LSU Campus Mounds
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = LSU Campus Mounds
| nrhp_type =
| image = LSU Campus Indian Mounds.jpg
| caption =
| location = Along Field House Drive, on Louisiana State University Campus, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
| coordinates = {{coord|30.41506|-91.18222|format=dms|display=inline,title,source:ProprioMeOW}}
| locmapin = Baton Rouge
| architect =
| architecture = Earthen mounds
| added = March 1, 1999
| area = {{convert|2|acre}}
| refnum = 99000236{{NRISref|version=2013a}}
}}
File:LSU Campus Indian Mound.jpg
The LSU Campus Mounds or LSU Indian Mounds are two Native American mounds of the Archaic Period, on the campus of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Construction on the {{convert|20|ft|m|adj=mid|-tall}} mounds began more than 11,000 years ago,{{cite journal|last1=Ellwood|first1=B.B.|last2=Warny|first2=S.|last3=Hackworth|first3=R.A.|last4=Ellwood|first4=S.H.|last5=Tomkin|first5=J.H.|last6=Bentley|first6=S.J.|last7=Braud|first7=D.H.|last8=Clayton|first8=G.C.|display-authors=4|date=2022|title=The LSU campus mounds, with construction beginning at ∼11,000 BP, are the oldest known extant man-made structures in the Americas|url=https://ajsonline.org/article/65868-the-lsu-campus-mounds-with-construction-beginning-at-11-000-bp-are-the-oldest-known-extant-man-made-structures-in-the-americas|journal=American Journal of Science|volume=326|issue=6|pages=795-827|doi=10.2475/06.2022.02}} and may have continued until 5,000 years ago.{{cite book|last=Sternberg|first=Mary Ann|title=Along the river road: past and present on Louisiana's historic byway|year=2001|publisher=LSU Press|location=Baton Rouge|isbn=978-0-8071-2731-5|page=208|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wdCENSzZ95wC&pg=PA208}}{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-25571081.html|title=LSU soil samples show Indian mounds 5,000 years old}}{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} They predate the Great Pyramids of Egypt.{{cite web|url=http://www.lsu.edu/visitors/quickfacts.shtml|title=LSU Quick Facts|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090517000800/http://www.lsu.edu/visitors/quickfacts.shtml|archive-date=17 May 2009|access-date=24 March 2011}}
History
The mounds were built thousands of years ago on a spot overlooking the floodplain of the Mississippi River{{cite book|last=Gleason|first=David K.|title=Baton Rouge: Photographs and Text|year=1991|publisher=LSU Press|isbn=978-0-8071-1715-6|page=52|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ACD3iD_XO8AC&pg=PA52}} in what is now Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the site of Louisiana State University. The northern mound consists of hard clay dirt; the southern mound is more porous.{{cite news|url=http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/43081532.html?showAll=y&c=y|title=Archaeologists test 'charcoal horizon' at LSU|last=Blum|first=Jordan|date=16 April 2009|newspaper=The Advocate|access-date=14 January 2011}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.lsu.edu/mediacenter/news/2018/04/24campusmounds_2018.php|title=LSU's Archaeological Treasure|website=www.lsu.edu|access-date=2020-01-22}} The scholarly consensus is that they were used for "ceremonial and marking point purposes," rather than for burial. They are part of a larger, statewide system of mounds.
They were first dated in 1982.{{Cite web |title=LSU Campus Mounds |url=https://64parishes.org/entry/lsu-campus-mounds |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=64 Parishes |language=en}} In 2009, LSU professor Brooks Ellwood took core samples that revealed a layer of charcoal, possibly from a pit barbecue or a cremation. Additional excavation work was done in 2011, 2012, and 2018.{{cite web|url=http://www.lsu.edu/departments/gold/2010/09/mounds.shtml|title=Don't Tread on Me: University Takes Steps to Preserve LSU Mounds|last=Berthelot|first=Ashley|publisher=Louisiana State University|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127141841/http://www.lsu.edu/departments/gold/2010/09/mounds.shtml|archive-date=27 November 2010|access-date=14 January 2011|df=dmy-all}} Based on his analysis of the material found within the mounds, Ellwood conjectures that they contain cremated human remains and are substantially older than the existing consensus, as much as 11,300 years old.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_2256d93e-330a-11ea-b696-5785641b6610.html|title=LSU mounds could be oldest man-made structure, but peer review necessary, professor says|last=Rddad|first=Youssef|website=The Advocate|language=en|access-date=2020-01-22}}
Preservation
Due to their location in a heavily trafficked area of campus, the mounds began to show signs of degradation as well as natural erosion. To alleviate the issue, the university installed a sidewalk between the mounds in 1985. In addition, a low brick wall was placed around the mounds in order to prevent vehicles from dangerously crossing the mounds. Erosion continued to take its toll until a restoration project was initiated in 1996. Using river silt, the LSU Facility Services patched damage on both mounds and seeded a hybrid Bermuda grass to prevent future problems.{{cite web|title=Indian Mounds--Louisiana|publisher=Indian Burial and Sacred Grounds Watch Home Page|access-date=2 March 2011|url=http://www.ibsgwatch.imagedjinn.com/learn/louisiana.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101231025602/http://www.ibsgwatch.imagedjinn.com/learn/louisiana.htm|archive-date=31 December 2010}}
The mounds were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 1, 1999.{{cite web|url=https://www.crt.state.la.us/dataprojects/hp/nhl/attachments/Parish17/Scans/17067001.pdf|title=LSU Campus Mounds|publisher=State of Louisiana's Division of Historic Preservation|access-date=May 10, 2018}} with [https://www.crt.state.la.us/dataprojects/hp/nhl/view.asp?ID=1084 two photos]{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=99000236}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: LSU Campus Mounds|author=Christopher T. Hays|date=November 1998|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=May 10, 2018}} With {{NRHP url|id=99000236|photos=y|title=a photo from 1998}}.{{cite news|url=http://www.2theadvocate.com/features/111648809.html?showAll=y&c=y|title=LSU Mounds have storied past|last=Blitzer|first=Carol Ann|date=10 December 2010|newspaper=The Advocate|access-date=14 January 2011}}
In 2010, LSU announced the "Save the Mounds" campaign to preserve the mounds. Officials from the school stated that the mounds had suffered internal structural damage that would lead to their eventual collapse. While they were formerly used for tailgate parties, in 2010 they began to be fenced off during LSU's home football games to prevent them from being damaged.{{cite news|title=LSU Indian mounds to be fenced off again on football game days|url=http://www.nola.com/lsu/index.ssf/2010/10/indian_mounds_to_be_fenced_aga.html|access-date=14 January 2011|newspaper=Associated Press|date=1 October 2010}}{{cite news|title=LSU tailgaters win over preservation at Indian mounds|url=http://www.nola.com/lsu/index.ssf/2010/09/lsu_tailgaters_win_over_preser.html|access-date=14 January 2011|newspaper=The Advocate|date=28 September 2010}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{commons category|LSU Campus Mounds}}
{{Pre-Columbian North America}}
{{LSU}}
{{Baton Rouge, Louisiana}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana}}
{{Portal bar|National Register of Historic Places}}
Category:Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana
Category:Archaic period in North America
Category:Geography of Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Category:History of Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Baton Rouge, Louisiana