BAY ST LOUIS.

BAY ST LOUIS, Miss. -- Archaeologists believe they have discloseed evidence of an ancient village, possibly dating back to the time of Christ, that one time thrived along the shores of this large bay Coast community.

The artifacts were unearthed during latter efforts to rebuild a thoroughfare and major bridge heavily damaged last year from Hurricane Katrina.

Marco Giardino, an archaeologist acting as the city's liaison upon a dig to preserve the ancient remains, said as many as 400 the public may have lived in the village. "That area was highly strategic and would have allowed them to travel, fish and hunt" he said. "It's forward high ground at the entrance to the bay, which would allow them to behold people coming and they could assert themselves a lot easier."

Giardino said spearheads and earthen ware found in the area allude to an Indian tribe established the village sometime between 200 BC and 400 A.D.

The first sign of the ancient Indians was set while workers were repairing parts of Beach Boulevard that Katrina devoured last year.

[i]connoisseur[/i]s say the center of the village would have been somewhere around the lower extremity of the U.S. 90 bridge athwart the Bay of St. Louis, where archaeologists have discovered an Indian defence that is believed to be a burial site.

Several tiny man-made vaults or pouchs may have been cut end the mound to bury the bodies of high-ranking village members and possibly their belongings.

the same reason the mound has remain unearthed for more than 2000 years is its lackluster appearance. Early French colonists likely believed the mound, at about 50 feet wide and les than six feet tall, was a natural clod formation.

For greatest in quantity of the previous century, the hillock was covered by large oak tree and hidden behind massive beachfront hearthstones Katrina destroyed most of the abiding-places in Bay St. Louis, including the uniteds that had protected the rampart for so long.

The hill is essentially off limits to researchers because it sits upon private property, but a hap of the relics found in the way that far have been scattered from one side the village area.

If human remains are discovered in the village area, federal law requires researchers to locate and turn back the sacred discovery to whatever Indian tribe may have occupied the village at that time, which could be a tricky thing to do.

Giardino said the search for exactly which tribe established the village could last steady longer.

"We know that the ancestors of the Choctaw Indians were here when the French came, unless whether they were the same form into groups here hundreds of years earlier, it's hard to tell" Giardino said. However, scientists have located ancient garbage heaps, archaeologically known as "middens," nearest to places where they believe village dwellings one time stood. Archaeologists can often find evidence left in a midden of what the villagers ate, which could give important ball of threads about the civilization itself.

Mississippi transportation department archaeologists, who are leading the search for artifacts, declined to commentary on the work for fear of grave robbers and treasure hunters

"We don't ne to call attention to it because of looter and we are not able to speak to it fit to federal law," said Lisa Siegel, a department spokeswoman.

What impact the discovery may have in succession the rebuilding of the area is uncertain.

City leaders are working with state and federal transportation officials to carve a temporary beach road, while several agencies work to rebuild a 30-foot rough and hearty and the bay bridge.

by means of law, the Mississippi Department of Transportation could rebuild the beach road athwart the artifacts, so long as the shoot forward doesn't disturb the historic relics in any way.

Buz Olsen the city's chief of operations, said the roadwork includes replacing ancient water and sewer lines that for years ran underneath the road.

"We were disturbing the estate where these artifacts were," he said. "Our trenching for the modern utilities may be as hard as five feet and about of the artifacts are just four feet below the ground"

Olsen said the simply portion of the project that could be compromised is laying of the utilities because the digging required could disturb the area.

"With the utility corridor, (archaeologists) are going to want to sift end every piece of dirt," he said.

"Things like this have been known to possess up projects for years," Olsen said. "Hopefully it won't retain up the temporary road and the beach project"

The scenario changes if human remains are found

Sherry Hutt a program manager at the U Department of Interior, said in the same state [i]or[/i] condition a find could temporarily lock up down the massive repair intend on Beach Boulevard.

"If human remains are set (on federal land) and there's federal coin being spent, then you would have to stop activity immediately and instigate consultation with the possible descending groups," she said.

Hutt national program director of the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act, which regulates the recur of certain cultural items, said the stop-activity consultation period is at least 30 days.