By John Howell
Archeologists will meet with City Engineer Blake Mendrop and city officials Tuesday to provide guidelines for use and development of the Batesville Mounds on Highway 35 North.

Mendrop said he asked the officials to come to the July 21 meeting of the board of mayor and aldermen “so that y’all can hear exactly what can be done, what should be done, what the limits are. She can talk a little bit about the Indian trails, the pulloffs …,” Mendrop said.

Pam Lieb, Chief Archeologist for the Mississippi Dept. of Archives and History (MDAH), and University of Mississippi Professor of Anthropology Jay Johnson are expected to meet with city officials for a work session scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., one hour earlier than the regularly scheduled Third Tuesday meeting. Work sessions are open to the public as are all meetings of elected officials.

The 90-acre Batesville Mounds property was deeded to the city by the Panola Industrial Development Authority at the first of the year. City officials have been reluctant to approve activities and projects for the property until they receive guidelines from MDAH.

Interest in the Batesville Mounds, also known as the Harmon Mounds, rekindled in 2013 when the Mississippi Dept. of Transportation (MDOT) and MDAH agreed that the site was appropriate for inclusion on the Mounds Trail project. The project identifies significant sites of Native American culture with roadside signs.

The city cleared away brush and trees, opening for passersby on Highway 35 North a view of the largest of the mounds at the site. The large mound had been hidden from highway view for over 40 years.

MDOT paved an area to allow motorists to pull off Highway 35 to view the mound, but no marker has yet been erected.

Archeologists have determined that the mounds were part of villages built on the banks of the Tallahatchie River and inhabited by Indians of the Middle Woodlands period for up to eight centuries, starting in 500 B. C.

Another business item slated for the 1 p.m. work session is meeting with representatives of Retail Coach, a marketing research firm hired by the city in 2013.