The Cobb is an independent research and service unit of the College of Arts and Sciences, with formal cross-affiliation with the instructional; programs of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work and the Department of Philosophy and Religion. The Institute maintains interdisciplinary associations with the Departments of Art, Foreign Languages, History, and the School of Architecture.
Archaeologists at the Cobb Institute are involved in
the full range of archaeological work, including basic research--field
excavations, laboratory analysis, and report preparation--as well as
cultural resource management and public archaeology. The Institute
works with business, municipalities, and state, federal and
international agencies to assist them in complying with cultural
resource and environmental laws. Cobb archaeologists can perform large
or small-scale surveys and excavations.
The North American archaeology program centers on the southeastern U.S., especially Mississippi. MSU's involvement in local archaeology began in the 1960s and grew greatly during the construction of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. Several major archaeological survey projects, funded under contracts from the National Park Service, were conducted along the 100 mile stretch of the waterway north of Aliceville, Alabama. These recorded 450 archaeological sites dated between 9000 B.C. to A.D. 1900.
Archaeologists from MSU are also involved in several large-scale
excavation projects in connection with waterway development. These were
supported through funding of over $600,000 by the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers and the National Park Service. An example of the research
results from these projects comes from the Sanders site in Clay County,
which was excavated in 1988. The site, dating from the Late Gulf
Formation Period (850 to 400 B.C.), was a small shell midden that
contained pieces of more than 62 different pots. Many of these were
elaborately decorated with incised lines and punctations. More
recently, in the summer of 1994, work was conducted at the site of the
first Choctaw Agency in Mississippi.
Since 1983 the Institute has been the major sponsor of the Lahav Research Project and its ongoing program of archaeological investigations at Tell Halif in southern Israel. Along with Mississippi State University a consortium of other American academic institutions supports the Lahav Project. The consortium has included Emory University, Miami University of Ohio, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Washington State University, California State University at Los Angeles, Gustavus Adolphus College, and Rhodes College.
The Lahav Project was organized in 1975, and by 1989 the Project had completed two major phases of excavation involving eight seasons of field research. Fifteen strata of occupation have been identified at the site of the tell, including major settlements from the Early Bronze period (3000 to 2300 B.C.) and from the Israelite period of the Iron II Age (900 to 700 B.C.) Significant finds also have been recovered from the Late Bronze Age (1550 to 1200 B.C.) when the site largely was under Egyptian influence, and from the Late Roman/Byzantine era (A.D. 100 to 600) when the region was the scene of Jewish and Christian resettlement after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem.
At present the Lahav Project is engaged in Phase III excavation
work. Field work for Phase III was conducted in the summers of 1992
and 1993. This work focused on investigation of the fortified town of
Iron Age II located in Field IV on the
western edge of the tell. Research goals involved exposure of a large
expanse of public and domestic buildings adjacent to the fortifications
in order to articulate the city plan. The results of this excavation
phase will lead to better comprehension of Iron Age Tell Halif in the
system of defense and interchange of the ancient kingdom of Judah, as
well as in the economic and political framework of the southern region
between the ninth and seventh centuries B.C.
