Abby's diary •SGA notices online
June 6th, 2013
…in which Abby the ArchaeoBus visits the Ocee Library in Johns Creek and the Power Springs Library in Powder Springs to host many kids and parents.
Join the SGA, and help save Georgia's fast-disappearing past!
Attend one of our two meetings each year and meet avocational and professional archaeologists. The spring meeting is during Archaeology Month, in May. Check our calendar for the date of the next meeting!
You can support the SGA by donating online now!
Gwinnett Archaeological Research Society •Online news
June GARS newsletter available
The June 2013 issue of the newsletter of the Gwinnett County Chapter of SGA, the Gwinnett Archaeological Research Society (GARS), is now available. Longer articles include “Old Peachtree Road Field Trip,” and “Some Early Iron Making on the Georgia Frontier.” Also, read about the memorial service held at the Cherokee Nation capital of New Echota to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the removal of about 20,000 Cherokees to Indian Territory in 1838.
Announcements •Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society
GAAS May meeting report
The May 14th Greater Atlanta Chapter (GAAS) meeting featured the award-winning video I Remember, I Believe about the discovery of an unmarked African American cemetery dating to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was introduced by Dr. Hugh “Matt” Matternes of New South Associates. As part of improvements along a stretch of Sardis Church Road, New South investigated the burial ground. This video won awards at the Archaeology television channel international archaeology film and video festival.
Announcements •Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society
GAAS April meeting report
The Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society (GAAS) speaker for April 2013 was Dr. James D’Angelo, who spoke on the links between Fort Daniel on Hog Mountain in present-day Gwinnett County, and the likely location of Fort Peachtree in present-day Atlanta. Beginning with early maps of Georgia, then tracing the 1780 treaty line of Oconee River forts, the Postal horse path in 1806, the Creek Wars Act of War of 1812, he then included the Ft. Mims massacre on Aug 30, 1813.
Abby's diary
June 3rd, 2013
…in which Abby the ArchaeoBus visits libraries in Newnan in Coweta County and Doraville in DeKalb County. This tour is in conjunction with this year’s summer reading program Dig Into Reading.
SGA notices online •Summer 2013 issue •The Profile •The SGA news
The 2013 SGA Posters are on their way
Thanks to the hard work of SGA volunteers, the 2013 Georgia Archaeology Month posters have been packed and distributed across the state. Read on to learn more about the history of the Georgia Archaeology Month posters and the volunteers who make this outreach program a success.
Online news and research •Summer 2013 issue •The Profile
Revisiting Anneewakee Creek (9DO2)
In this intriguing research report, Dylan Woodliff describes recent fieldwork by Edwards-Pitman Environmental, Inc. (EPEI) at The Anneewakee Creek site (9DO2) in Douglas County, Georgia. New work by EPEI suggests that this famous Woodland period mound site may contain previously unrecorded earthworks.
Online news and research •Summer 2013 issue •The Profile
Digging Savannah app has launched
The Digging Savannah app is now available in the Google Play marketplace. The app will work on most Android devices including smartphones and tablets. Just search for “Digging Savannah.” The App allows you to discover archaeology sites in and around Savannah that have been investigated and are on property open to the public. For more information, visit the Digging Savannah website by clicking here, and follow us on Facebook by clicking here.
Online news •Summer 2013 issue •The Profile
History grows at the Garden of the Coastal Plain
For over twenty-five years, the Garden of the Coastal Plain at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro has served as a botanical and historical oasis on the edge of campus. Read on to learn more about the garden and recent efforts to turn the Bland Cottage into a museum.
Online news and research •Summer 2013 issue •The Profile
Book chapter highlights Holder’s work on the Georgia coast
Preston Holder’s important WPA-era archaeological fieldwork on the Georgia coast has been largely ignored. Thanks to recent efforts by SGA members, this picture is changing. Here Keith Stephenson reviews Kevin Kiernan’s book chapter about Preston Holder’s work on the Georgia coast, recently published by the University of Alabama Press.
Announcements •Spring 2013 issue •The SGA news
Spring 2013 issue of The Profile now available
Issue number 156, Spring 2013, of the SGA’s quarterly newsletter, The Profile, is now available as a downloadable and printable PDF. Alternatively, you can click here to see excerpts of all stories in the issue. The stories in The Profile all were originally posted to this website in January, February, or March of 2013.
Spring 2013 issue •The Profile
President’s Message: Spring 2013
… in which President Tammy Herron discusses the history and exciting future of Georgia Archaeology Month and gives a preview of the Society’s Spring Meeting, scheduled for Saturday, May 18, in Macon. President Herron also comments on the recent successful action to transfer the administration of the Georgia Archives to the Board of Regents.
Announcements •The SGA news
Georgia Archives update to SGA: Success in legislative session
Great news! As a Coalition Partner, the SGA has received the following update from Kaye Minchew and Ken Thomas, Co-Chairs of the Coalition to Preserve the Georgia Archives. The bill to transfer the administration of the Georgia Archives to the Board of Regents was passed by both houses of the Georgia legislature unanimously and goes to the Governor’s desk for signature. The State Budget, after the conference committee met, included $300,000 more for the Georgia Archives than the Governor originally proposed in January. Many thanks to all those who have worked so hard since September to keep the Georgia Archives open and to get money back in the budget.
Online news •Spring 2013 issue •The Profile
Archaeological investigations of “the Gulch” in downtown Atlanta
Edwards-Pitman Environmental, Inc. (EPEI) and New South Associates (NSA), under contract with HNTB Corporation, recently completed preliminary investigations of the Gulch, a low-lying area of downtown Atlanta long associated with the railroads. Preliminary archaeological investigations consisted of extensive archival background research, soil coring, and a large-scale geophysical survey of the project area. These investigations not only shed light on a fascinating and significant part of Atlanta’s history, but represent the most extensive investigations of their kind in an urban setting in the Southeast.
Online news •Spring 2013 issue •The Profile
Survey in Clayton and Fayette counties sheds light on Civil War battlefield
In 2012, Edwards-Pitman Environmental conducted a Phase I survey of McDonough Road in Fayette and Clayton counties for the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) under contract with American Engineers, Inc. The work included systematic shovel testing and metal detection along the nine kilometer project corridor from SR 54 in the west to Tara Boulevard near Lovejoy in the east. Dan Elliott of the LAMAR Institute helped with the metal detector survey. This project documented archaeological remnants of the western extent of the Battles of Lovejoy Station Battlefield.
Announcements •SGA notices online •Social Studies Fair awards •Spring 2013 issue •The Profile
2013 Social Studies Fair winners
The SGA and its partner, the GCPA (Georgia Council of Professional Archaeologists), are pleased to announce winners of awards for Georgia archaeology for 2013 at the State Social Studies Fair, held Saturday, March 23, at Clayton State University in Morrow. The SGA’s seventh-grade winner is Kameron Gaston for his project, “Nazca Lines: Why Are They Here?” The GCPA’s fifth-grade winner is Kara Harper for her project, “The Invisible Enemy: Diseases of the Civil War.” See photos of the winners and their projects in the full story.
Announcements •Publications •Spring 2013 issue •The Profile
Call for student submissions to The Profile
The Society for Georgia Archaeology invites undergraduate and graduate students to submit brief research reports, reviews of archaeological presentations and lectures, and essays about archaeological fieldwork and field trip experiences to The Profile. Topic areas are open, but should be related to the archaeology of Georgia and surrounding states. Submissions should generally be no longer than 1000 words. Accompanying photographs are encouraged.
Announcements •Chapter News •Gwinnett Archaeological Research Society •Publications •Spring 2013 issue
Fort Daniel tract now owned by Gwinnett County
Efforts of members of The Gwinnett Archaeological Research Society and The Fort Daniel Foundation have finally paid off. On December 21, 2012, Gwinnett County closed on the 4.5-acre tract within which the entire fort site is situated. The County shall, in turn, lease the property to the Foundation, which will be responsible for developing both the land and an educational outreach program. Details of the lease agreement are being worked out, and it is expected that the Foundation will assume its responsibilities by the end of March. Already, students from local schools have had the opportunity to get their hands dirty and learn something about archaeology and about Fort Daniel’s connection with our frontier history and the Creek Indian War.
Announcements •Archaeological sites to visit •Archaeology 101 •Museums and Historical Centers •Winter 2012 issue
Preserving our past for our future: The Chesser-Williams House
The Chesser–Williams House is now at the campus of the Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center. The House has exquisite art work on its exterior and interior. By moving the House to the Center, it will be preserved for educational programming. The project has received recognition from the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of 22 projects in the United States that received a Cynthia Woods Mitchell grant in 2010.
Archaeology 101 •Georgia archaeology online •Online news and research •Research articles •Winter 2012 issue
Avondale Burial Place video
Recently, New South Associates was contracted by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) to recover, analyze, and relocate the Avondale Burial Place in southern Bibb County. Fieldwork discovered 101 individuals. Later analysis, including historical research, indicates the burial ground was most heavily used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, although there are indicators that this location began as a slave cemetery and was subsequently used by African American tenant farmers. View an excellent video about this important project that’s in the full story.
Book notes •Frontiers in the Soil •Teacher/Student
Order Frontiers in the Soil now!
Frontiers in the Soil is a classic in archaeological literature that should be useful to everyone. Using easy-to-read text by Roy S. Dickens, Jr., and creative color cartoon illustrations by James L. McKinley, Frontiers interprets Georgia’s past with humor in over 100-pages of delightful reading. Click here to download the order form for Frontiers in the Soil.
ArchaeoBus •Information for teachers •SGA notices online •Teacher/Student
The ArchaeoBus is Georgia’s Mobile Archaeology Classroom
Georgia’s Mobile Archaeology Classroom—the ArchaeoBus—provides hands-on and minds-on activities to enthuse your students about learning. Archaeology is a great tool for turning on the minds of students, as well as a great motivational tool. More important, it is a discipline capable of instruction in a wide variety of skills. Archaeology is a holistic academic and intellectual approach that involves all subject areas, social skills, and conceptual skills. Georgia’s Mobile Archaeology Classroom offers the opportunity for students and teachers to leave the traditional four-walled classroom and use a new approach to learn state standards!
