Article Title

Notes from the Northwest Louisiana Regional Archaeology Program

Authors

Jeff Girard, Northwestern State University of LouisianaFollow

Agency

Caddo Archeology Journal

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21112/.ita.1991.1.10

Abstract

During the spring of 1990 a project was started by the Northwest Louisiana Regional Archaeology Program to re-locate and update information on sites in northwestern Louisiana initially investigated by Dr. Clarence Webb of Shreveport. A summary of information from several sites likely to be of interest to Caddo archaeologists is presented here.

The Regional Archaeology Program i.a jointly sponsored by Northwestern State University and the Louisiana Division of Archaeology. The primary purpose of the program is to record and update information about archaeological sites in the region located on private and state lands. The program also will compile and manage a regional data base and communicate the need for conservation and protection of archaeological resources to landowners and the general public.

Dr. Webb recently donated hie artifact collections to the Louisiana Division of Archaeology to be housed at the Williamson Museum at NSU, In conjunction with· cataloging and inventorying the collection attempts are being made to re-visit the sites to check map plottings, establish .site boundaries, and to update information about current conditions of the sites. Many of the sites have proven difficult to find because of significant changes in land use patterns since the time of Dr. Webb's investigations. Areas that previously were cleared for cultivation or pasture now often are used for timber production. Periodic cutting of the timber bu produced dense thickets with little or no surface visibility. Several sites from which Dr. Webb made large surface collections. now are visible only as small artifact · scatters exposed in eroded portions of logging roads.

Despite the changes in land use, most of the investigated sites remain in good condition. Summaries of six sites in DeSoto Parish and one in Natchitoches Parish are presented here.

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