The Greater Atlanta Chapter of the SGA will meet on Tuesday, May 8th, 2012, at 7:30 pm to hear a presentation by Michael Bunn, of Columbus. He will speak to the GAAS about the poorly known Creek Wars as they relate to the War of 1812. As Mr. Bunn notes, “Too few of the sites at which they were fought are interpreted for the public, and too few people understand their importance.” The topic is in accordance with May being Archaeology Month in Georgia, with a theme this year of the War of 1812 Bicentennial. The GAAS monthly meeting will take place at Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta. The meeting is free and open to the public.

The Greater Atlanta Chapter of the SGA will meet on March 13, 2012, at 7:30 pm to hear a presentation by Dr. Adam King who will be speaking about Mississippian imagery at the Etowah site located in Cartersville, GA. The meeting will take place at Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta.

Tammy Herron of the Savannah River Archaeological Research Program (SRARP) will be the guest speaker at this month’s GAAS meeting. Tammy will discuss her research on colonial sites in Aiken County, South Carolina and also some of the programs of the Society for Georgia Archaeology (SGA).

The Greater Atlanta Chapter of the SGA will meet on Tuesday, January 10th, 2012, to hear a presentation by Jack Tyler and Terry Jackson about using GIS to track the loss of archaeological sites and to develop plans for conservation of remaining sites. The meeting is free and open to the public.

The November GAAS meeting will feature David Smith and his discussion of Mesoamerica. Caves in Mesoamerica have always had ritual, supernatural, and mystical connotations—rich sources of cultural material. David visited a remote area of the state of Oaxaco in Mexico where he and a friend video-taped the contents of a cave in the culturally and geographically inaccessible Mazateca Indian area. The site, known as Blade cave, is approximately 350 km southeast of Mexico City and was discovered by American spelunkers in 1985; it was undisturbed.

The Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society October speaker is Curtis Headrick, long time member of GAAS and a dedicated student of Central American cultures. The program will be at Fernbank Museum of Natural History on Clifton Road, just north of Ponce de Leon and will begin at 7:30pm.

The talk will cover Dr. Jeffrey Glover’s recent archaeological investigations at the ancient Maya port site of Vista Alegre. Located along the north coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, the work of Glover and colleagues is shedding light on this little known section of coastline.

The Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society-GAAS has been busy this summer. Many chapter members have volunteered at various sites throughout Georgia and have been able to expand their archaeological knowledge through hands on excavation as well as participation in site supervisor lectures and updates. GAAS continues to be a great avenue for individuals interested in the hands-on archaeological experience. GAAS also has big news regarding their chapter president. Dennis Blanton has stepped down as president and, replacing Dennis will be Lyn Kirkland, who has been a member of GAAS for over 20 years.

Robert Skarda and the Scull Shoals site show will be broadcast on the GPB’s “Georgia Traveler” series April 29th at 8PM and April 30th at 7PM. The broadcast is in conjunction with Scull Shoals Festival day. This unique event is linked with the Float Georgia event which is when canoes and kayaks full of interested parties stop at Scull Shoals for a Georgia history rest break. Be sure to watch the program!

Dennis Blanton, Native American Archaeology Curator at Fernbank Museum of Natural History, will be speaking at the Wednesday, April 13th GAAS meeting located at Fernbank Museum at 7:30pm. Please note the date has been changed from Tuesday to Wednesday the 13th. The lecture will focus on the smoking ritual in the Mississippian Southeast. Blanton’s findings demonstrate that smoking became an indispensable religious practice but that it was manipulated to accommodate shifting social conditions.

The Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society will meet Tuesday, March 8th, at 7 PM for its regular monthly meeting. The program will feature Georgia State University visiting lecturer Dr. Zachary Hruby who will discuss his research regarding lithic technology, epigraphy, and iconography of the Ancient Maya and Mesoamerica.

Four archaeology students affiliated with Georgia State University and Kennesaw State University, and interning at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History, presented the results of substantive research projects to members of the Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society (GAAS) and their guests on Tuesday, February 8th, 2011. The students have been working with GAAS President Dennis Blanton on data from a ca. 1540 village site in south Georgia. Read the full story for more information about their findings.

The Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society will meet Tuesday, February 8th, at 7 PM for its regular monthly meeting. The program will feature several brief reports on the research projects of Fernbank archaeology interns. The students have been affiliated with Kennesaw State University and Georgia State University, and over the past year have been assigned special topics that contribute to the larger Fernbank-sponsored research program related to early Spanish contact in Georgia. [UPDATED: restaurant change.]

The January 2011 issue of Atlanta Antiquity, the Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society’s monthly newsletter, is now available. This issue announces the new GAAS leadership.

Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s archaeology lab manager, Rachael Hensley will give a talk entitled Deciphering Lamar Incised Ceramics on the Lower Ocmulgee River.The January meeting is rescheduled for the 25th.

The Flat Rock Archives Slave Cemetery Dedication and Libation Ceremony held October 30, 2010, paid tribute to the ancestors of their community through honor, celebration, and history. With a large turnout including news crews and Georgia Public Broadcasting, the community honored the Flat Rock historical church site, built in 1823, by blueprinting what was once the foundation and inviting people into the space. The crowd also visited the Slave Cemetery where a libation ceremony was held to honor the Flat Rock descendants’ ancestors. The celebration offered a realistic view into the past for the African-American community. SGA’s local chapter, the Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society, has been involved with preserving and caring for the cemetery through volunteer efforts since 2008.

Dr. Jim D’Angelo will give a Powerpoint talk on his recent visit to Cueva de la Pileta in Spain, one of the few Paleolithic caves in Europe still open to the public. Dr. D’Angelo will speak to the Greater Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society at its November meeting on the 9th. The meeting will be at Fernbank Museum of Natural History and begin at 7:30 PM. The presentation is free and open to the public. Also, the full story has a link to the November GAAS newsletter, Atlanta Antiquity.

The Flat Rock Archives and Museum is hosting its 1st Annual Commemorative Ancestors’ Walk and Community History Celebration Saturday, October 30, 2010. Flat Rock Archives and Museum invites you to join efforts to restore, preserve and protect the historic Flat Rock Slave Cemetery—the resting place of more than two hundred slaves and ancestors. The cemetery is east-southeast of Atlanta, and south of Lithonia proper. Events begin with a walk/race that starts at 8 AM; events continue all day.

Dr. Jim Kautz will speak to the Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society, a chapter of the SGA, at our regular GAAS meeting on Tuesday April 13th. His presentation is titled “William Bartram and Archaeological Understandings in the Deep South”. Dr. Kautz has researched Bartram for some time and is the author of a recent biography of this famed writer, explorer, anthropologist (who visited and studied Native Americans in the late 18th century), naturalist, and poet.

The Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society’s March meeting will be on the Tuesday the 9th, at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History, at 7:30 PM. The speaker will be GAAS’s own Allen Vegotsky. Allen will discuss Dr. Lindsey Durham (1789-1859), a physician who worked in the Scull Shoals community, south of Athens. Allen’s innovative presentation will take the form of a one-act play, and Allen will play both the Doctor and a narrator.

The January and February 2010 issues of Atlanta Antiquity, the newsletter of the Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society, a chapter of the SGA, are now available online.

At their February meeting, Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society members will hear a presentation by Scot Keith about the Leake Site, a primarily Middle Woodland mound and village site, which is near Cartersville and the Etowah Mounds. The meeting is Tuesday, February 9th. The presentation begins at 7:30, and Scot will have some artifacts you can look at if you arrive early!

The Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society will start off the new year with a stimulating presentation by Garrett Silliman of Edwards-Pitman Environmental, Inc., titled Current Research in the Archaeology of the Atlanta Campaign. Mr. Silliman’s talk will be presented at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History on Clifton Road (just north of Ponce de Leon) on Tuesday, January 12th, beginning at 7:30 PM.

Catch up with the news of the Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society, meeting monthly at Fernbank Museum of Natural History! The November issue of their monthly newsletter, Atlanta Antiquity, is now available. Read the full story by clicking [More] below.

The full article has links to downloadable PDFs of the September and October issues of Atlanta Antiquity, the newsletter of the Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society, a chapter of the SGA.

Read the full article by clicking [More] below to look at PDFs of the July and August issues of Atlanta Antiquity, the newsletter of the Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society, a chapter of the SGA.

The June issue of Atlanta Antiquity, the Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society’s monthly newsletter, is now available. Newsletter Editor Louie Campbell always puts together a useful and informative publication, with information not only about archaeology in Georgia, but about archaeology around the world.

Dick Brunelle has revealed the answer to the challenge he posed to readers almost two months ago, since no one logged in and submitted the answer. He asked people who made a brick he saw in LaGrange with “LACLEDE KING” stamped on it. As a tease, he noted: The brick is more closely related to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, than it is to covered bridges in Georgia. Ed. note: You must read the full story; it’s wonderful!

Identify the maker of a brick GAAS and SGA member Dick Brunelle found and photographed at Hills and Dales, the Callaway family plantation near LaGrange, and shown in the picture to the left.

Dick even gives two hints to make this puzzle easier….

Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society and SGA member Terry Hynes recently “directed” a small project in the famous Valley of the Kings in the Theban Hills in Egypt’s Nile Valley. Terry also toured Luxor and boated on the Nile during her trip-of-a-lifetime in early January.

Beginning in May 2008, members of the Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society have participated in a project complete with a sense of historic preservation and civic responsibility. Dedicating time and tools, members of GAAS have teamed up with the Flat Rock Archive in Lithonia, Georgia, to help in the restoration and documentation of the historic Flat [...]

Fred, doing what he loved. Georgia archaeology lost an enthusiastic advocate upon the premature death of Fred Scheidler on July 15th. Fred resided in Marietta and in recent years had become a constant and welcome participant at a host of archaeological gatherings in and around Atlanta. Archaeology was a lifelong interest of Fred’s, having become [...]

This has been another great year for the Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society, with membership increases and excellent monthly meeting programs. We are pleased to have new members from many backgrounds, including professional archaeologists, students, and avocational archaeologists. We want to thank SGA for continuing support in helping to recruit members and speakers for our monthly [...]