In the summer of 2006 the Cane River African Diaspora Archaeology Project (CRADAP)
began to explore the plantation of a Frenchman named Jean Baptiste Ailhaud St. Anne.
Archival research revealed that Ailhaud St Anne immigrated to the Cane River Colony
in the 1780’s. In 1794 he received a large land grant on the Isle Brevelle and throughout
the early nineteenth century he went on to expand his landholdings and become a
person of considerable wealth for the area. Moreover, the Ailhaud St Anne plantation
is the contemporary and adjacent property of the Marie Therese Coincoin plantation.
The plantation is of archaeological interest because it provides an opportunity
to explore possible differences in material culture between communities in colonial
Louisiana, expanding our knowledge of the spatial layout of colonial plantations,
and to access the utility of ground based remote sensing methods in plantation archaeology.
In June 2006 archaeological work began on the plantation site with the NCPTT Summer
Institute conducting a geophysical survey of the area, followed by ground-truthing
of anomalies. Excavations continued through early July as part of University College
London’s master’s student Kristy Williams’ research on historical and archeological
methods in plantation archaeology.