Tchefuncte Site

The Tchefuncte Site (16ST1) is an archaeological site that is a type site for the prehistoric Tchefuncte culture period. The name is pronounced Che-funk'tuh. It is located in the southeast section of Fontainebleau State Park near Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. It was inhabited from 500 BCE to 1 CE during the Tchula period. Major excavations were directed by Clarence Johnson in 1938 and Edwin Doran in 1941.

Site description

The Tchefuncte Site is located in the marsh half a mile north of Lake Pontchartrain in extreme eastern Louisiana. The Tchefuncte Site originally contained two oval-shaped shell middens, designated Midden A and Midden B. Midden A is about 52 meters long, 15 m wide, and 1.5 m thick. Midden B was approximately 46 m (151 ft) long and 33 m (108 ft) wide, but it is no longer in existence. The middens were composed mainly of shells of the brackish-water clam Rangia cuneata. At the time of the occupation just to the east of the site was a large bayou of fresh water emptying into the lake, and shortly after the occupation it shifted its course to a point about three quarters of a mile farther east.