History

The Pre-History of Jefferson Parish

It is estimated that humans first arrived in Jefferson Parish around 500 B.C. The abundant natural resources of the area supported a thriving population of pre-historic peoples. The Mississippi deltaic lands are a rich repository of Native American artifacts which tell the story of man before the arrival of Europeans and written history.

The Archaelogical Record

Among the most prominent archaeolgical remains are middens. Middens are essentially gigantic trash heaps consisting mainly of shells, bones and garbage depostited by the pre-historic inhabitants of the delta region. Most of Jefferson's middens were exploited for their shell content by European settlers. Many other middens sank into the wetland substrate. The few that remain are a treasury of Native American artifacts. Much of what we know about the pre-historic

Jefferson Parish was once home to abundant wildlife and marine life which sustained the early populations of migratory hunter-gatherers. About 1,500 years ago agriculture was introduced to the region on a limited scale. Crops included sunflowers, beans, corn and squash. Agriculture allowed a more sedentary way of life. Native American farming villages were located Mississippi River and bayous Barataria and des Familles. When Europeans arrived around 1700 the native population was using a seasonal approach to subsistance, fishing in the spring, planting and tending crops in the summer, and harvesting and hunting in fall and winter.

The Cultural Periods

It is thought that man first arrived in Louisiana around 10,000 B.C. The delta of the Mississippi River began to form around 5,000 B.C. Man did not arrive in present day Jefferson Parish until about 500 B.C. The pre-history of human habitation in the delta region can be divided into five major cultural periods....

The Tchefuncte Culture dates from about 500 B.C. to around 100 B.C. These people subsisted on hunting and shellfish gathering and lived in small family units. The Tchefuncte Culture began in southern Louisiana and spread up the Mississippi River, eventually reaching into modern day Texas and Mississippi.
The Marksville Period overlaps with the end of the Tchefuncte, spanning from around 200 B.C. to around 100 A.D. The Marksville culture spread into Louisiana from the Ohio Valley bringing primitive agriculture.
The Troyville period from about 500 A.D. to about 1100 A.D. The Troyville culture is somewhat vaguely defined and represents a transition between the Marksville Period and the later Coles Creek Period.
The Coles Creek Period reached its climax around 700 A.D. and was marked by improvements in agriculature and resulting increases in population. The Coles Creek people had a complex social structure and practiced a religion centered around large flat-topped pyramidal mounds.
The Plaquemine Period occured after 1200 A.D. and was defined by the adoption of cultural traits which originated to the north in the Mississippi Valley. The Plaquemine period was marked by significant improvements in the architecture of ceremonial and living spaces.

More to come on the prehistory of our parish.

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