NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Ericca Reynolds (reynoldse@nsula.edu)
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

9/05/2002

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES-Northwestern State University's Cultural Resource Office is working with a team from the Institute of Archaeology (IA) at University College London on a series of archeological surveys at Melrose Plantation and the home of Marie Therese Coin Coin. The Cultural Resource Office is part of NSU's Department of Social Sciences.

The purpose of the project is to obtain material artifacts from African descendants concerning their role and contribution in society at that time, how this relates to African Diaspora and how the data applies to the creation of the Cane River Creole culture.

"In order to do this, we must look at the actual Africans and their descendants, said David Morgan, Assistant Director of the CRO. "Using archeology is a wonderful way to find out who these people were. Often, people don't have any written records and so the only thing left to look at are the things they left behind."

The Melrose Plantation and the home of Marie Therese Coin Coin are unique because of their role in the origin of Creole culture in this part of Louisiana.

" Marie Therese has become a very important part of local and regional history so it's nice to go back and fill in with archeology the gaps that are left when you look at only documents," said Morgan.

Morgan and Dr. Kevin McDonald of the Institute of Archaeology are co-directors of this project. McDonald has been working in Africa for the past several years and therefore, is familiar with the way these African artifacts appear in this particular time period in Africa.

"We're experienced with how these artifacts appear in Louisiana so it was a natural combination to put our expertise together," said Morgan.

Both NSU and British students are gaining hands on experience by participating in this project.

"This is the first time I've done real archeology," said Sarah Ferstel of Baton Rouge, a senior NSU archeology student. "Learning how archeology works outside the classroom obviously will be very helpful to me. Plus, this is more experience in a field that requires a lot of experience."

Fiona Handley, who is working on her doctorate degree in archeology from University College London, agrees.

"This is good background for my degree program and it helps me in knowing the kind of information archeologists find," said Handley.

According to Morgan, they hope to complete this project by the end of year.

"We hope to put together a report on what we've found and then use this research to serve as a pilot program," said Morgan.

The National Park Service Delta Initiative and the Cane River National Heritage Area provided $25,386 in funding for the project.

For more information on this project, contact Morgan at (318) 357-6130.

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