"537 historic artifacts...included a number of artifacts dated to the French and Spanish colonial periods (ca. 1720-1780)"

After another public records request, we've begun to sift through the archaeological reports that continue to be generated in the VA and LSU footprints.  While several individuals requested the archaeological reports for months at the VA neighborhood meetings, it wasn't until now that we've been able to access them.

The quote in the title comes from the "Management Summary" for the VA Footprint, and it pertains specifically to the plot of land that was once 219 S. Miro - the site that hosted the S.W. Green Mansion.

If you zoom in on the photo above, you'll see, out on the prairie that has replaced the former neighborhood in the VA Footprint, a number of dig sites in "Block 551" - the area that contains the 219 S. Miro archaeological deposits.

There are all kinds of interesting things in the archaeological reports.  And I'm going to do my best to post portions of them here before the VA site gets "surcharged" with about 7 feet of fill...and as the UMC site gets torn apart.  One word that shows up frequently in the latest VAMC archaeological diggings (from a report issued in July 2011)..."bone":

The UMC site records, as of as recent as August, show numerous references to "faunal remains."

Dig Day

The Footprint seemed busy today, and good deal of the activity centered on digging.

Above, a group sorted through the former vacant lots in the triangle below S. Tonti bounded by Banks and Tulane.  Last week, excavators began removing topsoil down to about a foot or two below the surface, and the area was fenced - presumably it's about removing contaminated soil.

Today, the workers were poking metal rods down into the earth at various points as the excavator worked.  A few old brick chunks were visible from the sidewalk.  The machine later stopped entirely and the workers left the site.

Across the way, a troop of archaeologists set about digging and sifting all over a now-vacant lot next to one of the most degraded structures on the site.

Talking to the regular archaeologist on site, it seems the entire effort today by the archaeologists is simply survey work in furtherance of the programmatic agreement for site preparation.