…in which Abby the ArchaeoBus visits Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, and is visited by over 200 people. The SGA extends a hearty thanks to helpers from Armstrong Atlantic State University Anthropology Club, students, and especially Anthropology and Archaeology Instructors Ms. Bruno and Ms. Seifert!

…in which Abby the ArchaeoBus departs Stone Mountain southbound to attend various events in Coastal Georgia….

…in which Abby the ArchaeoBus talks about her return journey to Stone Mountain to work from New South Associates over the next six months to educate the children of the Stone Mountain/East Atlanta/Dekalb County area on how nifty archaeology can be!

Abby the ArchaeoBus is in residence at New South Associates in Stone Mountain through June 2013. A wonderful crew at NSA is conducting a regional pilot program to reach a more diverse and greater percentage of the Georgia population. This will serve to guide how we use Abby in other regions of our large state. Nick Joseph, Marketing Coordinator at NSA, will be the Stone Mountain Regional Coordinator for the ArchaeoBus.

…in which Abby the ArchaeoBus discusses her latest publicity—her photograph high on the home page of the Society for American Archaeology, which has more than 7000 members.

…in which Abby the ArchaeoBus attends the 2012 CoastFest in Brunswick to show people how fun and exciting archaeology can be, and how important it is to preserve archaeological sites.

…in which Abby the ArchaeoBus stars…um…plays a role in a movie!—well, a TV show. Read the full story to learn about the ArchaeoBus’s adventure driving to Camp Lawton, and working there with Time Team America’s crew, which was there shooting a segment about the Civil War camp.

Rita Elliott invites you to volunteer to help with the SGA’s exhibit at CoastFest in Brunswick. Our biggest display will be the ArchaeoBus! Rita writes, “We will be setting up at 8 AM.” CoastFest runs from 10AM–4PM on Saturday, October 6, 2012. Follow the link in the full story, and tell Rita when you can help!

…in which Abby the ArchaeoBus visits the Fort Daniel Colonial Faire during Archaeology Month in May, 2012. Fort Daniel is an archaeological site in urban Gwinnett County, right behind a house. During the Faire, students worked with archaeologists excavating the Fort, visitors enjoyed booths with hands-on activities, and could even buy a souvenir!

…in which Abby the ArchaeoBus gets new lenses for “cataracts.” Abby discusses getting new windows, courtesy of Southern Research, Historic Preservation Consultants, making her both safer and…more beautiful (she says).

…in which Abby the ArchaeoBus visits New South Associates in Stone Mountain during Archaeology Month, Spring 2012. Abby tells about her adventures hosting many visitors, and provides many photographs of people and activities, including an excavation. Look at the photos and find friends—and meet Captain Jack!

…in which Abby the ArchaeoBus visits Fort Hawkins (Macon) during Archaeology Month, in Spring 2012. Abby tells about her adventures at Fort Hawkins, and provides many photographs of visitors and activities, including excavations and surveying with a transit. Look through them all to find SGA friends and acquaintances!

…in which Abby the ArchaeoBus visits Auburn, Georgia, and hosts over 200 visitors including middle-schoolers, homeschoolers and parents, city administrators, a state representative, and more—read the whole story and look at the photos!

…in which Abby the ArchaeoBus attends the 2011 Georgia National Fair, and hosts mobs of happy visitors. See lots of pictures from the Fair!

Museums and other institutions store and display artifacts. Curators—the professionals who care for artifact collections in museums and other institutions that preserve artifacts—must be very careful to make sure that artifacts are preserved and not damaged while in their care. Read about many potential agents of deterioration, degradation, and destruction in the full article.

…in which Abby the ArchaeoBus attends the Georgia Council for the Social Studies Conference in Athens along with hundreds of teachers, many of whom, she discovered, are quite knowledgeable about Georgia archaeology.

…in which Abby the ArchaeoBus attends the charity auction to raise money for the SGA’s Endowment Fund that was held in conjunction with the 2011 Fall Meeting.

…In which Abby the ArchaeoBus visits Ft. Hawkins, in Macon. Abby describes excavations to uncover palisade walls that were built in 1809, and the flood of visitors who toured the Bus and displays.

Abby the ArchaeoBus discusses visiting the Southeastern Archaeology Conference in Florida, and participating in Public Archaeology Day while parked outside the Museum of Science and History in Jacksonville. Enjoy photographs of the event as part of the diary entry.

In which…Abby the ArchaeoBus is rescued by Dr. Andy and nurse Bobby after an acute attack of colic on the Interstate.

See lots of photos of the SGA’s ten tables and the ArchaeoBus at CoastFest 2011, held in October in Brunswick, by checking out the full story. Well over 9000 people attended CoastFest, and hundreds toured the ArchaeoBus and the exhibits under and around the SGA tent. The SGA installation was supported by 18 volunteers, many from the Golden Isles Archaeological Society, and also from Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, and the United Kingdom.

The ArchaeoBus spent Friday, October 21st, 2011 at Georgia Council for the Social Studies conference in Athens, attended by 510 educators. The ArchaeoBus, accompanying displays, and the door prize the SGA offered were all well-received.

This week, 24–31 October, 2011, the SGA’s ArchaeoBus is at Fort Hawkins and open to the public, while excavations are in progress. This is the first time the ArchaeoBus has visited active excavations! Fort Hawkins, on a hill above the Ocmulgee National Monument and downtown Macon, dates to 1806, before Macon was founded. On the 31st, attend a Press Conference at 3:00PM, when you can see all that was found during the week, and tour the ArchaeoBus. At 5:00PM, the first Fort Hawkins Halloween Hauntings will begin, with ArchaeoBus tours a major highlight of this free, fun, family event.

You are invited! Come out for an adventurous evening and leave with a treasure! Participate in both a silent and live auction to benefit the SGA on Saturday evening, October 22, 2011, at the Terrapin Brewery, just outside of Athens. Entry is free. Silent auction and tours begin at 6:30pm. The live auction begins at 8pm, with Georgia Hall of Fame Auctioneer Colonel Wilbur C. Mull. We offer two kinds of items for both the live and the silent auctions: 1) Ethnic Objects from Around the World (no archaeological artifacts, of course), and 2) Outdoor Adventure items. Access sample item photos in the full story.

Attend the Georgia National Fair and help the SGA by volunteering to present the ArchaeoBus to the public. No experience necessary! The ArchaeoBus is the SGA’s fun mobile classroom and museum. The 2011 Georgia National Fair in Perry runs from Thursday, October 6 through Sunday, October 16.

SGA’s ArchaeoBus, nicknamed Abby, visited a week-long Girl Scout Eco-camp in Oglethorpe County in July, 2011. Amy Glinski, leader of the camp, along with SGA’s Tom Gresham and Teresa Groover presented a half day of programming and hands-on activities to 40 girls who ranged from 6 to 13 years old. We think this was another successful venture for the ArchaeoBus and was a slightly different audience and setting. We are finding that the ArchaeoBus is readily adaptable to a wide range of audiences.

The SGA is very proud of drawing upon volunteer resources, donations from generous supporters, and creative exhibit ideas, particularly from Chief Tender Rita Elliott, to create, launch, and staff our ArchaeoBus. Recently, Rita discovered that the other Rome, the one in Italy, also has an “archeobus.” The SGA, however, strongly suspects that ours came first!

Fifty-seven visitors toured the ArchaeoBus when it was parked at the Madison County Library in Danielsville on April 16th, 2011, and browsed exhibits set up in the library. The ArchaeoBus created a good bit of excitement and all who visited were impressed and appreciative. A Facebook comment later that weekend observed, “we saw tons of cool things…the ArchaeoBus was great!!!” Two kids bounding up to the library chanted ArchaeoBus! ArchaeoBus! ArchaeoBus!

Archaeologists often find large assortments of broken pottery—dating to either historic or prehistoric periods. Rim sherds, from the opening or mouth of the vessel, can be quite informative. This article leads the reader to consider what the implications of different vessel rim diameter assortments may be.

In late October the ArchaeoBus attended the Georgia Council for the Social Studies annual state conference in Athens.

In which…Abby the ArchaeoBus hosts thousands of visitors at the 2010 Georgia National Fair in Perry….

Abby the ArchaeoBus met countless numbers of the hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Georgia National Fair in Perry this October. Visitors had a unique opportunity this year to learn about Georgia’s archaeology and preservation in a fun and interactive way, courtesy of the Society for Georgia Archaeology. Families and adults were actively engaged in learning these messages, as were field trip students. Countless children left Abby positive messages in her visitor book. Also, a special thanks to the hard working cadre of volunteers at the ArchaeoBus exhibit.

Volunteering for the SGA is not a daunting task as one might think, being at the Georgia National Fair all day with the ArchaeoBus smelling livestock, eating fatty foods, and dealing with rowdy kids. The ArchaeoBus volunteers report they had a great time and all said they would do it again!

The annual Seven Islands Artifact ID Day on October 23, 2010, was hosted by the Ocmulgee Archaeological Society (OAS) and the Butts County Historical Society (BCHS). Members of Taylor County High School’s “Benjamin Hawkins Historical, Expeditionary, and Geographical Society (BHEGS) volunteered to help manage the archaeology tent. Now in its fourth year, the event has continued to gain support and receive more visitors.

In the full story, click through photos from two days spent with the ArchaeoBus at the Georgia National Fair, in Perry. Visitors of all ages enjoyed the Fair from October 7–17, 2010. SGA members pulled together to staff the ArchaeoBus exhibit with three or more volunteers at all times, helping thousands of fair-goers learn about Georgia archaeology.

Visit the Georgia National Fair—October 7–17 in Perry, and step into the ArchaeoBus! We’ll have lots of information plus activities for kids! Kids can make a seed packet for next spring, and plant seeds Native Americans in Georgia used to cultivate! The full story has a downloadable Fair map with the ArchaeoBus location marked, and a downloadable handout about Native American agriculture in Georgia.

The ArchaeoBus handlers have filled the ArchaeoBus schedule for October! There’s CoastFest, ten days at the Georgia National Fair, and then two days in Athens with teachers attending the Georgia Conference on the Social Studies!

Abby the ArchaeoBus has updated her diary, with an entry describing some of her upcoming events, including attending CoastFest on October 7th, the Georgia National Fair for eleven days in mid-October, and the Georgia Conference on the Social Studies in Athens on October 28th and 29th. Check out the flyers, too!

The long version of this story introduces a multipage online presentation by the Smithsonian Institution called “Decoding the Past: The Work of Archaeologists” (with lesson plans). This raises issues of how to envision the past so that you can reveal patterns, rhythms, and cycles that it encompasses. French historian Fernand Braudel’s tri-partite division of the rhythms of the past are introduced.

The Internet provides great resources for those researching and learning about archaeology. Finding the really good stuff, however, can be difficult. Here’s some help: the Arkansas Archeological Survey has posted some really good stuff!

Read the story of the SGA’s ArchaeoBus, as told by Abby the ArchaeoBus herself. Abby wants to share her experiences with the whole wide world, via this website! Abby includes many snapshots, so you can feel like you’ve spent time with her, too!

  I spent the week at Fort Morris, and was all refreshed and ready for my very FIRST Junior Ranger Program! (La, la, la…I wanna be a Junior Ranger, Put my summer in minimal danger, sound off 1-2, sound off 3-4, bring it on down now, 1, 2, 3, 4…la, la…) There were 21 Junior [...]

  No one TOLD me that May is Archaeology Month in Georgia! No wonder I am exhausted! This is my third appearance this month and I have yet another one scheduled in a few days. Note to self—rest up next April! Today I was one of the attractions at Fort Morris State Park, in Liberty [...]

  Five days off between my last stint and today, when I went back to my second home of Ft. Frederica. You may recall I spent last spring parked at the fort while I visited school children there and in all the Glynn County elementary schools with Mrs. P*. Well, I got to go back [...]

  Guess where I went Friday and Saturday? To Albany, Georgia. That is in the southwestern part of the state. I am starting to travel soooo much, I am going to mark each place I visit on a map. It took four and a half hours to go from near Savannah to Albany. I breezed [...]

  Over the past year or so, I have begun my new life in earnest, although SGA had me for awhile before I achieved my celebrity. The first year after SGA got me, I spent at the spa. There I got my colorful new “wrap”. A fab artist/designer named JCB did a custom design just [...]

  Since this is my very first entry, I should probably introduce myself, although I am sure you have heard of me by now. I am Abby, the ArchaeoBus! I know you will want to learn a bit about my fascinating personal history. I was born in 1992 and grew up to be a library [...]

The SGA’s 2010 Spring Meeting, held Saturday, May 15th, at The Parks at Chehaw, just outside of Albany, featured demonstrators knowledgable in the skills of ancient peoples. The theme of this year’s Archaeology Month was Making the Past Come to Life! Exploring Ancient Techniques. The full story has more photographs.

The 2010 SEAC Public Outreach Grant has been awarded to Fort Frederica National Monument, St. Simons Island, Georgia, for their project “Digging History” at Fort Frederica: Community Archaeology Festival. The festival features SGA’s ArchaeoBus.

UPDATE: new photos!
Rita Elliott, one of the most active, creative and energetic SGA members in recent memory, was awarded the prestigious Governor’s Award in the Humanities at a banquet in downtown Atlanta on May 11, 2010. She was presented the award on stage by Governor Sonny Perdue’s special assistant and former DNR Commissioner Lonice Barrett, Georgia Humanities Council President Jamil Zainaldin, National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman and former Congressman Jim Leach, and Humanities Awards Committee Chair Swann Seiler.

How could Native American Indians in Georgia have survived in a vast “wilderness” for thousands of years? That question will be answered on Saturday, May 15th at The Parks at Chehaw in Albany. Human survival long ago required mastery of the many skills to be demonstrated and explained by experts who have studied and learned them. So, if you’ve ever wanted to get back to basics—this program is for you!

Long-time SGA member and past president Rita Elliott has been informed in a letter from Governor Sonny Perdue that she will be a recipient of the prestigious Governor’s Award in the Humanities. The presentation ceremony will be held Tuesday May 11, 2010 at the Old Georgia Railroad Depot in Atlanta, beginning at 10:30 AM with a lecture. The awards luncheon will follow at noon. Ticket information is in the full story.

Attend the SGA’s Spring Meeting on Saturday, May 15th, 2010, at The Parks at Chehaw, outside of Albany, and tour the ArchaeoBus!

CoastFest 2009 broke all records for attendance this year with over 7000 visitors. The SGA sent the ArchaeoBus and set up tables, with many volunteers helping educate the visitors. The theme was “Save Georgia’s Dirt!”

The ArchaeoBus wranglers have been busy. During the past six months with few attempts to solicit venues, we have exposed 8,500 people to the Archaeobus and archaeology. Read the full story for a summary of ArchaeoBus activities, and a discussion of funding sources and some volunteers (a hearty thank you to each!) and expenses.

The online version of Jacksonville’s The Florida Times-Union published a story on the Society’s own ArchaeoBus on 24 November 2009. Elementary school students sort pottery in this photo by Terry Dickson. Read the full story by clicking [More] below.

The Society for Georgia Archaeology’s ArchaeoBus is a Mobile Archaeology Classroom. Teachers in Clarke County, Georgia, can make reservations now for January through June of 2010. Click here for Guidelines for Educators, which includes a request form and student response form. Click here for the document Standards, Skills, Domains, and Learning Styles addressed by the [...]

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!

With the crash of a champagne bottle over her fender, a new green bough laid upon her, the cadence of a drum roll, and the suspenseful unveiling of the tarp, Abby the ArchaeoBus was officially christened. Over 70 guests participated in the historic event during the spring Archaeology meeting in Macon on May 16, 2009. [...]

Ryan Blackburn, of Online Athens, the online version of the Athens Banner-Herald, has written a glowing article about the SGA’s own ArchaeoBus! (picture from Online Athens)

The SGA’s Spring Meeting on Saturday, May 16th, with the theme Mounds in Our Midst: Monuments of Prehistoric Culture in Georgia, hosted over 100 attendees who enjoyed formal presentations, informal networking, and the unveiling of SGA’s newest outreach project: the Archaeobus!

You are invited to attend the unveiling of the SGA’s latest big project, the ArchaeoBus, our new mobile archaeology classroom! Door prizes! Refreshments! An interactive kazoo event! After the “christening” you can tour the ArchaeoBus and see the exhibits inside! Mark your calendar, and come to Macon on May 16th!

Are you curious about all this hub-bub over some old vehicle? Come satisfy your curiosity and see the brand new ArchaeoBus at its christening. The ArchaeoBus, (A.B or “Abbey” for short), becomes official on Saturday, May 16, 2009, at 4:00 pm, after the presentations at the Spring Meeting!

The Society for Georgia Archaeology is pleased to announce a recent birth after a long labor. The new arrival is a beautiful, baby bus. ArchaeoBus arrived on November 21, 2008, measuring 16’ long and weighing several tons. Proud Godparents include the ArchaeoBus Committee. These baby pictures show the new bus, swaddled in its designer ‚“wrap” [...]

In November 2008, the ArchaeoBus got wrapped, thanks to a generous grant from the Georgia Transmission Corporation.

ArchaeoBus is quickly becoming more than just a pretty face! The last Profile article described the colorful “wrap” that will embellish the exterior of the vehicle and create an exciting traveling billboard for public archaeology outreach. Thanks to Best Buy Children’s Foundation, ArchaeoBus will now be equipped with substantial technology that will expand the potential [...]

The Archaeology Bus Committee has several exciting items to report to the membership. First, John (JC) Burns of jcbD, has generously provided pro-bono work to create the graphic and text design that will go around the vehicle. This will allow the vehicle to be “reborn” from the bookmobile that it was to the new and [...]

The story of the transformation of the Bookmobile acquired by SGA from the Athens Clarke County Regional Library continues! The Archaeology Mobile Advisory Panel had its first meeting on Saturday, November 10. Joined by about 93,000 fans in town for the UGA-Auburn game, members of the advisory panel converged on Athens from around the state. [...]

The bus is here!! The Society for Georgia Archaeology (SGA) is pleased to announce the acquisition of a book mobile from the Athens Regional Library System and the beginning of an innovative, large-scale project. The project, now known as the Archaeology Mobile project, but soon to have an official name, is an ambitious plan aimed [...]