Southeastern NEWS
Southeastern Louisiana University
Public Information Office
publicinfo@selu.edu
SLU 10880, Hammond, LA 70402
504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
Date: 12/13/99
Contact: Carol Dotson 5
EVERGREEN PLANTATION ARCHAEOLOGY PROJECT CONTINUES
HAMMOND -- Over 500 schoolchildren and about 100 adults have participated in the
Evergreen Plantation Archaeology Project, according to Southeastern Louisiana University
professor and project coordinator Scott Simmons.
The Evergreen Plantation Archeological Project focuses on the plantation's double row of
22 original 19th century cabins, which make up the slave quarters. Evergreen is located
approximately 30 miles upriver from New Orleans on the west bank of the Mississippi river near
Edgard in St. John the Baptist Parish.
Simmons said school children visiting and working at the site including students from
West St. John High, elementary school students from nearby Gramercy and Vacherie, students
from Slidell Technical College and Tchefuncte Middle School in Mandeville.
In addition to college students from Southeastern, other participating students came from
Tulane University, the University of New Orleans, and Xavier University.
Visitors also included staff members of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, as
well as archaeologists from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (New Orleans District), members
of the Delta Chapter of the Louisiana Archaeological Society, Girl Scout Troop 413 from Baton
Rouge, and members of the German Acadian Coast Historical and Genealogical Society and
others.
"We even had the Premier of Thailand, as well as the Thai Ambassador to the
United.States, visit one afternoon to see our project," said Simmons
During the digging process, Simmons and his crews unearthed many artifacts relating to
domestic life in the Quarters Area at Evergreen including a variety of ceramic, glass, and metal
artifacts, bone fragments, teeth and buttons.
The next stage of the Evergreen Plantation Archaeology Project is artifact processing.
Simmons will need help sorting artifacts into major material classes (metal, ceramics, bone, glass,
etc.), counting the numbers of each group of material from each excavation level and then
washing once that's finished. All of this work will take place at Evergreen on the following days,
10:30am-4pm: Tuesday, December 21, Wednesday, December 22, and Thursday, December 23.
For information on the January schedule contact Simmons at 504-845-9599 or by email at
simmonsse@compsurf.com
-SLU-
CUTLINE ...
DIGGING FOR HISTORY -- Volunteers participate in an archaeological dig at
Evergreen Plantation in St. John the Baptist parish. The African-American Archaeological
Research Project, coordinated by Southeastern Louisiana University, is focused on the
plantation's 19th century slave quarters cabins. Organizer Scott Simmons and volunteers have
completed the first stage of digging and will now move on to sorting and cataloguing the findings.
C:\WEBWORK\PLANTA~4.WPD
Archaeology at Evergreen Plantation
Project Up-date
December 2, 1999
The first round of fieldwork in the Quarters Area at Evergreen Plantation was completed on
November 19, 1999. We had beautiful weather during practically the entire field session, with
only one rain day. Public interest was strong throughout the 20 day field session, and grew
stronger as the weeks went by. Public school participation was terrific; we were able to
accommodate practically the entire student body from the local high school, West St. John High,
as well as a number of elementary school students from nearby Gramercy and Vacherie. Students
from the North Shore even participated - Slidell Technical College and Tchefuncte Middle School
in Mandeville helped out, also. The numbers of school children who visited and/or participated in
the project are still being tallied, but our guess at present is that well over 500 students visited the
site.
In addition, college students from Tulane University, the University of New Orleans, Xavier
University and Southeastern Louisiana University helped out during fieldwork. Several staff
members of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities visited the site, as well as
archaeologists from the US Army Corps of Engineers (New Orleans District), members of the
Delta Chapter of the Louisiana Archaeological Society, Girl Scout Troop 413 from Baton Rouge,
and members of the German Acadian Coast Historical and Genealogical Society, to name a few.
In all, we had about 75 adults come to volunteer their time to the 20-day fall 1999 field session.
We even had the Premier of Thailand, as well as the Thai Ambassador to the US, visit one
afternoon to see our project! I'd like to thank everyone who participated and helped to make this
first field session at Evergreen a success. THANKS!!
Field investigations in the fall concentrated on the investigation of Cabin 4E, located in the
northern half of the Quarters Area on the east side of the quarters road. A total of excavation
units were opened and completed, and you helped to move a whopping cubic meters of dirt
during the excavation!!! Excavations will be continuing at Cabin 4e as there are still some
questions that remain regarding the date(s) of construction of the cabin as well as the function of
the building that was located immediately east (behind) the cabin.
I am reasonably confident that Cabin 4e was occupied during postbellum times, specifically
during the last quarter of the 19th century. This interpretation is based on the dates of production
and use popularity of the ceramic and glass wares that were recovered in the midden deposit
(trash heap) excavated immediately east of the building. It appears that beginning sometime in the
last quarter of the 19th century, residents of Cabin 4e used the area immediately behind their cabin
as a trash disposal area, and simply tossed and swept their refuse out of the back doors of the
cabin. Almost all of the artifacts we recovered came from a "toss zone" that extended about 5-6
meters (roughly 15 to 18 feet) away from the back of the building. Also, the densest
accumulations of refuse were identified immediately adjacent to the doors, with the amount of
artifacts dropping off significantly to either side of each back door.
We still need to complete the excavation of the unit (Unit 10) located at the base of the
brick fireplace, as well as the unit (Unit 13) that surrounds the brick pier located at the
southeast corner of the building. It is my hope that the cultural material we'll find in these
excavation units will help to nail down the period of construction and earliest occupation of
Cabin 4e. Fieldwork hopefully will resume in the Quarters Area at Evergreen sometime
during the spring - I'm tentatively planning on February or March, pending additional
research funding. I'll keep you posted on the 'dig' part of the project.
Finally, I'll be on-site this month finishing up profile drawings, notes, taking Munsells, etc
so that all of the attention can then be turned toward the next step in the process - artifact
processing. I'd like to invite you to participate in this important part of the Evergreen
Archaeological Project. What I need help with is: sorting artifacts into major material classes
(metal, ceramics, bone, glass, etc.) and then counting the numbers of each group of material from
each excavation level. Then we get into washing once that's finished. All of this work will take
place at Evergreen, probably in the vicinity of the stables (where the public bathrooms are
located) or perhaps inside the large barn that's adjacent to the stables. Here are the dates:
DECEMBER JANUARY
Friday 10th Monday 3rd
Saturday 11th Wednesday 5th
Monday 13th Friday 7th
Wednesday 15th Saturday 8th
Friday 17th
Times are all the same: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm.
Feel free to come to Evergreen any of these dates that you can help - no need to schedule
with me ahead of time. But, if you'd like to contact me my e-mail address is
simmonsse@compsurf.com, and my telephone number is: (504) 845-9599.
Many thanks to everyone again for all of the help and support. I'll see you at Evergreen!
Scott Simmons
-SLU-
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