Anthropology

Post-Katrina Excavations

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina utterly destroyed the Moran Art Studio, leaving only an unusable, crumbling slab. Wood, bricks, concrete, and massive piles of debris littered the property. The original, plus additional burials surfaced in the wake of this most recent hurricane, some of which extended beneath the severely damaged slab, indicating that the dimensions of the cemetery have not yet been realized. Archaeologists, graduate students, and community volunteers removed the debris from the burial area and excavated to the level of human remains, extracting the fragile, unprotected bones from the sandy soil, bagging and labeling them according to grid location, and transporting the remains to the University of Southern Mississippi for laboratory study. Accompanying one of the burials that extended beneath the slab were wooden beads and a crucifix, strong indicators of European cultural affiliation. The crucifix has been sent to Texas A&M University for restoration and conservation, and a botanist at Southern Miss is analyzing the beads to determine the origin (New or Old World) of the wood used.

•See photos of the crucifix
•See newspaper article about the crucifix

Based on this post-Katrina work, the National Endowment for the Humanities funded further excavation of the cemetery in the Spring of 2006. Unfortunately, at the same time, the Moran family decided to suspend excavations, primarily out of liability concerns. Southern Miss was invited back to resume work in Spring 2007, however, and conducted a two-week excavation session in May in the sandy area south of the slab. Six new burials were uncovered, at least two, and likely four, of which were not part of the 12 or 13 identified in 1969. No artifacts reliably associated with the burials were found.

In early January, 2008, the slab was removed, and another week-long excavation session, joined by student volunteers from Middle Tennessee State University, took place. Efforts focused on finishing up work along the south wall as well as pushing into the area north of the pit that had been under the slab. Three additional burials were uncovered, but again, all were without artifacts. They did follow the N-S orientation seen in the other graves of the cemetery, although Christian burials more traditionally run E-W.
The next major excavation will take place in late May and June with the 2008 USM Archaeological Field School

•See photos of the 2007 excavation.
•See newspaper articles about the 2007 dig.
•See photos of the January 2008 excavation.

In 2008, work continued at the Moran Site in late May and June in the context of Southern Miss’s summer archaeological field school. Over 15 students participated for the six-week session. Excavation continued farther northward into the area exposed by the removal of the house slab and westward into the area exposed by the partial removal of the concrete drive. Six additional burials were uncovered, all young adult males. Highly corroded, rusty nails, the only artifacts remaining that evidence coffin burials, surrounded two of the burials. Surprisingly, one burial was situated directly underneath a coffin burial. Three of the burials followed the head north-feet south orientation, two of which were the above-described superimposed burials; one burial was head south-feet north. The remaining two burials were in oblique positions, one with the head to the NW and one with the head to the SE. One burial was face down. Whether this anomalous burial configuration was deliberate or accidental is yet unclear. The coffin nails were the only artifacts found that are clearly associated with the cemetery.

In 2009, a one-week interim-semester field school was held at the Moran Site from January 5 through January 9 with nearly twenty students involved. While a minimal number of units were opened to the north, the focus of the excavation was to the west. Another burial was uncovered, again with no artifacts. This burial lay in a head north-feet south orientation.

See photos of the Summer 2008 and January 2009 excavations.

Research Goals

The Moran Site is significant to the study of daily life in the French Colonial period, particularly in Biloxi, the first settlement in Colonial French Louisiana, and the burials are especially valuable in the evidence they provide about the lifeways of the region’s earliest settlers. Other than Old Mobile, it is likely the best preserved site from this time period in the region. Even more, while two comparative French Colonial cemeteries have been explored to date--namely, Fort Rosalie in Natchez (Manhein 2003) and the St. Peter Street cemetery in New Orleans (Owsley and Orser 1985) --neither demonstrates the remarkable degree of preservation of the Biloxi cemetery. Thus, the value of the Moran site is incomparable.

Although a broad overview of the settlement will be addressed, certain issues will receive special attention:
Site Location, Size and Function. Cemeteries are usually associated with a resident community, and the basic characteristics of the settlement at New Biloxi must be established before subsequent work can take place. Once its location has been identified, its size will be determined by the presence of structural and artifactual remains, and its proximity to the natural contours of the landscape, such as the shoreline and inlet bayous, will provide information concerning its intended use. Similarly, knowledge about the structures on the site, including their size and style of construction, will also help to reconstruct the function of the site and estimates of the number of residents.

Demographic Reconstruction. The skeletal remains at the Moran Site provide osteological data on the individual level, which will allow the establishment of the demographic profile of the site’s inhabitants, at least to the extent that the mortality sample reflects the living sample. Furthermore, the human remains provide a rare opportunity for the use of mtDNA as well as skeletal morphology to identify ancestry of those interred. Ship manifests show that immigrants from several European countries, including France, Switzerland, and Germany, were present at Biloxi. Similarly, other ancestry indicators in skeletal material suggest that some individuals may have been at least part Native American. This demographic information can be subsequently used in a number of analyses to determine patterns by age, sex, and race.

Dietary Reconstruction. Stable isotope analysis enables the researcher to determine whether the individual subsisted on a diet of maize versus wheat, terrestrial versus marine products, and possibly domestic versus wild meats. These archaeometric analyses also assist in determining the duration of occupation, that is, whether or not these individuals lived on the coast long enough for new dietary signatures to appear in their bone. A recent thesis project dealt with a stable isotope analysis of the initial nine burials found under the Moran Art Studio and concluded that these individuals most likely died shortly after arrival due to disease and starvation during the large influx of immigrants from 1717 to 1721 (Page 2007:71-72). Other skeletal markers, including those of dietary deficiencies (eg, anemia) and dental pathologies, will also be evaluated (Larsen 1999). Future work will increase the sample size, which would, in turn, lead to more reliable data concerning sample origins and ethnicities.

Health Patterns. Historical documents contemporary to the French Colonial period report high mortality rates in the early settlers. Analysis of health indicators in the skeletal material can provide insight into the causes. Pathogenic DNA can assist in identifying the presence of diseases, if any, such as malaria, tuberculosis, plague, hepatitis B, and leprosy (Rollo and Marota 1999). Other more chronic conditions, such as infection and malnutrition, can also be assessed (Larsen 1999). Evaluation of growth markers can give information about the childhood health experiences of these individuals, many of whom are assumed to have been from the lower strata of European society. The currently excavated skeletal remains are part of a thesis project by graduate student Tiffany Hensley, who is pursuing dual masters’ degrees in History and Anthropology. As part of her work examining immigration and settlement in the French coastal colony at Biloxi, she is mining historical documents, such as the journals, correspondence, and other writings of the early explorers, for firsthand reports of life in the New World.

Mortuary Practices. Aside from the information that skeletal remains themselves impart about demography, dietary practices, and health patterns, also body preparation, orientation, and burial treatments, if available, evidence mortuary customs and practices (Carr 1995). Grave goods may suggest religious affiliation and social ranking, and burial arrangement may reveal ethnic delineations. A reconstruction of the mortuary practices of the immigrant community may help identify the transformation or maintenance of social, religious, and ideological values in the New World setting.

Social Organization. Features and artifacts are archaeological markers of chronology and cultural affiliation. Drawing from conclusions reached concerning site location, size, features, and function, along with demography, diet, and health, and conducting an analysis of artifact forms, composition, and patterns of artifact scatter, the unique manifestations of cross-cultural contact and concomitant social change over time can be examined. Additionally, by comparing the settlement pattern and sociocultural configurations of French Colonial Biloxi with the patterns and configurations identified in other French Colonial sites, such as Mobile, New Orleans, the American Bottoms, and Canada--even the French mainland itself--the distinctive adaptations to Biloxi’s geography, climate, and ecology can be elucidated. This work will be the basis of a thesis by graduate student Barbara Hester.

•See references