For some, the idea of uncovering artifacts conjures up some “spooky” feelings. While October is unofficially spooky season, the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) along with other state agencies and the Mississippi Archaeological Association recognize October as Archaeology Month in Mississippi.

Archaeology is housed in the Environmental Division, and it plays a vital role in the planning and construction of MDOT projects. While an area might seem like the perfect place for a road or infrastructure project, it may already be home to buried artifacts. Led by Chief Archaeologist Jim Turner, MDOT’s team of archaeologists has the responsibility of finding and uncovering these artifacts.

Cultural resource management, the driving force behind most archaeological work in the United States, ensures that the proper areas are preserved and protected.

“Here at MDOT, abiding by federal and state laws, we do cultural resource studies on every project that comes across our desk,” said Turner. “Every time there is new right of way, it has to be surveyed to make sure that no archaeological sites are located there. And if so, we deal with it accordingly by shifting the right of way or excavating the site.”

Every discovery is a peek into Mississippi’s history. Turner recalled when the team found a Native American spearpoint made of obsidian, a type of volcanic glass, at a project on U.S. 49 E near Bee Lake in Holmes County. Because the rock is not native to the southeastern United States, it underwent testing and was chemically sourced to New Mexico. MDOT archaeologists concluded that an extensive trade network must have existed for the spearpoint to appear over 1,000 miles away.

One of MDOT’s biggest archaeological projects was preserving the Pocahontas Mounds along U.S. 49 in Hinds County. In 1974, plans to expand the highway to four lanes had to be postponed when a midden was discovered. The site was properly excavated, and expansion of the highway continued. Today, travelers can visit this site in the middle of the median that includes an interpretative center with replications of the discovered artifacts.