Oil spill cleanup turns up trove of Indian relics

wwltv.com
Posted on July 16, 2011 at 1:01 PM
Cain Burdeau / Associated Press

CAMINADA HEADLAND, La. (AP) -- Cleanup after the BP oil spill has turned up dozens of sites where archaeologists are finding human and animal bones, pottery and primitive weapons left behind by pre-historic Indian settlements -- a trove of new clues about the Gulf Coast's mound dwellers more than 1,300 years ago. But they also fear the remains could be damaged by oil or lost to erosion before they can be fully studied.

So far, teams of archaeologists hired by the oil giant have visited more than 100 sites and sent back a growing list of finds to labs for radiocarbon dating and other tests, though extensive excavations haven't been done. Scholars have also accompanied cleanup crews to make sure they don't unwittingly throw away relics.

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