projects

PHASE I INVESTIGATIONS NEAR EL CAMINO REAL DE LOS TEJAS
In June and July 2009, ESI performed a Phase I cultural resources survey for the proposed El Camino East/West Project in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana The project area parallels LA 6 for 8.6 miles; from the town of Robeline, Louisiana, to I-49 in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. The entire ROW encompasses approximately 346.8 acres. Field investigations resulted in the identification of five new archaeological sites and one isolated find. None of the sites are eligible for nomination to the NRHP.

 

PHASE I SURVEY OF ST. MARTINVILLE BY-PASS
ESI performed an intensive cultural resources survey for the St. Martinville By-Pass in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana in March and May 2008. ESI performed background research for the area encompassing all potential highway alternatives to provide data concerning previously recorded cultural resources. This data was included among the factors used to evaluate the various alternatives.

Two historic sites were recorded as a result of the survey. There is no evidence of intact cultural deposits at either site. Neither site is eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). An architectural survey recorded six standing structures greater than 50 years of age within area of potential effect. None of the structures are considered eligible for nomination to the NRHP.


 

ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS ON CONTI STREET IN NEW ORLEANS
In December 2004, the Historic New Orleans Collection decided to sponsor an archaeological and historical investigation of 535-537 Conti Street in the French Quarter. The Collection owns this property, presently occupied by an early-20th-century parking garage, and plans to build a new archival storage facility on the site. The structure will reconstruct a three-and-a-half story hotel built on the site in the 1820s.  CONTINUED...

 

ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT THE SITE OF THE CABILDO
Earth Search, Inc., was contracted by the Louisiana Museum Foundation to conduct archeological excavations within the courtyard of the Cabildo. Eighteenth-century maps were overlaid on a map of the extant courtyard to plan the placement of excavation units.    CONTINUED...

 

ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT THE DUREL COTTAGE
The Historic New Orleans Collection contracted ESI to conduct archeological investigations beneath the Durel Cottage, in New Orleans's Vieux Carré. The floor of the raised cottage was removed, and several archaeological test units were excavated. Artifacts from the uppermost strata derived from occupation of and renovations to the existing cottage, beneath which was a complex series of microstratigraphic events, interpreted as resulting from the 1788 New Orleans fire.    CONTINUED...

 

ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA RECOVERY AT WILTON PLANTATION
Earth Search conducted NRHP test excavations at Wilton Plantation (16SJ20) to determine if any previously-recorded localities or historic structures would be impacted by proposed construction. Prior to the commencement of field work, it was determined that 17 previously-identified localities would potentially be impacted.    CONTINUED...

 

ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA RECOVERY AT THE BAYOU DES FAMILLES SITE
ESI conducted archeological data recovery at a Mississippi period shell midden, the Bayou des Familles site (16JE218), in the Barataria Basin for the New Orleans District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in 1994. Fieldwork was divided into two phases. Phase I consisted of site mapping and sample excavations. Primary and secondary grid baselines were established across the site for the purpose of creating a topographic map. Permanent reference points were established...    CONTINUED...

 

NATIONAL REGISTER TESTING AT NEALS LANDING
In 1987, ESI conducted site testing at 8JA45 for the Mobile District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Archival evidence and survey level investigations indicated that the site represented the location of a Creek Indian settlement known as Ekanachattee (ca. 1770-1818)...    CONTINUED...