C O N S E R VA N C Y
Jessica Crawford
field notes
Though the graves seen in the upper left of this photo did some damage to Mound 1, they also prevented it from being destroyed.
Troyville Site Expanded SOUTHEAST—The Troyville site (ca. a.d. 400) in Jonesville, Louisiana, was once one of the country’s largest mound complexes. It consisted of at least 10 mounds, with a 10-foottall embankment on three sides and a river on the fourth. Unfortunately, much of the site has been destroyed by the town of Jonesville, which was built on top the site. Many of the mounds were reduced in size as their dirt was used for various purposes such as filling in low areas throughout the town. But recent excavations have revealed that buried cultural deposits are intact. This discovery led the Conservancy to preserve the portions of the Troyville site that remain intact. The Conservancy acquired its first tract, Mound 4, in 2009. This
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mound formerly stood approximately 12-feet high, but had been reduced to about seven feet, and it once had a house perched on top of it. The Conservancy recently acquired its second tract, Mound 1, as a result of a donation by the landowner. Some of Jonesville’s early settlers are buried in Mound 1, and it has suffered some minor disturbances as a result, but these graves also prevented the mound from being destroyed by the town’s development. The mound is a large enough that research can easily be conducted on it in without disturbing the graves. Piece by piece, the Conservancy will continue to salvage the remains of this remarkable prehistoric community.
spring • 2011
