Sims Site facts for kids
 Location in Louisiana
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| Location | Paradis, Louisiana, Saint Charles Parish, Louisiana,  USA |
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| Region | Saint Charles Parish, Louisiana |
| Coordinates | 29°51′17.46″N 90°27′11.52″W / 29.8548500°N 90.4532000°W |
| History | |
| Founded | 850 CE |
| Abandoned | 1700 |
| Cultures | Coastal Coles Creek culture, Plaquemine Mississippian culture |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1978, 1979, 1980 |
| Responsible body: private | |
The Sims Site, also called Sims Place, is an ancient place in Louisiana. It's near the town of Paradis. This site was once a village with big earthen hills called platform mounds. It also has many layers of old trash, called middens. These middens show what people ate and used long ago.
People lived at the Sims Site during three main time periods. The first people arrived around 800 CE. They were part of the Coastal Coles Creek culture. By 1100 CE, the people here had changed to the Plaquemine culture. This culture was influenced by the larger Mississippian culture. They lived here until about 1450 CE. Later, from 1500 to 1700 or 1800, a final group lived at the site.
What is the Sims Site Like?
The Sims Site is quite large. It sits along both sides of a small stream called Bayou Saut d'Ours. Long ago, it had five or six earthen mounds. Today, only two mounds and parts of a third can still be seen. One mound, called Mound A, has an old cemetery on top of it.
The Sims Site was likely the biggest place in its area when people lived there. It was probably a main spot for important ceremonies and meetings. It was also a busy place for trade. The people living here traded things they found locally. This included items from the ocean, like shells and shell beads. They traded these with groups living further up the Mississippi River valley.
How Did People Trade at Sims Site?
Archaeologists study old pottery to learn about trade. At Sims Site, people first made pottery using a material called grog for tempering. Tempering is like adding tiny bits to clay to make it stronger. Later, they started using shell tempering. This means they added crushed shells to their pottery. Shell-tempered pottery was common in other areas. By seeing these changes, archaeologists can track how the Sims Site people traded with others.
During the second period (1100 to 1450 CE), trade grew a lot. The pottery found at Sims Site shows links to people from the Lower Mississippi Valley. It also connects to Plaquemine people near Barataria Bay today. There were also ties to the Pensacola culture. These people lived on the upper Gulf Coast, near what is now Biloxi, Mississippi. This was when the Bottle Creek Site, a major Pensacola culture center, was growing. This period also shows the strongest connections to the Plaquemine culture at Sims Site.
In the next period, the Sims Site people had more contact with Mississippian-influenced Plaquemine groups. Some of these groups lived as far north as the Baton Rouge area. They also continued to trade with the Mississippian Pensacola people.
