Leveling the Landscape and the Archaeology of Tenancy in Louisiana

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Public Archaeology and CRM in Louisiana: Making Historical Archaeology Matter", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Agricultural production is a significant driver for the historical development of many of Louisiana's industries. Given the geological and physiographic diversity of the state, individual regions within the state carry different trajectories in history. Oftentimes, there is a disproportionate focus on archaeological research towards the plantation era landscapes and quarters within the southern area of the delta. Drawing from results from nearly 3,000 acres of survey coverage in northern Louisiana, this paper draws attention towards tenancy, particularly in the Holly Ridge community in Richland Parish. Here, I integrate these data on a wider scale to compare and contrast trends in agricultural community development through the use of sharecropping and tenancy systems in Louisiana. By tracing these developments from the individual and unique histories of each community it is possible to better contextualize the greater trends of material consumption and their effect on cultural resources during this period.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025   •
• Public Archaeology and CRM in Louisiana: Making Historical Archaeology Matter

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow