From Deseret News archives:
Artifacts found on Gulf Coast
The artifacts were unearthed during recent efforts to rebuild a thoroughfare and major bridge heavily damaged last year by Hurricane Katrina.
Marco Giardino, an archaeologist acting as the city's liaison on a dig to preserve the ancient remains, said as many as 400 people may have lived in the village. "That area was very strategic and would have allowed them to travel, fish and hunt," he said. "It's on high ground at the entrance to the bay, which would allow them to see people coming and they could defend themselves a lot easier."
Giardino said spearheads and pottery found in the area suggest an Indian tribe established the village sometime between 200 B.C. and 400 A.D.
The first sign of the ancient Indians was found while workers were repairing parts of Beach Boulevard that Katrina destroyed last year.
Experts say the center of the village would have been somewhere around the foot of the U.S. 90 bridge over the Bay of St. Louis, where archaeologists have discovered an Indian mound that is believed to be a burial site.
One reason the mound has remain unearthed for more than 2,000 years is its lackluster appearance. Early French settlers likely believed the mound, at about 50 feet wide and less than six feet tall, was a natural ground formation.
For most of the previous century, the mound was covered by large oak trees and hidden behind massive beachfront homes. Katrina destroyed most of the homes in Bay St. Louis, including the ones that had protected the mound for so long.
The mound is essentially off limits to researchers because it sits on private property, but a lot of the relics found so far have been scattered through the village area.
If human remains are discovered in the village area, federal law requires researchers to locate and return the sacred discovery to whatever Indian tribe may have occupied the village at that time, which could be a tricky thing to do.
Giardino said the hunt for exactly which tribe established the village could last even longer.
Comments
- Reports: Modest but steady growth 10:02 a.m.
- Stocks hold gains after econ reports 9:59 a.m.
- Ontario Mormons' nativity scenes 9:41 a.m.
- Rabbis join NJ gay marriage debate 9:03 a.m.
- Afghan buildup on faster timetable 9:01 a.m.
- Salahi denies crashing W.H. party 8:58 a.m.
- Suspect in police slayings killed 8:55 a.m.
- Arrests made in Roy slayings 8:35 a.m.
- Bowden meeting with school officials 8:01 a.m.
- FIFA: Ireland won't be in WCup 8:00 a.m.
- Hall reprimanded by MWC
- Utes won't respond to Hall
- Hall's pain reflects self-betrayal
- 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
- Mitchell called intelligent, controlling
- Cougs begin bowl preparations
- Y. student vanished in China
- Max Hall issues apology
- Daughter: Mitchell fed me my pet
- BYU says Hall incident resolved
- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
899 - Cougars beat Utes in overtime
481 - Hall reprimanded by MWC
385 - Max Hall issues apology
382 - Hall's pain reflects self-betrayal
317 - Utes won't respond to Hall
264 - BYU is champion of the state
140 - Man trapped in Nutty Putty cave dies
123 - Cave to be sealed with body inside
120 - Religion in politics is tiresome
113
My husband was teaching his 6th-grade class in Salt Lake last year when...
$600 million for a 6 mile long "bridge" across Utah Lake? That should be a...
No matter who it was that did not respond, I think all of the police...
A great article! We have 6 boys (not quite so close in age), and are finding...
My in laws are raising my wife's niece (even though her mother lives at home...
Regardless, The letter writer is spot on. Sports fans have gotten...
Agreed, they want to come to the USA for a 'better life' yet bring the old...
Ironic and sad that Coach W.'s wife got a bit roughed up due to a Ute fan's...
You will lose to Skyline first. Skyline owns you. The district said...
The rivalry should be fierce and heated. It makes it more fun. But it...
Hall shouldn't have made the comments, but some people will have a hard time...



You can be the first to comment on this story.