According to Louisiana state site files, the Sally Warren Mounds consist of “a large rectangular shaped mound” known as Mound A, and a “conical shaped burial mound” known as Mound B. Their presumed function was listed as “burial mounds and possibly small village.” The site is located on a natural levee next to Cocodrie Lake.
The site, named for a previous landowner, was last visited by an archaeologist in 1982, when it was discovered that both mounds had been disturbed, and a complete human skeleton had been uncovered in Mound B. The landowner was so rattled by the incident that he denied the archaeologist access to the site shortly after he arrived. After this incident, the owner vigilantly protected the site, and the illicit digging stopped. As there was no time to do any drawings or collect artifacts, the site file simply noted that prehistoric material was observed, and there was a large area of dark soil near one of the mounds with an extensive quantity of ceramics and lithics. “This site should definitely be tested before looters destroy it completely,” the archaeologist wrote. Unfortunately, little more is known about the Sally Warren Mounds.
Monterey Holdings decided to donate Mound B to the Conservancy. And at the behest of the company’s owners, Al Ater, a local landowner whose holdings included Mound A, agreed to donate it to the Conservancy as well. The two mounds that disappeared, and were then rediscovered, will now be preserved so that one day the Sally Warren Mounds can reveal their secrets.
