Monumentality and Cultural Resilience in Coastal Louisiana

Author(s): Jayur Mehta; Elizabeth Chamberlain

Year: 2016

Summary

Resilience is the ability of complex systems to adapt to change in the wake of disturbance. Here, we describe the relationship of natural deltaic land evolution and anthropogenic monument construction using a case study of Ellesly Mound, an earthen monument located in the Lafourche subdelta of the Mississippi Delta. Borehole and LIDAR data show that Ellesly mound is situated above naturally deposited crevasse sediments underlain by organic-rich facies indicating a relatively low-lying vegetated environment, and then a succession of emergent delta facies. This suggests that native communities waited until land was suitably stabilized and elevated before constructing major earthen monuments.

Cite this Record

Monumentality and Cultural Resilience in Coastal Louisiana. Jayur Mehta, Elizabeth Chamberlain. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, Florida. 2016 ( tDAR id: 405281)

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Spatial Coverage

min long: -91.274; min lat: 24.847 ; max long: -72.642; max lat: 36.386 ;