to complete the survey and mapping of all known Plaquemine mound sites in the project area, collect information on mound construction chronologies, and examine ceramic refuse, subsistence remains, architectural debris, and cultural features from mound and non-mound contexts through systematic test excavations. Site preservation is an additional concern, as many of these mound sites are endangered by recreational use and modern development. The project is supported by the Louisiana Board of Regents Support Fund, through the Research Competitiveness Subprogram.

Download recent articles on the Plaquemine Mounds Archaeological Project:

Louisiana Archaeological Society Newsletter 31(1):9-13 (Spring 2004)

Louisiana Archaeological Society Newsletter 30(1):16-21 (Spring 2003)

Student Employment

Application for Student Assistants

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For more information on the Plaquemine Mounds Archaeological Project, contact Dr. Mark A. Rees by email at markrees@louisiana.edu or address your correspondence to the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette P.O. Box 40198, Lafayette, LA 70504-0198.

If you have comments or suggestions, please email me at markrees@louisiana.edu