Tchefuncte Site

Tchefuncte Site
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Nearest city:	Mandeville, Louisiana
Area:	less than one acre
Governing body:	State
NRHP Reference#:	00000717^[1]
Added to NRHP:	June 22, 2000

The Tchefuncte Site (16ST1) is an archaeological site that is a type site for the prehistoric Tchefuncte culture period. The name is pronounced Che-funk'tuh. It is located in the southeast section of Fontainebleau State Park near Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. It was inhabited from 500 BCE to 1 CE during the Tchula period. Major excavations were directed by Clarence Johnson in 1938 and Edwin Doran in 1941.^[2]

1 Site Description
2 Excavations
3 Tchefuncte culture
4 See also
5 References

Site Description

The Tchefuncte Site is located in the marsh half a mile north of Lake Pontchartrain in extreme eastern Louisiana.^[3] The Tchefuncte Site originally contained two oval-shaped shell middens, designated Midden A and Midden B. Midden A is about 52 meters long, 15 m wide, and 1.5 m thick. Midden B was approximately 46 m (151 ft) long and 33 m (108 ft) wide, but it is no longer in existence. The middens were composed mainly of shells of the brackish-water clam Rangia cuneata. At the time of the occupation just to the east of the site was a large bayou of fresh water emptying into the lake, and shortly after the occupation it shifted its course to a point about three quarters of a mile farther east.^[2]

Excavations

The site was partially destroyed by commercial dredging before 1938. In 1938 construction crews wanted to use shell from the middens for road construction. Before this was done, Clarence Johnson, a historian for the Civilian Conservation Corps directed excavation of the north half of Midden B. The south half had already been destroyed by the commercial dredging. Johnson then turned his material and notes over to the Louisiana Archaeological Survey in Baton Rouge. In 1941 further excavations of Midden B and Midden A were under the direction of Edwin B. Doran, Jr. The results of these investigations were published in 1945 by James A. Ford and George I. Quimby, entitled "The Tchefuncte Culture: An Early Occupation of the Lower Mississippi Valley". This monograph used information from the Tchefuncte Site and other Tchefuncte culture sites (e.g., Little Woods (16OR1), Big Oak Island(16OR6), Copell (16VM102), and the Lafayette Mounds(16SM17)), and demonstrated that the site was occupied primarily by Tchefuncte cultural groups (c. 500 BCE to 1 CE) and helped establish Tchefuncte as the type site for the culture. In 1986 Richard Weinstein and Charles Pearson of Coastal Environments, Inc. and Dave Davis of Tulane University excavated portions of Midden A as part of a field school for the Louisiana Archaeological Society. In 2000 archaeologists from the Regional Archaeology Program mapped the site for a National Register of Historic Places nomination.^[2]

Tchefuncte culture

The Tchefuncte culture lasted from 600 BCE until 200 CE. Long-distance trade was much less important than during the preceding Poverty Point culture, but a trade network still existed between Louisiana, western Mississippi, coastal Alabama, eastern Texas, Arkansas, and southeastern Missouri. Their houses were probably temporary circular shelters having a frame of light poles covered with palmetto, thatch, or grass mixed with mud.^[4]

Food

The Tchefuncte Culture people were primarily hunter-gatherers who lived in small hamlets in the Lower Mississippi Valley and Gulf Coast region between 1000 BCE and 200 CE. They lived in coastal areas and lowlands, usually near slow-moving streams. Their main food included a variety of seafoods, included clams, alligators, fish but surprisingly not crabs or crawfish which were likely to have been available and abundant. They also hunted deer, raccoons, and some migratory birds.^[3]

Pottery

The Tchefuncte culture were the first people in Louisiana to make large amounts of pottery. Ceramics from the Tchefuncte culture have been found in sites from eastern Texas to eastern Florida, and from coastal Louisiana to southern Arkansas.^[2] Pottery was made by coiling clay into shape and then smoothing it to form a container. Many shapes of pots were made, characteristically with "footed" bases. Often vessels were decorated by pressing fingernails, twigs, or tools into the surface. After decorating, the pots were fired by slow baking.^[4] The use of a temper in the pottery to strengthen and keep it from cracking or shrinking unevenly had not yet been developed. The development of ceramic technology led to improved food management, better storage and cooking techniques.^[3] Ceramic pots also allowed stewing and other new cooking techniques to be experimented with and developed for the first time.

Chronology

The Tchefuncte culture was preceded by the Poverty Point culture, and was eventually succeeded by the Marksville culture.^[3] To see the timeline into which the Tchefuncte culture fits, click here.

References

^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "The Tchefuncte Site Summary". http://www.crt.state.la.us/hp/nhl/parish52/scans/52030001.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Cedar Mesa Project Louisiana Prehistory". http://bcn.boulder.co.us/environment/cacv/cacvbrvl.htm#hst5.. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
^ ^a ^b "Louisiana Prehistory-Poverty Point and Tchefuncte". http://www.crt.state.la.us/archaeology/laprehis/ppt.htm.

Late Woodland cultures

Mound builder (people) · List of archaeological periods (North America)

Sites	Baytown Site · Beattie Park Mound Group · Book Site · Bowen Site (12 MA 61) · Brinsfield I Site · Brokaw Site · Clampitt Site (12-LR-329) · Fisher Site · Hoye Site · Little Maquoketa River Mounds State Preserve · Memorial Park Site · Mott Mounds · Nottingham Site · Ormond Mound · Sommerheim Park · Troyville Earthworks · University of Tennessee Agriculture Farm Mound ·

Cultures	Alachua culture · Baytown culture · Clemson Island culture · Coles Creek culture · Manahoac · Monongahela culture · Oliver Phase · Plum Bayou culture · Springwells Phase · Troyville culture · Weeden Island culture ·

Related topics · Steuben point · Belle Glade culture · Extreme weather events of 535–536 · Fort Ancient culture · Mississippian culture · Oneota · St. Johns culture ·

Pre-Columbian North America

Archaeological cultures	North American pre-Columbian chronology – Adena – Alachua – Ancient Pueblo (Anasazi) – Baytown – Belle Glade – Buttermilk Creek Complex – Caborn-Welborn – Calf Creek – Caloosahatchee – Clovis – Coles Creek – Deptford – Folsom – Fort Ancient – Fort Walton – Fremont – Glades – Glacial Kame – Hopewell (List of Hopewell sites) – Hohokam – Leon-Jefferson – Mississippian (List of Mississippian sites) – Mogollon – Monongahela – Old Cordilleran – Oneota – Paleo-Arctic – Paleo-Indians – Patayan – Plano – Plaquemine – Poverty Point – Prehistoric Southwest – Red Ocher – Santa Rosa-Swift Creek – St. Johns – Steed-Kisker – Tchefuncte – Tocobaga – Troyville

Archaeological sites	Angel Mounds – Bandelier National Monument – The Bluff Point Stoneworks – Cahokia – Chaco Canyon – Casa Grande – Coso Rock Art District – Eaker – Effigy Mounds National Monument – Etowah Indian Mounds – Eva – Folsom Site – Fort Ancient – Fort Center – Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument – Holly Bluff Site – Hopewell Culture National Historical Park – Kincaid Mounds – Kolomoki – Manitou Cliff Dwellings – Marksville – Meadowcroft Rockshelter – Mesa Verde – Moorehead Circle – Moundville – Mummy Cave – Nodena Site – Ocmulgee National Monument – Old Stone Fort – Parkin Park – Pinson Mounds – Portsmouth Earthworks – Poverty Point – Pueblo Bonito – Rock Eagle – Rock Hawk – Salmon Ruins – Serpent Mound – Spiro Mounds – SunWatch – Taos Pueblo – Toltec Mounds – Town Creek Indian Mound – Winterville

Miscellaneous	Ballgame – Black drink – Buhl woman – Calumet – Chunkey – Clovis point – Container Revolution – Eastern Agricultural Complex – Eden point – Effigy mound – Falcon dancer – Folsom point – Green Corn Ceremony – Horned Serpent – Kennewick man – Kiva – Metallurgy – Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing – Medicine wheel – Mound builders – N.A.G.P.R.A. – Norse colonization of the Americas – Piasa – Pueblo dwellings – Southeastern Ceremonial Complex – Three Sisters agriculture – Thunderbird – Underwater panther

Related: Genetic history · Indigenous Portal of North America · Pre-Columbian era