Anthropology

Historians of French colonial settlements along the northern shores of the Gulf of Mexico have traditionally focused on the larger and more conspicuous capitals of Mobile and New Orleans. However, Biloxi played a pivotal role in the settlement strategies of the French in the early 1700s as it was capital of the Louisiana Colony on two occasions (1699-1702 and 1719-1722). It may even have served as the proving ground for the success or demise of the Louisiana colony.

From the spoils of prior hurricanes, Camille and Katrina emerged the remains of a French colonial settlement and cemetery at the foot of Porter Avenue just north of the Biloxi Lighthouse. Although the colonial settlement of Biloxi often does not receive the attention it deserves in the history books, archaeology can give it voice via the material remains that the inhabitants left behind. Excavation of the Moran site (22HR511) has been undertaken by faculty and students of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology of the University of Southern Mississippi. The findings will prove important not to scholars, but also to the members of the community of the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, for their heritage began with the battle of the common folk--Europeans, Africans, and Indians--who fought for survival in a new world.