A section of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, the Louisiana Division of Archaeology has a super-cool website with all kinds of goodies. You'll find links to and articles about lots of historic and prehistoric stuff. Best of all, at least to me, it contains several virtual books. Here's three of them:

• Beyond The Great House  An in-depth look at life outside the plantation big house, not in it. Learn how the po' folks lived.

• Louisiana Prehistory  Learn what happened before the white folks arrived.

• Poverty Point  Learn about one of the most interesting archaeological sites in the world. Around 1400 B.C., this site on the Louisiana side of the Delta was one of the largest cities in the world. Consider this: Unlike the ancient Old World cities of London, Paris, Rome and Athens, some unknown factor caused the abandonment of this ancient New World, Mississippi Delta metropolis. Suppose that unknown factor had not happened.

  Eminent anthropology professor and archaeologist Jon L. Gibson, Ph.D., performed most of the research on Poverty Point. Like me, he's a Tullos, Louisiana, native. He's also a good ole boy and a friend of mine.

You don't have to be an anthropologist. Anyone with an interest in history, art, other cultures, etc., will enjoy L.A.S. membership. You'll get cool newsletters filled with archaeological site reports, maps, articles, and info about where to apply as a volunteer on various anthropological projects and archaeological digs. You'll also get invitations to meetings where you'll get to rub shoulders with cool folks like John Lee Doughty and Jon Lee Gibson while we listen to experts give lectures on all kinds of cool stuff.

Mail checks to:

Josetta LeBoeuf, LAS Treasurer 9364 Rainford Rd Baton Rouge, LA 70810

Tell her Junior sent you.