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The Sims site ( 16SC2), also known as Sims Place site, is an
The large site is located along both banks of a small stream known as Bayou Saut d'Ours and at one time had five to six earthen mounds, but only two mounds and the remains of a third mound are visible today. Mound A is topped by a historic period cemetery. It was one of the largest if not the largest site in the vicinity during the time of its occupation and likely served as a local civic and ceremonial center as well as being a center of trade. The inhabitants traded their local marine resources, including such locally produced items as shells and shell beads, to peoples located further up the Lower
Pieces of the past highlight ancient history of Paradis
{{Pre-Columbian North America Archaeological sites of the Coles Creek culture Plaquemine Mississippian culture Mounds in Louisiana Geography of St. Charles Parish, Louisiana Tourist attractions in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana
archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...
located in Saint Charles Parish, Louisiana
St. Charles Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Charles) is a List of parishes in Louisiana, parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 52,549. The parish seat is Hahnville, Lou ...
, near the town of Paradis. The location is a multi-component mound and village complex with platform mound
Platform may refer to:
Technology
* Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run
* Platform game, a genre of video games
* Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models
* Weapons platform, a system or ...
s and extensive midden
A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...
deposits. The site habitations are divided into three periods. It was first inhabited about 800 CE by peoples of the Coastal Coles Creek culture
Coles Creek culture is a Woodland period#Late Woodland period (500–1000 CE), Late Woodland archaeological culture in the Lower Mississippi River, Mississippi valley in the Southeastern Woodlands. It followed the Troyville culture. The period mar ...
. By 1100 CE the culture of the site had transitioned into the Mississippianized Plaquemine culture
The Plaquemine culture was an archaeological culture (circa 1200 to 1700 CE) centered on the Lower Mississippi River valley. It had a deep history in the area stretching back through the earlier Coles Creek (700-1200 CE) and Troyville culture ...
that lasted until 1450 CE. A little later was a Late Mississippian/protohistoric period that lasted from 1500 until about 1700 or 1800.
Site description
The large site is located along both banks of a small stream known as Bayou Saut d'Ours and at one time had five to six earthen mounds, but only two mounds and the remains of a third mound are visible today. Mound A is topped by a historic period cemetery. It was one of the largest if not the largest site in the vicinity during the time of its occupation and likely served as a local civic and ceremonial center as well as being a center of trade. The inhabitants traded their local marine resources, including such locally produced items as shells and shell beads, to peoples located further up the Lower Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
valley.
The local use of Plaquemine culture pottery
The Plaquemine culture was an archaeological culture (circa 1200 to 1700 CE) centered on the Lower Mississippi River valley. It had a deep history in the area stretching back through the earlier Coles Creek (700-1200 CE) and Troyville cultures ...
grog
Grog is a term used for a variety of alcoholic beverages.
The word originally referred to rum diluted with water (and later on long sea voyages, also added the juice of limes or lemons), which British Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon introduced ...
tempering for pottery and the gradual adoption of shell tempered pottery
Mississippian culture pottery is the ceramic tradition of the Mississippian culture (800 to 1600 CE) found as artifacts in archaeological sites in the American Midwest and Southeast. It is often characterized by the adoption and use of riverine ...
associated with other areas has allowed archaeologists to track trade interactions with the people of the Sims site and peoples from these other areas. During the second occupation period trade expanded, and the local ceramics show connections to Lower Mississippi Valley peoples and Plaquemine peoples located near modern-day Barataria Bay
Barataria Bay (french: Baie de Barataria), also Barrataria Bay, is a bay of the Gulf of Mexico, about 15 miles (24 km) long and 12 miles (19 km) wide, in southeastern Louisiana, in Jefferson Parish and Plaquemines Parish, United Stat ...
and to peoples of the Pensacola culture
The Pensacola culture was a regional variation of the Mississippian culture along the Gulf Coast of the United States that lasted from 1100 to 1700 CE. The archaeological culture covers an area stretching from a transitional Pensacola/ Fort Wal ...
, located on the upper Gulf Coast
The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...
near what is modern-day Biloxi, Mississippi
Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...
. This period, between 1100 and 1450 CE, was during the initial phases of occupation and expansion of the Bottle Creek site, the major center of the Pensacola culture. This period also sees the most significant Plaquemine connections at the site. The next phase sees increasing contact with Mississipianized Plaquemine peoples from as far up the Mississippi River as the Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...
area, as well as continued interaction with the Mississippian Pensacola peoples.
See also
*List of Mississippian sites
This is a list of Mississippian sites. The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, inland- Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 C ...
* Bayou Grande Cheniere Mounds
Bayou Grande Cheniere Mounds ( 16 PL 159) is an archaeological site in Plaquemines Parish near the southeast corner of Louisiana. Built by the Coastal Coles Creek culture, it was inhabited from 875 to 1200 CE, from the Early Coles Creek period ...
* Medora site
The Medora site ( 16WBR1) is an archaeological site that is a type site for the prehistoric Plaquemine culture period. The name for the culture is taken from the proximity of Medora to the town of Plaquemine, Louisiana. The site is in West Baton ...
References
External links
Pieces of the past highlight ancient history of Paradis
{{Pre-Columbian North America Archaeological sites of the Coles Creek culture Plaquemine Mississippian culture Mounds in Louisiana Geography of St. Charles Parish, Louisiana Tourist attractions in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana