Archeological and Historical Studies in the White Castle Gap Revetment, Iberville Parish, Louisiana.

The prehistoric and historic background and the environmental setting of the White Castle Gap Revetment, Iberville Parish, Louisiana is reviewed. An archeological field survey and test excavation on the Tally Ho site 16 IV 135 was also conducted between November 6 and 24, 1980. Historic records show that the Tally Ho Plantation was one of a number of large sugar plantations along the Mississippi River in the nineteenth century. The Tally Ho Plantation survived the Civil War and the emancipation of its slave labor base more or less intact, unlike numerous other plantations. Archeological investigations were undertaken in order to identify remnants of this nineteenth century occupation. Unfortunately, severe river bank erosion, borrowing operations, and modern dumping practices have severely disturbed the site. Surface surveys recovered considerable amounts of material, but early nineteenth, late nineteenth, and early twentieth century materials are intermixed. Test trenches excavated by backhoe failed to locate any buried foundation remnants, privies, or wells. Because none of the collection comes from closed or dated contexts and because most or all of the earliest materials have been carried away by river bank erosion, no further mitigation is recommended. Author