Current Research in Anthropology

Since 2005, USM faculty members Marie Danforth and Amy Young along with a number of students have been conducting excavations at the oldest French Colonial cemetery on the Gulf Coast.  The Moran site (22HR511), located by the Biloxi Lighthouse, was exposed by Hurricane Katrina, and thus far has produced the remains of 30 individuals dating to 1719 to 1722.  This time period, known as the Mississippi Bubble, was marked by mass migration into the Louisiana Colony of people from a variety of backgrounds, including different occupations, economic status, and geographic origins. Unfortunately many of these new arrivals died from infectious diseases, such as malaria and small pox, as well as malnutrition related to poor provisioning of the colony.  Supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, investigations are addressing both the archaeology and bioarchaeology at Moran.  A discussion of previous excavations at the site as well current work being conducted along with a full presentation of photographs may be found at the Moran project website.

In Spring 2008, USM professor Marie Danforth and graduate students became involved in the recovery of the remains of Mexican War soldiers washing out of exposed coffins on the beach of Greenwood Island on the Mississippi Sound near Pascagoula.  Greenwood Island was the site of Camp Jefferson Davis, an installation dating to 1848.  Although most who died at the camp were buried at cemeteries inland, a small number of junior officers were interred on the beach.  Two coffins were found under similar conditions in 1979, with the soldiers reburied in the Biloxi National Cemetery.  Three more became exposed last year.  A report of both the excavation and analysis of the skeletal material is given at the Greenwood Island website. The remains will be interred with those of their fellow soldiers in Biloxi on Memorial Day, 2010. 

Anthropology professor Ed Jackson conducted another successful summer archaeological field school at Winterville Mounds near Greenville. A chiefdom center dating to AD 1100-1400, Winterville represents one of the largest prehistoric sites in the state. The field school was the fourth excavation session at the site, and a dozen USM students participated. Visitors to the site included Washington University (St Louis) field school, who were excavating at the nearby Jaketown site, and staff at the Louisiana Division of Archaeology. A Mississippi Archaeology Association summer dig weekend for members of the community was also held. The findings from the summer are adding new insight concerning mound construction and function, revising many interpretations based on the previous excavations conducted over forty years. The work has been supported by grants from a number of agencies, including the National Geographic Society. In August, Walt Grayson also did a piece for Look Around Mississippi on Winterville, highlighting the summer field school (http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=10880086). A report concerning previous work at Winterville may be seen at www.usm.edu/antsoc/pdfs/winterville.pdf (11MB).

One of the research projects of anthropology professor Bridget Hayden involved a unique approach to understanding a community: Providing cameras to Latino residents of the Gulf Coast so as to gain visual awareness of their perceptions. The photographs were then annotated with quotes from oral histories taken by Dr Hayden and other social scientists on the coast. The exhibit opened in Biloxi and is currently on display at the Katrina Research Center at the Gulf Park Campus. In the future, it will be traveling to a number of regional venues, including New Orleans. The project was also recently featured in a segment on National Public Radio.