Efforts to keep traffic off the LSU Mounds on game days got off to a difficult start, with barricades being pulled for safety reasons at the last game, allowing free access for people to walk up and slide down the mounds. But, because the mounds are so culturally and scientifically important, the university has come together and developed the “Save the Mounds” campaign to preserve LSU’s Mounds.
As such, visitors to campus on home football game days will see that the mounds have been fenced off in a safe but thorough manner to avoid crowds gathering there to slide or view the parade.
However, it is important to note that the mounds will be accessible at all other times. The only time access will be restricted is during game days, when potentially damaging crowds can gather on them.
We have only recently begun to study the mounds in detail, and this work has taught us precisely how endangered these mounds are.
“We need to stop the flow of traffic on games days because the mounds are collapsing outward. We didn’t know that years ago, but we do now,” said Brooks Ellwood, Robey H. Clark Distinguished Professor in Geology and Geophysics. Ellwood and his classes that now study the mounds recently discovered that the internal sediment, especially in Northern Mound A, liquefies when disturbed, much like sand along the shoreline on a beach liquefies when you tap your foot on it. “With the damage these mounds have incurred – both through the critical mass reached on game days and also as a result of natural processes – they are collapsing,” he said.
“As a state, we have a responsibility to protect this nationally registered historical site,” said Rob Mann, southeast regional archaeologist for Louisiana, assistant professor-research of geography and anthropology and resident expert on the mounds. “If it is damaged or destroyed, no one will be able to access it. Not the children who want to slide down the mounds, not the scientists who want to continue their research on the structures. It will be a disaster, which is why we’re aiming for a compromise now.”
“The issue right now isn’t simply one child sliding down the mounds once or twice. It’s the amount of people – children and adults alike – that gather on the mounds during a game day. That combined weight and activity can really be catastrophic, especially when we’re looking at a structural system that is already compromised,” said Rebecca Saunders, curator of anthropology at the LSU Museum of Natural Science. “It’s already to the point that you can see severe slump scars on the face of both mounds. How long before those scars turn into gaping holes? Everything beneath such a hole would be ruined; there will be no way to accurately study the structure or gain any knowledge about the people who built it.”
“We’d like to urge LSU fans and the community to look at the facts and then give this idea some serious consideration,” said Patrick Hesp, chair of the LSU Department of Geography & Anthropology. “Everyone loves the mounds, but the fact is that crowds sliding down them can create a hazardous situation for these very old and distinctive structures. If we work together, the mounds will be around for future generations to enjoy as they come to campus.”
“Change is never easy, especially when it involves something that’s been considered a tradition for years and years,” said Chancellor Michael Martin. “But tradition doesn’t offset danger and potentially calamitous situations, and that’s what we’re facing here. Those mounds aren’t hills of dirt – they’re treasures, archaeological mysteries housed right here on LSU’s campus. We’re asking the entire LSU community – students, faculty, staff, fans and friends – to join forces and help us to save the LSU Mounds.”
For more see LSU Media Relations' Ashley Berthelot's announcement.
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road