http://thesga.org SGA site, redux Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:14:11 +0000 en hourly 1 http://thesga.org/2012/02/10338/ http://thesga.org/2012/02/10338/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:12:49 +0000 Kelly http://thesga.org/?p=10338 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).]]> http://thesga.org/2012/02/10338/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2012/02/long-distance-travel-the-leake-site-example/ http://thesga.org/2012/02/long-distance-travel-the-leake-site-example/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:00:25 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=10329 In an article in the Fall 2011 issue of Early Georgia (vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 173–200), Scot Keith discusses evidence for long-distance trade and exchange in Middle Woodland times (from about 350 BC to AD 650), using data from the Leake Site, near Cartersville. Members of the SGA in 2011 received that issue of Early Georgia as a benefit of membership. Join the SGA, and you will receive the current volume of Early Georgia!]]> http://thesga.org/2012/02/long-distance-travel-the-leake-site-example/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2012/01/february-gias-meeting-the-life-and-times-of-the-sixteenth-century-guale/ http://thesga.org/2012/01/february-gias-meeting-the-life-and-times-of-the-sixteenth-century-guale/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:11:33 +0000 Kelly http://thesga.org/?p=10317 The Golden Isles Archaeological Society will hold their February meeting Tuesday the 7th at St. Simons Elementary School in the Cafeteria at 7:00pm. The meeting will feature Ryan Sipe of Georgia Southern University and is titled Georgia’s Mission Frontier: The Life and Times of the Sixteenth Century Guale.]]> http://thesga.org/2012/01/february-gias-meeting-the-life-and-times-of-the-sixteenth-century-guale/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2012/01/combating-damage-and-deterioration-of-artifacts/ http://thesga.org/2012/01/combating-damage-and-deterioration-of-artifacts/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:00:00 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=10309 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.]]> http://thesga.org/2012/01/combating-damage-and-deterioration-of-artifacts/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2012/01/blue-ridge-parkway-archive-online-with-geolocation-data/ http://thesga.org/2012/01/blue-ridge-parkway-archive-online-with-geolocation-data/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:00:15 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=10252 Do you geotag your digital photographs? North Carolina archivists have determined the geographic location of myriad photographs and other historical materials that illuminate the history of the Blue Ridge Parkway, then put scans of those materials online for researchers to browse. Read more about Driving Through Time: The Digital Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina in the full story.]]> http://thesga.org/2012/01/blue-ridge-parkway-archive-online-with-geolocation-data/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2012/01/ocmulgee-75th-anniversary-celebrated/ http://thesga.org/2012/01/ocmulgee-75th-anniversary-celebrated/#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:55:58 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=10217 SGA Vice-President Tammy Herron and two colleagues, George Wingard and Keith Stephenson, attended the 75th Anniversary Reception on Thursday, December 1, 2011 at Ocmulgee National Monument. In a later ceremony, the SGA received a Certificate of Appreciation for helping to "preserve and protect the 'Ocmulgee Old Fields'" and for helping to "create Ocmulgee National Monument" in 1936.]]> http://thesga.org/2012/01/ocmulgee-75th-anniversary-celebrated/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2012/01/mining-in-georgia-gold-and-online-resources/ http://thesga.org/2012/01/mining-in-georgia-gold-and-online-resources/#comments Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:00:33 +0000 Rachel http://thesga.org/?p=10122 The first documented find of gold in Georgia dates to the summer of 1829, according to E. Merton Coulter in Auraria: The story of a Georgia gold-mining town (University of Georgia Press, Athens, originally published in 1956 and released in paperback in 2009, and available online for free). Auraria, in Lumpkin County, was a town that flourished during the rush and is a ghost town today.]]> http://thesga.org/2012/01/mining-in-georgia-gold-and-online-resources/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/12/is-religion-an-adaptive-behavior/ http://thesga.org/2011/12/is-religion-an-adaptive-behavior/#comments Fri, 30 Dec 2011 10:00:45 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=10113 Nicholas Wade, in his 2009 book, The Faith Instinct: How Religion Evolved and Why It Endures, argues that behaviors we describe as religious conferred a survival advantage on early humans, and thus were adaptive and favored by natural selection. The benefits he ascribes to religious beliefs and practices include emotions like trust and loyalty, which support cooperation and empathy, improve group cohesion, and improve the survival rate of groups.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/12/is-religion-an-adaptive-behavior/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/12/an-ethnohistorians-insights-into-untangling-the-past/ http://thesga.org/2011/12/an-ethnohistorians-insights-into-untangling-the-past/#comments Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:00:57 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=10106 Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to travel in North America with an early European adventurer? Read Joyce Rockwood Hudson's Looking for De Soto: A Search Through the South for the Spaniard's Trail (published in 1993) and you will learn what it was like to try to trace the route that Hernando De Soto and his entourage took through southeastern North America in 1540. Mrs. Hudson and her husband, then UGA professor Dr. Charles Hudson, set out to retrace and verify the route of the De Soto expedition in 1984.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/12/an-ethnohistorians-insights-into-untangling-the-past/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/12/ways-to-make-the-past-a-story/ http://thesga.org/2011/12/ways-to-make-the-past-a-story/#comments Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:00:27 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=10086 Historical and archaeological books and articles commonly tell the story of the past either using a timeline (a sequential version of the past) or using a specific topic—a place or person or theme—to anchor the tale. This story notes that there're two sequential versions of Georgia's past on this website—a table and a prose post. The full story contrasts these with Caldwell's volume on research prior to the flooding of the Allatoona Reservoir, and a book on food and the human past (and future)—both with topical foci. Caldwell's volume is recommended to anyone interested in Georgia' prehistory.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/12/ways-to-make-the-past-a-story/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/12/diaries-as-research-tools/ http://thesga.org/2011/12/diaries-as-research-tools/#comments Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:00:01 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=10063 Diaries are one of many primary sources about the past. Primary sources are records from people who had first-hand experience with what is recorded in the materials they have left behind. On this website we have a diary—of Abby the ArchaeoBus. The ArchaeoBus is a major outreach project of the SGA, and billed as Georgia's mobile archaeology classroom. Using Abby's diary as an example, consider the strengths and weaknesses of diaries as aids to understanding the past.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/12/diaries-as-research-tools/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/12/november-29-2011/ http://thesga.org/2011/12/november-29-2011/#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 13:15:45 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=10058 …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.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/12/november-29-2011/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/11/columbian-exchange-quiz-results/ http://thesga.org/2011/11/columbian-exchange-quiz-results/#comments Fri, 25 Nov 2011 10:00:10 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9993 For about three months, the SGA's website had a twelve-question quiz on the origins of commonly used species, mostly plants. The question posed was: is this species native to the Old World or the New World? The movement of plants and animals between the Old and New Worlds after Christopher Columbus’s First Expedition in 1492 is commonly referred to as the Columbian Exchange. Thus, the quiz provides insights into quiz-taker knowledge of the Columbian Exchange. Should you wish to take the quiz before reading the answers, click here.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/11/columbian-exchange-quiz-results/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/11/how-important-is-dating/ http://thesga.org/2011/11/how-important-is-dating/#comments Fri, 18 Nov 2011 10:00:39 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9972 Many people have encountered one of the editions of James Deetz's In Small Things Forgotten: The Archaeology of Early American Life, which was first published in 1977 and is still an insightful volume. Dr. Deetz discusses, among many other things, the importance of chronology and dating to the study of the past. He also argues that small things are extremely important to understanding the past, giving examples of how we may continue behaviors with roots in the past in everyday life today.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/11/how-important-is-dating/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/11/2011-frontier-faire-well-attended/ http://thesga.org/2011/11/2011-frontier-faire-well-attended/#comments Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:26:22 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9979 The well-attended October 2011 Frontier Faire at Fort Daniel, sponsored by the Gwinnett Archaeological Research Society, a Chapter of the SGA, and the Fort Daniel Foundation, hosted a Trading Post, tours, a candle-maker, both Girl and Boy Scouts, a food area and more. The 2011 Frontier Faire is considered a definite success and will serve as a model for next year’s Faire.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/11/2011-frontier-faire-well-attended/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/11/what-was-the-new-world-like-in-1491/ http://thesga.org/2011/11/what-was-the-new-world-like-in-1491/#comments Fri, 11 Nov 2011 10:00:01 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9961 In 2005, Charles C. Mann's 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus appeared on bookstore shelves, and still is selling well in a paperback edition with a new afterword. Mann's book focuses on what the New World was like prior to the arrival of the Columbus expedition in 1492. Mann offers enough information for you to envision what you would have seen if you could have flown over the Western Hemisphere in AD 1000. What he writes about may be a bit (or a lot) different from what you learned in school about his subject.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/11/what-was-the-new-world-like-in-1491/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/11/fall-2011-sga-meeting-auction-and-festivities/ http://thesga.org/2011/11/fall-2011-sga-meeting-auction-and-festivities/#comments Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:02:01 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9911 President Catherine Long details the 2011 Fall Meeting, in Athens. Members and guests of the SGA enjoyed papers in the morning and afternoon of Saturday, 22 October, with the sessions split by a brief Business Meeting and a lunch break. The group reconvened in the evening at the Terrapin Brewery for silent and live fund-raising auctions. Over $1400 was raised for the SGA's Endowment Fund, after expenses.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/11/fall-2011-sga-meeting-auction-and-festivities/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/11/the-sga-at-coastfest-2011/ http://thesga.org/2011/11/the-sga-at-coastfest-2011/#comments Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:28:46 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9897 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.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/11/the-sga-at-coastfest-2011/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/11/historic-preservation-primer-available-from-hpd/ http://thesga.org/2011/11/historic-preservation-primer-available-from-hpd/#comments Fri, 04 Nov 2011 09:00:59 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9866 Careful preservation planning means knowledge about important historical and archaeological resources are part of the planning process. In late October 2011, Georgia's Historic Preservation Division released Preservation Primer: A Resource Guide for Georgia, available in both high- and low-resolution PDFs. The Primer will help you identify historic properties, evaluate them, and develop local preservation planning strategies. And help protect your community's resources.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/11/historic-preservation-primer-available-from-hpd/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/11/nwgas-to-host-artifact-identification-night-november-10th-2011/ http://thesga.org/2011/11/nwgas-to-host-artifact-identification-night-november-10th-2011/#comments Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:59:52 +0000 Kelly http://thesga.org/?p=9880 The Northwest Georgia Archaeology Society will host their Artifact Identification Night at the Etowah Mounds Museum on Thursday, November 10th at 7:00 pm. All members of the public are invited.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/11/nwgas-to-host-artifact-identification-night-november-10th-2011/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/11/gaas-november-speaker-david-smith-will-discuss-meso-american-caves/ http://thesga.org/2011/11/gaas-november-speaker-david-smith-will-discuss-meso-american-caves/#comments Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:46:50 +0000 Kelly http://thesga.org/?p=9873 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.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/11/gaas-november-speaker-david-smith-will-discuss-meso-american-caves/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/11/uga-students-learn-primitive-skills-atlatl-throwing/ http://thesga.org/2011/11/uga-students-learn-primitive-skills-atlatl-throwing/#comments Wed, 02 Nov 2011 11:26:33 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9859 The University of Georgia Student Association for Archaeological Sciences recently sponsored a day-long atlatl workshop with Scott Jones, primitive technologist and expert in atlatl manufacture and use. Twelve SAAS members and their faculty advisor, Jared Wood, gathered at Scott's outdoor classroom at "The Woods" just northeast of Lexington, and listened to Scott's exciting lecture, then practiced primitive skills, and had great fun taking aim at cardboard quarry. The full story includes many exciting photographs of the outing.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/11/uga-students-learn-primitive-skills-atlatl-throwing/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/10/origins-of-agriculture-discussed-in-detail/ http://thesga.org/2011/10/origins-of-agriculture-discussed-in-detail/#comments Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:00:33 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9800 The origins of agriculture is one of the major topics of the field of archaeology. The journal Current Anthropology has just published an issue dedicated to this topic, called The Origins of Agriculture: New Data, New Ideas. The issue's twenty-two articles can be accessed for free. An article by Bruce D. Smith considers the origins of agriculture in eastern North America, in particular the seed plants squash (Cucurbita pepo), sunflower, sumpweed (Iva annua), and lambsquarters/pigweed (Chenopodium berlandieri).]]> http://thesga.org/2011/10/origins-of-agriculture-discussed-in-detail/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/10/volcanoes-and-archaeology-pros-and-cons/ http://thesga.org/2011/10/volcanoes-and-archaeology-pros-and-cons/#comments Fri, 21 Oct 2011 09:00:12 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9630 While volcanoes are undeniably destructive, they can aid archaeological tourism by preserving ancient homes and settlements. We discuss the case of AD 79 Roman Herculaneum, formerly on the Bay of Naples, Italy, and offer a few photographs.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/10/volcanoes-and-archaeology-pros-and-cons/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/10/description-of-indian-mound-from-the-1770s/ http://thesga.org/2011/10/description-of-indian-mound-from-the-1770s/#comments Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:00:07 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9545 Ever wonder what an Indian mound was like in the late eighteenth century? In the mid-1770s, natural historian William Bartram traveled through what is now Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. He described his adventures in a 1793 volume Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, the Cherokee Country, the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges, or Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Chactaws…. He describes a special round building the Cherokees used for important group activities. His architectural description gives a good idea of what careful archaeological excavation may reveal of a building like this.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/10/description-of-indian-mound-from-the-1770s/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/10/october-22nd-is-national-archaeology-day/ http://thesga.org/2011/10/october-22nd-is-national-archaeology-day/#comments Fri, 07 Oct 2011 09:00:01 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9698 Leading national archaeological organizations are partnering to participate in National Archaeology Day, on 22 October 2011. What will you do to celebrate? In addition, across the US and Canada, there are events throughout the whole month of October. What will you do to celebrate archaeology this year? And, it's not too soon to start planning your 2012 National Archaeology Day celebrations!]]> http://thesga.org/2011/10/october-22nd-is-national-archaeology-day/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/10/long-time-gaas-member-will-be-october-speaker/ http://thesga.org/2011/10/long-time-gaas-member-will-be-october-speaker/#comments Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:56:18 +0000 Kelly http://thesga.org/?p=9708 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.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/10/long-time-gaas-member-will-be-october-speaker/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/09/introduction-new-editor-early-georgia/ http://thesga.org/2011/09/introduction-new-editor-early-georgia/#comments Fri, 30 Sep 2011 09:29:56 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9612 Early Georgia’s new Editor, Jared Wood, introduces himself and briefly discusses plans for upcoming issues of the SGA's journal. Your submissions are encouraged!]]> http://thesga.org/2011/09/introduction-new-editor-early-georgia/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/09/conservation-news-near-and-far/ http://thesga.org/2011/09/conservation-news-near-and-far/#comments Fri, 30 Sep 2011 09:00:21 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9621 This Weekly Ponder considers what archaeological resources are, and what it means to conserve them, using two examples. Earlier this month, the Secretary of the Interior awarded a 2011 Partners in Conservation Award to the Camp Lawton Preservation Team, which has been working to investigate and conserve this recently rediscovered Confederate prisoner of war camp that's near Millen. The second example is the joint effort by The Israel Museum in Jerusalem and Google to put digital images of the Dead Sea Scrolls online; five are now accessible.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/09/conservation-news-near-and-far/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/09/ft-daniel-and-gars-to-host-annual-frontier-faire-october-15-16-2011/ http://thesga.org/2011/09/ft-daniel-and-gars-to-host-annual-frontier-faire-october-15-16-2011/#comments Sun, 25 Sep 2011 01:34:57 +0000 Kelly http://thesga.org/?p=9593 The Gwinnett County Chapter of SGA, Gwinnett Archaeological Research Society (GARS), along with Fort Daniel Foundation (FDF) members are sponsoring a Frontier Faire to be held Saturday, October 15, 2011, from 10am to 5pm and on Sunday, October 16, 2011, from 11am to 4pm. All are cordially invited to attend.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/09/ft-daniel-and-gars-to-host-annual-frontier-faire-october-15-16-2011/feed/ 0