US – LA: Evergreen Plantation

Location: Evergreen Plantation, Wallace, LA, USA

Season: May 14, 2023 to June 17, 2023

Session Dates: May 14– June 17, 2023

Application Deadline: April 3, 2023

Deadline Type: Rolling

Website: https://ifrglobal.org/program/us-la-evergreen-plantation/

Program Type:
Field School

RPA Certified:
No

Affiliation:
Evergreen Plantation Archaeological Field School

Project Director:
Dr. Jayur Madhusudan Mehta, Dr. Natalie King-Pedroso & Dr. Alisha Gaines

Project Description:

Evergreen Plantation Archaeological Field School (EPAFS) is a unique and interdisciplinary field school located on the most intact plantation in the Southeast United States. Situated in Edgard, Louisiana, EPAFS gives students the opportunity to learn how to interpret the material culture found at the “trowel’s edge” through supporting coursework in archaeological field methods, African American history, and the Literatures of the Afro-Gulf South.

Historical records provide a limited retelling of plantation lifeways during the 18th and 19th centuries. Archaeology, on the other hand, employs the study of material culture to describe life for the enslaved Africans, free people of color, Creoles, and enslavers whose identities and histories interacted on Evergreen. Students will interpret ground penetrating radar (GPR) data and will work with faculty and graduate students in the excavation of anomalies located in the spaces surrounding the 22, original slave cabins on Evergreen. Subsurface testing and excavation will add to our rudimentary understanding of the kinds of activities that took place on Evergreen Plantation.

While archaeology strives to uncover a detailed history of plantation life, students will also be introduced to music, foodways, literature, oral histories, local community organizers, field trips, and expert guests to fully understand how residents lived and worked along Louisiana’s German Coast from 1800 to 1950.

This multi-disciplinary approach to teaching the history and culture of this sugar-producing region will provide students with the tools necessary to interpret excavations and material culture while in the field and while excavating.

Project Size: 1-24 participants

Minimum Length of Stay for Volunteers: Students are expected to stay the full length of the program.

Minimum Age: 18 years or older

Experience Required: None

Room and Board Arrangements:
Lodging for students is in shared or single rooms. All efforts will be made to accommodate students in single rooms. Communal cooking and eating areas are available. Lavatories are shared among students. Communal areas will be kept clean and sanitized through shared efforts. Students are responsible for keeping personal spaces clean. Laundry facilities are available on site. Hazardous materials will be doubled bagged and transported offsite to the nearest medical facility.

Academic Credit:
8 Semester Credit Units (equivalent to 12 Quarter Units)