This text was obtained via automated optical character recognition.
It has not been edited and may therefore contain several errors.

---

Study,
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley,? he
further explained.
Lewis said the questionnaires will ask ?
residents how long they have lived at their present address; if they have discovered any old foundations, pottery, shell deposits or arrowheads while digging in their yards; and permission to examine, photograph and measure any visible artifacts cited.
The researcher emphasized that the study will not excavate yards or gardens, but will simply be a visual inspection of exposed archaeological features.
?We will plot the exact location of these artifacts on maps in order to determine the density of historic or prehistoric communities. We don?t have to excavate?damaging property is not the intent of the study,? he said.
Lewis noted coastal Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian is located on ?an extinct beach ridge? which was deposited some
100.000	years ago.
The researcher revealed that some
8.000	years ago the beach front was located some seven to eight miles south and included what is now the'. Mississippi Sound.
Based on that fact, I.ewissaid several prehistoric Indian communities are located in the sound and bay.
?The Mississippi coast, being in a position east of the mouth of the Mississippi River and west of Mobile Bay has important archaeological value. There?s a change in the styles of pottery found compared to surrounding states,? he explained.	:
?We >yant to focus on Bay St. I/Ouis'' and Pass "Christian to indentify ???l changing cultural adaptations in that area,? the researcher added. , ,	.
?This will give necessary background to propose a larger study in . order to preserve local heritage,?
I,ewis stated.
The researcher lists and describes five areas (see diagram also) surrounding"'{he Bay of St. Louis, ?a onusfiroom-shaped Holocene estuary,?
: J-? : i'\
?Stratum I is an extinct beach ridge which lies to either side of the mouth of the bay and which has been the focus of settlement over the past three centuries ;
?Stratum II consists of ?prairie flats,? a low-lying pine savanna which has recently come under development for vacation home lots;
?Stratum III is the mouth and adjacent shorelines of Bayou Portage, Jourdan and Wolf Rivers;
?Stratum IV is the northern shore of the bay, a homogeneous strip of marsh and pine forest which increases rapidly in elevation to the north;
?Stratum V is St. Louis Bay. Sea level changes over the past few thousand years have permanently submerged old shorelines and several known archaeological sites.
?The initial research stage, to begin in three weeks with the questionaires, will collect archeological site survey information for Strata' I and II?the ? beach ridge and prairie flats,? I-evyis reported.
?The second research stage, planned for the spring of 1982, will survey Stata III through V and complete the study of site distribution and density patterns on the different landform types of the study area,? he explained.
Lewis said the second phase will also begin with a mailed survey followed by ?field visits.?
?Banks of recently dredged canals will be examined by boat for shell middens, foundations and other cultural debris in profile,? he stated.
Mary Neumaier of Biloxi, secretary of Mississippi Archaeofogical Association?s Gulf Coast Chapter, t recently said, ?At a recent meeting we pledged support to I^wis in his en-deavor to conduct this long overdue survey of this area.?
?I/ewis said it is hoped he can interest some Mississippi universities in providing summer field schools to help with this project,? Neumaier noted.
The statewide archaeological organization consists of some 200 professional and amateur archaeologists with 50 members in the >ast chapter.
For membership or local survey information contact Neumaier at 115 Wiltshire R''"*
as: