{"pk":25036,"title":"A perfect storm: An archaeological management crisis in the Mississippi River Delta","subtitle":null,"abstract":"Engineered projects resulting in unintended consequences, coastal erosion, subsidence, and sea-level rise are rapidly destroying archaeological sites in the Mississippi River Delta (MRD). The processes of site obliteration are intensifying and accelerating due to anthropogenic transformation of the environment, including cumulative engineered alterations of the landscape and climate change. Combined with increased inundation and erosion from storm surges, hundreds of terrestrial sites formerly located on natural levees, barrier islands, and other coastal landforms are progressively eroded, redeposited, deeply buried, and submerged. These include thousand-year-old earthen mounds and shell middens constructed by Native Americans, as well as centuries-old fishing communities along the coast. These irreplaceable cultural properties can provide crucial information on the unique history and ecology of the MRD. Ongoing studies include consulting with interested parties and implementing data sharing agreements. Re- searchers have formed a consortium of universities and state and federal agencies, and are partnering with culturally affiliated Native American tribes, descendant groups, and coastal communities. The consortium is developing a robust GIS-enabled risk matrix for analyzing threats and effects to endangered sites. It is using the risk matrix to select 30 sites for monitoring, assessment, aerial photogrammetry, and recording environmental data on water table fluctuations. Analysis of action-based scientific data on these imperiled and rapidly disappearing places is urgently needed and will provide the impetus and baseline for future studies. Otherwise, ongoing site destruction will erase any remaining opportunities for learning about Louisiana’s deep history and diverse cultural heritage.","language":"en","license":{"name":"Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial  4.0","short_name":"CC BY-NC 4.0","text":"Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.\n\nNonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.\n\nNo additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0"},"keywords":[{"word":"climate change"}],"section":"New Perspectives (Non-Peer Reviewed)","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2v21z1vr","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Tad","middle_name":"","last_name":"Britt","name_suffix":"","institution":"National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, National Park Service","department":"None"},{"first_name":"David","middle_name":"J.","last_name":"Watt","name_suffix":"","institution":"National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, National Park Service","department":"None"},{"first_name":"Mark","middle_name":"","last_name":"Rees","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of Louisiana at Lafayette","department":"None"},{"first_name":"Kory","middle_name":"","last_name":"Konsoer","name_suffix":"","institution":"Louisiana State University","department":"None"},{"first_name":"Samuel","middle_name":"M.","last_name":"Huey","name_suffix":"","institution":"University of Louisiana at Lafayette","department":"None"}],"date_submitted":"2020-01-02T17:49:30Z","date_accepted":"2020-01-02T17:49:30Z","date_published":"2020-01-01T00:00:00Z","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/psf/article/25036/galley/14667/download/"}]}