Archaeological investigations at the site of the cabildo


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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. Excavation was by natural levels, and all soils were screened through 1/4" mesh. As a result of careful map work prior to excavation, one 1 x 2 m unit came down on the front wall and the corridor dividing wall of the civil prison built at the site in 1730. One other 1 x 1 m unit and a 1 x 1.5 m unit were placed in what was formerly the prison interior. All three units revealed similar stratigraphy. Beneath the destruction debris that resulted when the prison was torn down was a 10 cm-thick midden overlying the brick prison floor. Artifacts indicated that the midden was deposited between ca. 1800 and 1840. Interestingly, architectural historians had believed that this portion of the prison had been destroyed during the first decade of the nineteenth century.


No material from the eighteenth-century occupation of the prison was recovered in this area. Stratigraphic evidence indicated that an inspection trench to examine the building's foundations was excavated in the late-eighteenth century, probably at the time of the 1788 New Orleans fire. This unfortunately destroyed the colonial component of the prison.

A final 1 x 2 m unit was excavated in what was believed to have been the prison courtyard. However, remains of a massive brick foundation were uncovered at 50 cm below surface. Because there was no evidence that a structure had ever been in this location, the presence of the foundation was perplexing. Comparison of maps of the prison complex from 1730, 1769, and 1799 showed that while the dimensions of the prison in 1730 and 1799 were the same, the structure was wider on the 1769 map. This suggested that a corridor to the prison, which was documented as being built in 1751, was not interior to the structure erected in 1730, but was a facade addition. The foundation, then, represented the remains of the outer corridor wall. Artifacts recovered from on top of the foundation, as well the remains of a charred timber within the foundation, indicated that it had been destroyed in the 1788 New Orleans fire. This explained why the addition was not shown on the 1799 map.

Archeological excavations demonstrated that the site possessed the qualities of integrity and research potential necessary for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. Since the Cabildo is already listed as a National Historic Landmark, ESI recommended that the listing be modified to include the archeological resources at the site.