Archaeological sites contain irreplaceable information. Sites are nonrenewable and finite. They can only be excavated once. There is no second chance to recover the important information concealed in the soil. Our precious hidden heritage is vulnerable to erosion and deliberate destruction. Consider the following—Augusta Archaeological Society President John Arena writes with unfortunate news:

A few years ago the Archaeological Conservancy purchased Stallings Island, filled in looters pits, put goats and donkeys placed on the island to control the vegetation, and put a fence around the mound. The Archaeological Conservancy then approached the Augusta Archaeological Society and asked us if we would be site stewards for Stallings Island. Since then, we have periodically inspected the island to check on the animals and also check for looting. AAS member Bobby Brassell and I recently visited the island and found new evidence of looting. We found a couple of small holes inside the fence and a couple of larger holes outside the fence. This was the first evidence of looting we have found in approximately two years.

Looter pit documented by John Arena and Bobby Brassell in winter 2009/2010 on Stallings Island.

This looting, which is the deliberate destruction of archaeological deposits, is illegal. It is illegal because the private landowner has not given written permission for this ground-disturbing activity.

Private-public partnerships in archaeological stewardship are more common in the US Southwest, where there are vast expanses of public lands, many archaeological sites, and few staff members to oversee the land.

Without doubt, our hidden heritage is difficult to protect. Places that are isolated are particularly at risk to disturbance and destruction. The AAS’s stewardship of Stallings Island is an important undertaking.

Can you think of other practical methods archaeological site stewards can use to discourage looters and be more effective caretakers of our hidden past?

Click here to take a look at Resources at Risk: Defending Georgia’s Hidden Heritage, a special issue of Early Georgia published in May 2001, for more on archaeological stewardship and site destruction.

The Augusta Archaeological Society’s February speaker will be Robert W. Benson. The meeting will be at the Flyin’ Cowboy Restaurant, 2821 Washington Road, Augusta, on Thursday February 4th, at 6:30 pm. Mr. Benson’s topic is hafted biface and point types from Sumter National Forest (see page 2 for more details).

The February issue of the AAS newsletter, Debitage, is now available.

George S. Lewis, a very active member of the Augusta Archaeological Society and the Society for Georgia Archaeology, wrote a history of the AAS in July 1989. Titled “A Brief History of the Augusta Archaeological Society,” this document is now available in PDF form.

In the process of assembling this history of the AAS, then about twenty years old, George also records some of the history of archaeological research of all kinds in the Augusta area.

The seven appendices provide a wealth of useful information, from membership lists to the program for the SGA’s fall meeting in 1976, and more.

Click here to examine this PDF of the history of the AAS, thoughtfully provided to thesga.org by Jerald Ledbetter.

The Augusta Archaeological Society, a chapter of the Society for Georgia Archaeology, publishes a newsletter called The Debitage. The December 2009 issue is available as a PDF, downloadable as separate pages.

The Augusta Archaeological Society, a chapter of the Society for Georgia Archaeology, publishes a newsletter called The Debitage. The October 2009 issue is available as a PDF, downloadable as separate pages.

May 23 was a great Archaeology Identification Day in Augusta. Rain threatened all day long but in the end, there were 160 visitors who came to the 1797 Ezekiel Harris House on Broad Street. Roughly 15 people brought in artifacts to identify and several AAS members brought in frames of artifacts for display.

Archaeologists with expertise spanning the Paleo-Indian through Historic periods were on hand to identify and classify artifacts and artifact collections. Several Paleo-Indian and Dalton period projectile points were formally recorded. Artifacts from local sites were on display.

Atlatl throwing went on for most of the day, and the flint-knappers thoroughly enjoyed working with each other, comparing notes and ideas while entertaining the public. Visitors got to see educational displays by the Savannah River Site Archaeological Research Team and the Cultural Research project at Fort Gordon.

In other news, Danny Greenway, John Arena, David Black, Bobby Strange and John Whatley met with Smithsonian archaeologist Dennis Stanford and Dr. Al Goodyear’s group at the Clariant Chemical Company picnic area on Saturday May 31. Clovis and pre-Clovis sites and artifacts were discussed and Dr. Stanford looked at a lot of material from local Georgia collections. The possibility that some artifacts could point to a European Solutrean connection was discussed. On Monday evening June 1, Dr. Stanford gave a more formal presentation covering his theory of a Solutrean migration to eastern North America. This program covered a number of pre-Clovis sites in eastern North America including dates and photos of artifacts. Of particular interest was a large bi-point blade dredged off the Virginia coast associated with mastodon remains dated to over 22,000 years before present. Danny Greenway, Emory Fennell, Bobby Strange and John Whatley attended this session.

The AAS continues to help the Archaeological Conservancy with checking on the Stallings Island status in order to do what we can to help with the care and preservation. Diane Black and John and Andrea Whatley met with Mark Michael, Conservancy President from Albuquerque, and Jessica Crawford, Southeast Regional Director on April 22. At that point it appeared that all the goats placed on the island to browse off vegetation had been killed by predators. A later visit by Jessica Crawford and George Lowery during which they laid down more barbed wire on the bottom of the fence turned up two surviving goats. We plan to manage herbicide spraying and support the Conservancy in their future plans.

Speaking of goats, John Whatley and Bobby Strange worked with local collectors identifying artifacts at the Goat-A-Rama in Tennille April 11. Rosanne Stutts sent electronic copies of our Central Savannah River Area hafted bi-face guide to collectors contacted at this event. Contacts from the Goat-A-Rama led to a follow up with collectors on May 9 at the home of Charles Denton in Deepstep, GA. We were joined that day by archaeologist Jerald Ledbetter and primitive skills technologist Scott Jones. John Whatley worked with the Ocmulgee Archaeological Society at an artifact identification day in Gordon on April 18.

University of South Carolina archaeologist Adam King spoke to our group at our April 17 meeting concerning remote sensing at Etowah and Macon Plateau. The mapping results shown from the remote sensing data at Etowah were truly amazing. At the meeting that evening, copies of Jerald Ledbetter’s 1995 report on the Mill Branch site in Warren County, were distributed, courtesy of Virginia Horak of the Park Service’s Southeast Archaeological Center in Tallahassee.

Our next scheduled meeting will be Friday evening August 21 at Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Q, 2821 Washington Road in Augusta. Our speaker will be Augusta historian and Director of the Center for Georgia History Study at Augusta State University, Lee Ann Caldwell.

The Augusta Archaeology Society Chapter is busy now with a variety of projects, meetings, and events. We are working on an update of our Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) Hafted Biface Types booklet, this time adding an abbreviated ceramics component. Long-time member Vivian McDiarmid has involved herself in assembling our AAS records into an up-todate history. Being the good packrats that we are, many of us who have been around a while have bulging file folders at her beck and call.

We meet 6 times a year: four dinner/speaker meetings, our Identification Day meeting in conjunction with the Augusta- Richmond County History Museum, and our Holiday Social. Our annual holiday party/potluck dinner for 2008 was December 11 at the home of Audrey and Paul Mahoney—two very enthusiastic people. Their house exudes Paul’s passion for understanding the Paleo-Indian culture of this area. We put forth our slate of 2009 officers and we elected John Arena, president, Diane Black, treasurer, and we can’t let our faithful and wonderful secretary and Debitage editor, Donna Hope go…she’s consented to stay on! Yea! Audrey Mahoney and John Whatley are co-workers on our program speakers and special events. So if you are in the neighborhood…. At the moment, our vice-president/president-elect position is vacant…but we have a great meeting coming up in April, so who knows, maybe someone will be inspired to step forward. The meeting will be at Famous Dave’s BBQ on Washington Road at 6:30 PM on April 17.

At our February meeting, our speaker was Dr. Thomas G. Whitley from Brockington and Associates. He has 18+ years experience on 300+ prehistoric and historic archaeological projects all around the United States. His presentation was on Hammond’s Ferry, more technically 38AK933, the Riverfront Village site, during the Early Mississippian and Contact Period in North Augusta, South Carolina. This site was a Yuchi village which was raided by the Westo in 1660. Our meetings are open to the public, so feel free to join us.

John Arena, Vivian McDiarmid, and John Whatley visited Stallings Island on January 30 to check on the goats and donkeys and the state of the site. The animals were in good shape and the site appeared undisturbed. We are helping the Archaeological Conservancy keep this valuable and unique site clean of weeds and free of looters. Stallings Island flourished some 3,700 years ago during the Late Archaic Period (3000–1000 B.C.). The Stallings Island culture produced the oldest documented pottery in North America, evidence of the first local shellfishing, and the region’s first settled communities. The repeated use of village sites, coupled with their consumption of large quantities of shellfish, produced the large shell midden mounds. They produced the earliest forms of elaborately decorated pottery, along with carved bone pins, banner stones, and stemmed projectile points.

We have tentatively scheduled May 23 for our Archaeology Day event at the Ezekiel Harris House. Located on Broad Street in Augusta, the house was built in 1797 and is said to be “the finest eighteenth-century house surviving in Georgia” (The Smithsonian Guide to Historic America). The house is an outstanding example of early Federal style architecture and is a reminder of the days when tobacco was the primary cash crop in Georgia. We look forward to a great turn-out.

The Augusta Archaeological Society has been busy with a variety of stewardship, research, and outreach activities.

John Arena and John Whatley visited Stallings Island on September 12 to check on the status of the vegetation, goats, and donkeys for the Archaeological Conservancy. On September 18 seven of our members met with George Lowrey and Jessica Crawford (Southeast Regional Director) from the Conservancy to plan future work on Stallings Island. John Arena and Charles Gorse followed up in October and November, finding the goat population intact and put out 100 pounds of grass seed on the mound.

Al Goodyear spoke at our October 9 meeting catching us up on his work at the Topper site. John Whatley visited local lithics quarry sites with archaeologist Ken Styer of R.S. Webb and Associates, and later with Chris Moore and Mark Brooks from the Savannah River Site archeological research team.

John Whatley met visitors with Savannah River Site archaeologist Chris Moore at the Redcliffe Plantation Archaeology Day September 27. John Whatley took part in the artifact identification day at Indian Springs State Park with the Ocmulgee Archaeological Society on October 11.

Tammy Herron, Chris Murphy and John Whatley attended the SGA board meeting and fall meeting in Rome, Georgia, October 17–18. Tammy has been active with the ArchaeoBus project. The annual chapter holiday party will be held Thursday night December 11 at the home of Audrey and Paul Mahoney.

As usual, the Augusta Archaeological Society members have been involved in a number of activities related to archaeology and history. John Arena and John Whatley worked with the Ocmulgee Archaeological Society on an artifact identification day at the Old Capitol Museum in Milledgeville July 12. Following this, John Arena worked with Megan O’Neil regarding the identification and reorganization of a couple of the lithic displays in the museum. Also in the realm of public archaeology, John Whatley worked with Pam Johnson and Chris Moore (of the Savannah River Archaeological Research Program) handing out literature and talking archaeology at the Georgia on My Mind Program, July 18 at the Georgia I-20 welcome station coming in from South Carolina. In support of our stewardship mission, John Arena followed up with the Archaeological Conservancy concerning monitoring of the Stallings Island site with our thoughts and recommendations about the goats the Conservancy has placed on the island.

Several members have traveled to sites and events near and far. John Arena and John Whatley visited an R.S. Webb & Associates project at the Pig Pen site on the Augusta Canal led by archaeologists Beth Gantt and Ken Styer. Tammy Herron and family visited Petersburg, Fredericksburg, Richmond, Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown, Virginia while on vacation, including visits with archaeologists conducting excavations at Williamsburg and Jamestown. Rob Moon was one of the speakers at the Augusta Genealogical Society’s 29th Annual AGS Homecoming Weekend held August 16th at Augusta State University. Rob presented a general overview of archaeology and the mission of the Savannah River Archaeological Research Program. And, of course, Tammy Herron attended the SGA Board meeting on August 16th.

Our August 14th meeting featured a presentation by Savannah River Archaeological Research Program Archaeologist Chris Moore. Chris’ program involved his dissertation work at East Carolina University entitled “Geoarchaeological Investigations of Stratified Archaic and Woodland Sites along the Tar River in North Carolina.” Details included survey and testing intended to identify the geologic context for site burial and stratification through wind-blown processes. Analysis included radiocarbon
and luminescence (OSL) dating. Conclusions included specific climate change concepts and the identification of associated projectile point types.

Dr. Al Goodyear from the University of South Carolina is scheduled to speak at our October 9th meeting.

The Augusta Archaeological Society (AAS) has recently gained a few members—YEAH!!! We continue to meet every other month at Famous Dave’s, a barbeque restaurant located at 2821 Washington Road in Augusta, Georgia. Chapter members remain active with a list of our activities included below. John Whatley worked with Lloyd Schroder at an Artifact Identification Day held at the Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic Site on April 12th.

Vivian McDiarmid mans AAS exhibit at Regal Cinemas Exchange 20.

Tammy Herron set up an SGA exhibit at “Georgia On My Mind Day” on April 17th at the Sylvania Visitor Center along Hwy. 301 in Screven County. Visitors had an opportunity to read about the various objectives of SGA and activities that members are involved in around the state via the display board. A number of students enjoyed making pottery designs in clay and using the sorting game to sort artifacts into categories (see photos). Various handouts and brochures were available as well, including the SGA brochure and crossword and find-a-word puzzles for the kids using archaeological terms. Tammy just had to ask the students and teachers with the cool “SGA” T-shirts to pose for a photo in front of the SGA exhibit. Their SGA stands for Sardis-Girard-Alexander Elementary School located in Burke County, Georgia. Although the staff of the Visitor Center did not have an exact head count for the number of visitors during the day, they stated that they usually expect 500-600 people to attend. Members plan to attend “Georgia On My Mind Day” at the Augusta Visitor Center along I-20 scheduled for July 18th.

The Society’s April meeting was held on the 17th at Famous Dave’s. Our speaker for the evening was Dr. Mark R. Barnes, a Senior Archaeologist based in Atlanta with the Cultural Resources Division of the Southeast Regional Office of the National Park Service. Dr. Barnes gave a general overview of the Paleoindian period and the current status of Paleoindian archaeology, as well as detailing various recent discoveries. Diane Black, Tammy Herron, and John Whatley assisted members of the Beech Island Historical Society with the 2nd Annual Beech Island Tour of Historic Homes and Sites on April 19th. The trio was stationed at the Silver Bluff Audubon Center and Sanctuary.

Tammy Herron, Chris Murphy, Keith Stephenson, and John Whatley attended the annual Spring Meeting of the SGA held on April 26th at the Fernbank Museum in Atlanta. Each chapter was encouraged to bring a display so that the meeting attendees could view them during breaks throughout the day and perhaps promote interest in non-members to join the Society. Chapter member Rosanne Stutts crafted an informative tri-fold display detailing information about the history and activities of the AAS.

Over a dozen chapter members participated in a field trip to visit Kenny Jarrett’s museum in Jackson, South Carolina on May 12th. Mr. Jarrett has a very interesting display of War Between the States artifacts and locally collected Native American artifacts.

John Whatley worked with members of the Ocmulgee Archaeological Society at an Artifact Identification Day held at Fort Hawkins in Macon on May 17th.

Vivian McDiarmid worked with staff members from the Savannah River Archaeological Research Program (SRARP) on May 24th at the Regal Cinemas Augusta Exchange 20. The SRARP had an exhibit in the lobby of the theater to educate the new Indiana Jones movie entitled Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Aside from assisting SRARP staff, Vivian handed out fliers advertising Artifact Identification Day to be held at the historic Ezekiel Harris House, an event cosponsored by the AAS.

Artifact Identification Day pottery stamping activity.

Despite the soaring temperatures, our annual Artifact Identification Day co-sponsored by the Augusta Museum of History and the Ezekiel Harris House was a success with over 100 visitors braving the heat and humidity (see photo at left). The event was held on June 7th at the historic Ezekiel Harris House (ca. 1797) located along Broad Street overlooking the Augusta Canal. Participating archaeologists included Pam Johnson with Georgia Department of Transportation, Renee Lewis with Fort Gordon, and Tammy Herron, Rob Moon, and George Wingard of the SRARP along with Field Technicians Maggie Needham and Megan Taylor. Flint knappers and primitive skills demonstrators included Donnie Collins and Clint Hutcheson from Stillmore, Georgia, and Bob Hill from Washington, Georgia. Danny Greenway, Lloyd Schroeder, and John Whatley fielded numerous questions regarding projectile points collected in the local area and elsewhere in Georgia and South Carolina. Danny Greenway and Emory Fennell exhibited projectile point displays from their private collections throughout the day. Tammy Herron also brought along the SGA display board, brochures, and activities for the children. Charles and Vivian McDiarmid provided hotdogs and cold drinks to the participants for lunch. Good publicity played an important role in the success of this year’s event, especially through avenues connected with the Augusta Museum of History and by Ben Baughman, Curator of the Ezekiel Harris House. Chapter members Vivian McDiarmid and John Whatley made several contacts in the Augusta area prior to the event, and colorful fliers prepared by the museum helped to boost public awareness of and spark interest in the event. A reporter from The Augusta Chronicle visited the event and wrote an article that was printed in the June 8th edition of the paper.

On June 10th, Tammy Herron attended the Archaeology Month 2008 Proclamation signing by Governor Sonny Perdue at the Georgia State Capitol. Diane Black and John & Andrea Whatley recently traveled to Natchez, Mississippi. While Andrea and Diane enjoyed an interesting and informative tour called the Natchez Pilgrimage, John visited the Historic Natchez Village and the Emerald Mound. Danny Greenway continues to work with Jerald Ledbetter on the Georgia Paleo projectile point survey and with Dr. Al Goodyear by providing site information and Clovis point data. Jill Nazarete continues her volunteer work with the SRARP. Leon Perry worked with Dr. Al Goodyear for a week at the Topper site in Allendale County. Finally, members will be assisting Beth Gantt of R.S. Webb and Associates, Inc. of Holly Springs as work progresses during excavations along the Augusta Canal.

Our group has been contacted by the Archaeological Conservancy regarding the opportunity to serve as site stewards for Stallings Island, a National Landmark located in the Savannah River just a few miles upstream from the downtown Augusta. Members will be honored to assist in protecting this important archaeological site and await final details regarding the agreement.

 

Our annual holiday party was held Thursday night December 13th at the home of Audrey and Paul Mahoney. Officers elected for 2008 were as follows.

President – Rosanne Stutts

Vice President – John Arena

Treasurer – Diane Black

Secretary and Bulletin Editor – Donna Hope

Programs and Special Events Chairman – John Whatley

Steve Ferrell from Old Edgefield Pottery was guest speaker at our February 21st meeting. Steve shared his extensive expertise on the history of historic pottery in the Edgefield, South Carolina district, including slides of many original vessels.

Tammy Herron, Chris Murphy, and John Whatley attended the SGA board meeting February 9th at Little Ocmulgee State Park. Chris Murphy is following up on efforts to get radio spots (radio scripts) relevant to Georgia archaeology broadcast on the PBS stations. Tammy has been active with the archaeology bus project, which will hopefully be on the road this coming spring. John Whatley is investigating the possibility of revising and republishing the Early Georgia projectile point issue.

Diane Black published an article on the historic Clinton-Anderson house in Richmond County in the Augusta Richmond County History journal.

Jill Nazarete continued her volunteer work with the Savannah River Site Archaeological Research Program.

Rosanne Stutts, John Whatley and Diane Black are continuing to work on a pottery type hand out for our Archaeology Day.

Our Archaeology Day is planned for June 7th at the Ezekiel Harris House in Augusta. Events will include flint knapping, primitive skills demonstrations and artifact identification.

The next chapter meeting is scheduled for Thursday night April 17th at Famous Dave’s Bar B Que on Washington Road in Augusta. Our speaker will be retired National Park Service archaeologist Mark Barnes who will speak on new perspectives on the earliest cultures in North America.

Dr. Al Goodyear of the University of South Carolina was the featured speaker at our October 11 meeting at Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que on Washington Road. Dr. Goodyear gave an update of work at the Topper site and a review of the latest concepts in Paleo Indian studies, including the 11,900 YBP comet theory and the evidence of Redstone points. Dr. Goodyear presented Augusta chapter member Danny Greenway with an award in honor of his contributions and support of Paleo Indian research.

Chris Murphy, Tammy Forehand, and John Whatley attended the SGA board meeting on October 12th.

Jill Nazarete continued her volunteer work at the Savannah River Archaeological Research laboratory.

John Whatley worked with Robert Moon at the Beech Island archaeology day and led a discussion on Georgia projectile points at the University of Georgia’s Rock Eagle facility. John worked with the Ocmulgee chapter of SGA on artifact identification days at the McIntosh house at Indian Springs on October 27th and the Pine Ridge School in Old Clinton on November 17th.

The projectile point handout used for our artifact identification days is being expanded to include pottery types. Our annual holiday party will be held Thursday night December 13th at the home of Audrey and Paul Mahoney.