Article

MRDAM: Mississippi River Delta Archeological Mitigation Project


A map showing projected sea level rise of ten feet on Louisiana's coast.
Sea Level Rise on Louisiana's coast, showing a ten-foot projection.

Map created by David Watt in Esri ArcGIS with data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ocean Service, Office for Coastal Management. Last Modified: 10/05/2022.

This project will help us understand how past human settlements adapted to the natural processes of erosion and sea level rise. Today, environmental changes are forcing people in Louisiana to move further inland as the coastline shrinks. This is a small-scale version of what is and will continue to happen along coasts and other deltas around the world.

Future generations may not know or be able to appreciate what places and heritage were lost. Many of the at-risk archeological sites have never been studied and much of the information connected with these places will be lost. Places and sites inform us of strength and resilience to these extreme changes over a long period of time. Traditional knowledge forms, such as ecological, horticultural, religious, folklore, customs, and more, are also considered when implementing site mitigation strategies.

Contact Us

Please send us an email if you have more questions about MRDAM.
MRDAM Contact Email.

Last updated: August 23, 2023