From about AD 400 to 700, a great settlement was constructed at the confluence of the Tensas, Black and Ouachita Rivers in Louisiana. Named for a local plantation and settlement that was established in the late 1700’s called Troy, the Troyville site originally consisted of nine mounds, the largest was nearly eighty feet with two “terraces” that were topped with what was described as a “flattened cone or dome.”

The mounds were surrounded by an embankment on three sides and a river on one. As the site was being destroyed by the town of Jonesville, Winslow Walker, with the Smithsonian Institution, conducted hurried salvage excavations that revealed woven cane mattings fixed in place with wood stakes, palmetto fronds, preserved wood planks and logs. Believed by many to have been largely destroyed by the town of Jonesville, Louisiana, in 2003, Louisiana archaeologists took a closer look at what lies beneath the town and found that much of the Troyville site remains intact. Since then, the Conservancy has been working to acquire and preserve what remains of this important site and the type-site for the Troyville Culture.

Jessica Crawford (pictured right) has been The Archaeological Conservancy’s Southeast Regional Director for 15 years and is responsible for managing sites across eight southeastern states. This includes overseeing research projects and site preservation measures, processing and finalizing new acquisitions, and working with state and federal governments to incorporate Conservancy properties into parks and other public lands. She attended the University of Mississippi where she received a BA in English and an MA in Anthropology. She currently resides near Marks, Mississippi.