Archaeologists to speak at Vermilion Historical Society

The Vermilion Historical Society will present a program on local Native American culture to be given by Dr. Chip McGimsey, Louisiana’s state archaeologist and director of the Louisiana Division of Archaeology; along with Ms. Karla Oesch, MS APA, who is the collections manager of that division of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism.
Dr. McGimsey will discuss the history of the “Chenier Plain”, the “Morgan Mounds” excavation, and what has been learned about the people who inhabited the area some 1,000 to 1,200 years ago. Ms. Oesch will exhibit artifacts, including decorated pottery shards, bone tools and projectiles, and other interesting items that were recovered in the 1980s excavations of the “Morgan Mounds” by archaeologists from Harvard University. These mounds were located on Pecan Island, Vermilion Parish Louisiana.
These artifacts, known as the “Morgan Mound Collection” are owned by the Vermilion Historical Society and represent one of the largest collections of its kind in the state. The Louisiana Division of Archaeology provides safe keeping for the bulk of the collection at their facility in Baton Rouge.
Dr. McGimsey and Ms. Oesch will both be available to answer questions about the “Morgan Mounds” and Native American history and culture in general. The public is invited to attend the meeting which will be held in the Vermilion Parish Library-Abbeville this coming Wednesday, Jan. 25, at 6 p.m.