…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!

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

The SGA’s eighteenth annual Georgia Archaeology Awareness promotion, Archaeology Month 2011, had as its theme Gone But Not Forgotten: Rediscovering the Civil War Through Archaeology. The Governor proclaimed May Archaeology Month, at a signing attended by several SGA members. The spring meeting was held on Saturday, May 14th in McDonough. Attendees spent the day socializing and listening to several presentations. On Sunday, attendees headed to Nash Farm Battlefield and Museum, and also the Historical Museum in Heritage Park and Veterans Wall of Honor. The SGA thanks our co-sponsors and all who helped this meeting to be such a success.

Boy Scouts from Troop 125 in Holly Springs performed some real life science by helping William Phillips, an Eagle Scout from Troop 11 of Gainesville, in early May 2010. Under the supervision of Dr. Jack Wynn, North Georgia College and State University archaeologist and long-time SGA member, the boys visited a prehistoric site that Mr. Phillips had targeted for testing. The scouts helped precisely measure and mark the locations of the new test holes, then worked in supervised groups, making careful notes as they proceeded. At day’s-end, scouts had recovered dozens of pottery fragments, along with a few groundstone artifacts, and the artifacts all had to be cleaned and categorized. The boys learned that science isn’t always done the way it appears to be in the movies.

The city of Atlanta has undertaken a visionary project to improve the transportation network for pedestrians. Under construction is the Atlanta Beltline project, which includes a 22-mile loop of pedestrian-friendly rail transit, almost 1300 acres of new parkland, and 33-miles of foot trails. Such projects are examples of changes in land use that affect historic and archaeological preservation.

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 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.

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.

The SGA met on St. Simons Island, east of Brunswick, on a lovely fall weekend in mid-October, and explored archaeological sites there and in the SSI area. Enjoy dozens of pictures from the tour in the full story. The SGA thanks all who organized the trip, discussed the places we visited, and gave us permission to visit them—and to all non-members who joined our tour.

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.

The 2010 Fall Meeting is a tour of prehistoric and historic archaeological and historical sites in the St. Simons Island area from Friday-Sunday, 15-17 October. The meeting formally begins in the Frederica Room at Sea Palms on Saturday morning. Registration 8-9 am; short orientation talks start at 9 am, before heading out on the tours. Pick up a printout of the agenda, with maps, at the 9 am orientation. Article includes suggestions for activities if you arrive early enough on Friday the 15th.

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.

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.

Burke County State Court Judge Jerry Daniel in January handed down heavy fines on four east Georgia men who pled guilty to multiple counts related to looting a Late Archaic, Stallings culture shell midden site on the Ogeechee River in southern Burke County. The four men were apprehended on private land by Georgia Department of Natural Resources Ranger First Class Jeff Billips and Ranger First Class Grant Matherly in late September 2009.

Greenspace projects involve lands set aside to remain undeveloped. In cities, publicly owned greenspace is often in parks. The central purpose of greenspace is to assure that some terrain remains protected from construction, paving, and other development. In short, it will remain “green.” Preservation of greenspace often means the preservation of archaeological sites. How does that happen?

From the spring symposium at Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta, which kicked off Archaeology Month, to the proclamation signing ceremony at the Capitol, which this year provided closure, Archaeology Month 2008 was a success. Months of planning and hard work by the Archaeology Month committee and volunteer laborers preceded the promotion. Archaeology Month [...]

SGA was proud to have a table with activities for children and information for adults at Coastfest 2003, on October 4th. All photographs are copyright Michael Shirk.

Members met at the Jekyll Island Hotel for the 2003 Spring Meeting. Events included a delightful and informative public lecture by Judy Bense, of the University of West Florida, and a walking tour to several archaeological sites, including tabby ruins. Afterward, all adjourned to a beach-side banquet. All photographs are copyright Michael Shirk.

Members of the Bulloch Hall Archaeology Society, the SGA Chapter based in Roswell, organized a cleanup workday at Roswell Mill, on 11 January 2003. It was a bit cold, but, thankfully, sunny. All photographs are copyright Michael Shirk.