The Taensa were a Native American people whose settlements at the time of European contact in the late 17th century were located in present-day Tensas Parish, Louisiana. The meaning of the name, which has the further spelling variants of Taenso, Tinsas, Tenza or Tinza, Tahensa or Takensa, and Tenisaw, is unknown. It is believed to be an autonym. The Taensa should not be confused with the Avoyel, known by the French as the petits Taensas, who were mentioned in writings by explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville in 1699. The Taensa are more closely related to the Natchez people and both are considered descendants of the late prehistoric Plaquemine culture.
The Anna site is a prehistoric Plaquemine culture archaeological site located in Adams County, Mississippi, 10 miles (16 km) north of Natchez. It is the type site for the Anna phase of the Natchez Bluffs Plaquemine culture chronology. It was declared a National Historic Landmark on September 14, 1993.
Coles Creek culture is a Late Woodland archaeological culture in the Lower Mississippi valley in the Southeastern Woodlands. It followed the Troyville culture. The period marks a significant change in the cultural history of the area. Population increased dramatically and there is strong evidence of a growing cultural and political complexity, especially by the end of the Coles Creek sequence. Although many of the classic traits of chiefdom societies are not yet manifested, by 1000 CE the formation of simple elite polities had begun. Coles Creek sites are found in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. It is considered ancestral to the Plaquemine culture.
The Plaquemine culture was an archaeological culture centered on the Lower Mississippi River valley. It had a deep history in the area stretching back through the earlier Coles Creek and Troyville cultures to the Marksville culture. The Natchez and related Taensa peoples were their historic period descendants. The type site for the culture is the Medora site in Louisiana; while other examples include the Anna, Emerald, Holly Bluff, and Winterville sites in Mississippi.
The Medora site (16WBR1) is an archaeological site that is a type site for the prehistoric Plaquemine culture period. The name for the culture is taken from the proximity of Medora to the town of Plaquemine, Louisiana. The site is in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, and was inhabited from approximately 1300 to 1600 CE. It consisted of two mounds separated by a plaza. In the winter of 1939-40 excavation of this site was undertaken by the Louisiana State Archaeological Survey, a joint project of Louisiana State University and the Work Projects Administration. It was directed by James A. Ford, and George I. Quimby. The excavations of the site were instrumental in defining the characteristics of the Plaquemine period and culture.
Frogmore Mound Site is an archaeological site of the Late Coles Creek culture in Concordia Parish, Louisiana. The site is located 7 miles (11 km) west of Ferriday on US 84. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 28, 2004.
Ghost Site Mounds is an archaeological site in Tensas Parish, Louisiana with an Early to Middle Coles Creek culture component and a Late Coles Creek to Plaquemine culture component.
Fitzhugh Mounds is an archaeological site in Madison Parish, Louisiana from the Plaquemine\Mississippian period dating to approximately 1200–1541 CE. It is the type site for the Fitzhugh Phase(1350-1500) of the Tensas Basin Plaquemine Mississippian chronology.
Scott Place Mounds is an archaeological site in Union Parish, Louisiana from the Late Coles Creek-Early Plaquemine period, dating to approximately 1200 CE. The site is one of the few such sites in north-central Louisiana.
Venable Mound is an archaeological site in Morehouse Parish, Louisiana with a single mound with components from the Troyville, Coles Creek and Plaquemine period.
Deprato Mounds, also known as the Ferriday Mounds, is a multi-mound archaeological site located in Concordia Parish, Louisiana. The site shows occupation from the Troyville period to the Middle Coles Creek period. The largest mound at the site has been dated by radiocarbon analysis and decorated pottery to about 600 CE.
The Raffman site is an archaeological site located in Madison Parish, Louisiana and constructed between 700 and 1200 CE. It has components from the Tchefuncte culture and the Coles Creek culture, whose main period of occupation was during the Balmoral Phase(1000-1100 CE) of the Tensas Basin and Natchez Bluffs chronology and which was virtually deserted by the end of the Preston Phase .
Transylvania Mounds is an archaeological site in East Carroll Parish, Louisiana with components from the Coles Creek (700–1200)CE and Plaquemine/Mississippi periods (1200–1541). It is the type site for the Transylvania Phase of the Tensas Basin Plaquemine Mississippian chronology.
Sundown Mounds is an multimound archaeological site in Tensas Parish, Louisiana from the Early Coles Creek culture. It is the type site for the Sundown Phase of the Tensas Basin and Natchez Bluff Coles Creek chronology.
Flowery Mound is an archaeological site in Tensas Parish, Louisiana with components from the Late Coles Creek and Plaquemine-Mississippian culture which dates from approximately 950–1541.
Marsden Mounds is an archaeological site with components from the Poverty Point culture and the Troyville-Coles Creek period. It is located in Richland Parish, Louisiana, near Delhi. It was added to the NRHP on August 4, 2004, as NRIS number 04000803. It is the type site for the Marsden Phase of the Tensas Basin and Natchez Bluff regions local chronology.
The Mott Archaeological Preserve or Mott Mounds Site is an archaeological site in Franklin Parish, Louisiana on the west bank of Bayou Macon. It originally had eleven mounds with components from the Marksville, Troyville, Coles Creek, and Plaquemine periods. It was at one time one of the largest mound centers in the Southeast and has one of the largest mounds in Louisiana with a base which cover more than two acres. It was purchased by the Archaeological Conservancy in 2002. and is now used for research and educational purposes.
The Sims site (16SC2), also known as Sims Place site, is an archaeological site located in Saint Charles Parish, Louisiana, near the town of Paradis. The location is a multi-component mound and village complex with platform mounds and extensive midden deposits. The site habitations are divided into three periods. It was first inhabited about 800 CE by peoples of the Coastal Coles Creek culture. By 1100 CE the culture of the site had transitioned into the Mississippianized Plaquemine culture that lasted until 1450 CE. A little later was a Late Mississippian/protohistoric period that lasted from 1500 until about 1700 or 1800.
Morgan Mounds is an important archaeological site of the Coastal Coles Creek culture, built and occupied by Native Americans from 700 to 1000 CE on Pecan Island in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. Of the 45 recorded Coastal Coles Creek sites in the Petite Anse region, it is the only one with ceremonial substructure mounds. These indicate that it was possibly the center of a local chiefdom.
The Atchafalaya Basin Mounds is an archaeological site originally occupied by peoples of the Coastal Coles Creek and Plaquemine cultures beginning around 980 CE, and by their presumed historic period descendants, the Chitimacha, during the 18th century. It is located in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana on the northern bank of Bayou Teche at its confluence with the Lower Atchafalaya River. It consists of several earthen platform mounds and a shell midden situated around a central plaza. The site was visited by Clarence Bloomfield Moore in 1913.
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