Archaeologists in Louisiana save artifacts dating back 12,000 years from natural disasters, looters

Archaeologists have been gingerly digging up the ground at a site in central Louisiana this summer to unearth and preserve evidence of prehistoric occupation. The U.S. Forest Service.says the site in Vernon Parish in the Kisatchie National Forest was found by surveyors in 2003. Hurricanes Laura and Delta uprooted trees and exposed some of the artifacts. Further damage has been done by looters making unauthorized digs. Forest officials say the site shows evidence of generations of people living in the area going back 12,000 years. The salvaged artifacts will be sorted, catalogued and examined as researchers at the archaeology lab seek to make determinations about past cultures at the site.