May is Archaeology Month in the state of Georgia, and also Historic Preservation Month, but did you also know that May is Lyme and Tick-borne Disease Awareness Month? The Georgia Lyme Disease Association sponsors this month to promote awareness about these diseases as well as encourage prevention practices. Find more information online here, where you can find resources, stories, statistics, and articles detailing the signs and symptoms of tick-borne diseases. In Georgia, ticks may be active year round, but they are most active on calm, cool, damp (humid) days over 60 degrees. You can engage in some prevention by avoiding tick infested areas, using tick/bug sprays, and checking yourself thoroughly after venturing outside.

The Augusta Museum of History and the Augusta Archaeological Society, a Chapter of the SGA, invite you to attend Archaeology Day at the 1797 Ezekiel Harris House, 1822 Broad Street, in Augusta, on Saturday, May 6th, 2012. Admission is free. This event is one of many celebrating Georgia’s 2012 Archaeology Month.

SOGART, the South Georgia Archaeological Research Team, a Chapter of the SGA announces that its 2012 Symposium on Southeastern Coastal Plain Archaeology will be held at Stubbs Hall, South Georgia College, Douglas, on August 18th. Presentations are now being solicited for the meeting. Click here for an announcement suitable for posting.

On Monday, April 2, 2012, volunteers from the Gwinnett Archaeological Research Society, TRC staff, and others from the SGA met at the offices of the cultural resources firm TRC, Inc. in Norcross to roll the Archaeology Month 2012 posters and stuff them in mailing tubes destined for Georgia school districts. Thanks to all the volunteers for finishing this important work.

The Gateway to the Past: Georgia’s Leake Site exhibition will be on display through Sunday, September 23, 2012 at the Columbus Museum, on Wynnton Road east of downtown Columbus. Using excavated artifacts from the Leake site and the Columbus Museum’s collection of Chattahoochee Valley objects, this history exhibition shows visitors what life was like for prehistoric American Indians living in what is now northern Georgia. The exhibition also includes an interactive audio/visual tour. Admission is free. Read more about the Leake site on this website by clicking here.

The Annotations: George Cooke & Thomas Hope and the Influence of Antiquity exhibition is on view at the Columbus Museum through Sunday, July 22, 2012. George Cooke (1793-1849), who began his career as a self-taught painter, sought to increase his skill and knowledge by following the custom of many American artists in traveling to Europe. The Columbus Museum the second largest general museum in Georgia, and admission is free.

The Society for Georgia Archaeology is a volunteer organization. It only can achieve its goals if you help. So, join the SGA and become an active participant in SGA activities. Click here for more information on joining the SGA. Help our wonderful organization achieve its goals, and help preserve Georgia’s archaeological heritage in the process! Begin your involvement in the SGA by attending our Spring Meeting, to be held at Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville on Saturday, May 19, 2012, in conjunction with 2012 Archaeology Month.

SGA President Catherine Long discusses the Society for Georgia Archaeology’s plans for Archaeology Month 2012, in May, and the Society’s associated Spring Meeting on Saturday, May 19, with the theme Commemorating the Bicentennial of the War of 1812. President Long also highlights other activities of the Society.

The Society for Georgia Archaeology (SGA) and the Georgia Council of Professional Archaeologists (GCPA) gave two awards at the Georgia Social Studies Fair 2012. The SGA and GCPA are pleased to give awards at this event because it supports our mission “to unite all persons interested in the archaeology of Georgia and to work actively to preserve, study and interpret Georgia’s historic and prehistoric remains.” The 2012 winners are fifth-grader John Hendricks of Jasper Elementary in Pickens County and eighth-grader Connor Hynek of Herschel Jones Middle School in Paulding County. Awards include a copy of the book Frontiers in the Soil, also available from the SGA.

How much attention has thesga.org, the website of the Society for Georgia Archaeology, received over the period 2009–2011? Read the full story and learn about the success of the SGA’s website. The SGA’s mission “is to unite all persons interested in the archaeology of Georgia and to work actively to preserve, study and interpret Georgia’s historic and prehistoric remains,” and this website aids the Society in reaching its goals.

How do archaeological investigations can help us understand the present, and give us insights into the future of the world? A series of articles in a Special Feature called “Critical Perspectives on Historical Collapse,” published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2012, vol. 109, no. 10), and available online here for free, offers archaeological examples that are helpful in understanding how societies under stress react, and what reactions are more and less successful. Dr. Karl Butzer, in his contribution, argues that “resilience and readaptation depend on identified options, improved understanding, cultural solidarity, enlightened leadership, and opportunities for participation and fresh ideas” (p. 3632).

UPDATED! The first two issues of the newsletter of the Gwinnett County Chapter of SGA, the Gwinnett Archaeological Research Society (GARS), are now available. The newsletter is named Gwinnett Archaeology Bulletin. GARS members are planning to co-host (with the Fort Daniel Foundation) an afternoon expo at the Fort Daniel site on May 19th, as part of the 2012 Archaeology Month activities.

Come to the Museum at Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site on Thursday, March 15th at 7:00pm to hear the REAL story of rock structures on a mountainside in Union County—structures that sparked the recent controversy about Mayans in North Georgia. Our speaker for this meeting of the Northwest Georgia Archaeology Society will be Dr. Jannie Loubser, an archaeologist and world expert on rock carvings and rock structures.

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.

Join us on Saturday, May 19th, 2012, for the Spring Meeting of the Society for Georgia Archaeology. The theme for Archaeology Month is Commemorating the Bicentennial of the War of 1812. We’re looking for 6–7 presentations that pertain to this topic of 20 minutes or less including time for questions at the end. Details in the full story.

Call your state representative NOW. Here’s why. It’s budgeting time for the State of Georgia, and once again the budget of the Historic Preservation Division (HPD), which includes the Office of the State Archaeologist and more, is threatened with debilitating cuts. Now is the time for SGA members to call or email their representative to tell him/her to restore monies to HPD’s budget for FY 2013. Call NOW. The full story has details.

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!

Mark your calendar: the SGA’s Spring Meeting will be held on Saturday May 19th, as part of 2012 Archaeology Month celebrations. This year’s Archaeology Month theme is Commemorating the Bicentennial of the War of 1812. We will meet at Georgia Gwinnett College, which is co-sponsoring the meeting. In addition, the group will tour Fort Daniel, which dates to the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

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.

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.

Plan an event anywhere in the state for Archaeology Month in spring 2012! This story links to a form you can download and fill out to get your event listed in the SGA’s Calendar of Events brochure, which is distributed around the state, and beyond. Activities of all sorts are encouraged!

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.

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.

SGA President Catherine Long summarizes the year’s events for the Society for Georgia Archaeology, and previews upcoming activities in 2012.

As you consider your charitable gifts for the 2011 tax year, the SGA asks that you add the Society’s Endowment Fund to your list. The Fund supports educational outreach and the preservation of archaeological sites. The SGA is a registered non-profit organization. If you have already donated to the SGA for 2011, the Society thanks you.

Preston Holder was the most productive archaeologist of the Georgia Coast during the Federal Works Progress Administration era (WPA was created in April 1935), and, in fact, the SGA helped fund his salary prior to the WPA. Some artifacts from Holder’s work were displayed at the Visitor’s Center at the entrance to the St. Simons causeway. Kevin Kiernan discusses Holder’s work in the November 2011 issue of the Society for American Archaeology’s Archaeological Record, which is previewed in the full story.

Early Georgia publishes papers on the archaeology of Georgia and closely related subjects. While all submissions are subject to editorial review, authors may request to have their papers reviewed through a formal peer review process.

The SGA thanks outgoing Early Georgia Editor Tom Pluckhahn for the four years of quality work he’s given the Society.

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.

Step right up and contribute to the SGA’s Endowment Fund, and help the SGA twice! One way is your check; the second way is that the Coosawattee Foundation has issued a challenge grant—the Foundation will match up to $250.00 any donation received by December 31 in support of the Endowment Fund. Contributions made to SGA, a non-profit organization, help support education initiatives throughout Georgia and protect archaeological sites.

UPDATED 12 Oct, 4:23pm. Join members and guests of the SGA at the Society’s Fall Meeting on the 22nd of October, in room 171 (first floor) of the Zell B. Miller Learning Center on the University of Georgia Campus in Athens. Read the abstracts of the presentations you can hear at the all-day meeting. Modest registration fee. Then, after a supper break, rejoin attendees at the (free) silent and live fund-raising auctions at Terrapin Brewery.

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 auction item photos in several stories.

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 auction item photos in several stories.

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 auction item photos in several stories.

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 auction item photos in several stories.

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 auction item photos in several stories.

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 several stories.

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!

UPDATED 4:24pm, Wed, 12 Oct!

Join members of the SGA and guests of the Society at the 2011 Fall Meeting, to be held all day on Saturday, 22 October, in room 171 (first floor) of the Zell B. Miller Learning Center on the UGA Campus, in Athens. Registration is $10 per member ($15 for non-members, $5 for students with ID; $25 for families), and begins at 8:30am. The meeting features morning and afternoon presentations on various topics related to archaeology in Georgia, with breaks to allow time for socializing. Stay in Athens for the SGA fund-raiser that begins at 6:30pm, when you can also tour the ArchaeoBus.

Plan to attend a meeting at 6:30pm tonight, September 6th, at UGA’s Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, 315 Riverbend Road, to help change the fate of historic Rutherford Hall, which is currently slated for demolition. Rutherford is a dorm in the Myers Quad on the University of Georgia campus in Athens.

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.

The SGA Board and Officers met Saturday afternoon, 27 August, at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in Macon. In partnership with the Georgia Council of Professional Archaeologists, the SGA is supporting a plan to interface more effectively with the Atlanta Regional Commission. The ArchaeoBus is scheduled at events in Perry and along the coast this fall. We look forward to seeing you at the SGA Fall Meeting in Athens on Saturday, October 22. Slots are still open for those who wish to give presentations. On Saturday evening, we hope you can attend a live auction to raise money for the SGA. In addition, we plan to implement click-online membership renewals and donations soon.

The SGA Board and Officers met Saturday afternoon, 27 August 2011, in the Georgia Room at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in Macon. The SGA leadership addressed various issues, both old and new business. And, during the breaks, attendees checked out exhibits in the halls surrounding the meeting room.

We welcome papers on all subjects for presentation at the 2011 Fall Meeting of the SGA, on October 22nd, in Athens. Papers that focus on archaeological research in Georgia or the bordering states will be considered for the program. Each presenter should plan for a presentation of 20 minutes or less, including time for questions at the end. Students are encouraged to participate.

The National Park Service manages the Cumberland Island National Seashore, along Georgia’s coast. The 30-day comment period for the management of seven small parcels within the park will end on 12 August 2011. You can submit your comments via email. Follow this link to access the plan online and for instructions on making your comments.

The Sesquicentennial anniversary of the Civil War began this year. The SGA marked this event with this year’s theme of Georgia Archaeology Month, Gone But Not Forgotten: Rediscovering the Civil War Through Archaeology, held in May. You can also rediscover the Civil War through digital maps available online, by matching them to maps and satellite views of the same landscape today. Try it yourself!

A June 2011 report called The State of America’s National Parks warns on page 25 “that cultural resources in the National Park System—considered the most important to our country’s heritage—are in serious trouble. In fact, these places and collections are being maintained in a condition well below the level that the National Park Service itself has deemed appropriate.” The report concludes on page 27 that the reason this has happened is that “[t]here simply aren’t enough qualified and trained people overseeing the parks’ cultural heritage.” Given the many National Park System properties with an historic or archaeological slant in Georgia (e.g., Ocmulgee National Monument and the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site), are you surprised at this situation?

SGA President Catherine Long recognizes the huge efforts by the volunteers to continue the mission and vision of the SGA. She describes how volunteers made the Spring Meeting and Georgia Archaeology Month in May happen. She also mentions two upcoming opportunities to serve—CoastFest in Brunswick on October 1st, and the Georgia National Fair in Perry from October 6–16. Also, save the date for the SGA’s Fall Meeting in Athens on October 22nd.

Read “Examining Variation in the Human Settlement of Prehistoric Georgia,” by John A. Turck, Mark Williams, and John F. Chamblee in the Spring 2011 issue of Early Georgia (included in membership in the SGA) and you will better understand changes and continuities in the prehistoric occupation across the landscape of the area we now call Georgia. The trio apply statistical methods to the treasure trove of data stored at the Georgia Archaeological Site File in Athens to fine-tune our understanding of where people lived when in the past, and of how those patterns changed over time.

Researchers and the curious can now peruse the titles and authors of all articles published in Early Georgia since SGA began publishing the journal in 1950. The page with the listing is here.

On May 31st, 2011, Governor Nathan Deal signed the proclamation declaring that May is Georgia Archaeology Month. Seven SGA leaders and members witnessed the signing in the Governor’s office in the Capitol in Atlanta. The Proclamation affirms the importance of Georgia’s archaeological heritage and resources, and notes that the “study, interpretation and preservation of our archaeological sites offer important educational, cultural and economic benefits to all Georgians”.

Members of the Gwinnett Archaeological Research Society (GARS) worked over the weekend at the Berkmar “mystery” site—this was part of the old Wynne-Russell Plantation but is now Berkmar Middle School, Gwinnett County property. GARS members plan to record the site on 14 May, and are clearing brush, etc., in preparation for doing that with Berkmar MS 8th graders.

May is Archaeology Month in Georgia, and this year’s theme is Gone But Not Forgotten: Rediscovering the Civil War through Archaeology. SGA’s poster celebrating this theme can be downloaded by clicking here. The bibliographic references for the extensive and informative text on the back of the poster are downloadable by clicking here. Please join us at the SGA’s 2011 Spring Meeting on Saturday, May 14th, at the Henry County Chamber of Commerce to learn more about how archaeology has supplied information about the Civil War that books, letters, and other records did not.

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!

Please access a trifold brochure listing 2011 Archaeology Month events prepared by SGA Secretary Pam Baughman by clicking here (PDF). Archaeology Month in Georgia is held during the month of May, and this year’s theme is Gone But Not Forgotten: Rediscovering the Civil War through Archaeology. The Society for Georgia Archaeology’s Spring Meeting will be held May 13–15 in McDonough; please join us! Click here to look at the 2011 Archaeology Month events on the SGA’s online calendar, which includes links to the maps of the locations where these events will be held.

For the 18th year, SGA is coordinating Georgia Archaeology Month, a statewide promotion that encourages the public to learn about the archaeological resources present in our state, and creates awareness about the importance of protecting Georgia’s archaeological heritage. Archaeology Month occurs during May, and the 2011 theme is “Gone But Not Forgotten: Rediscovering the Civil War Through Archaeology.” The full story lists ongoing events, mostly exhibits.

SGA Secretary Pamela Baughman is excited to be heavily involved in SGA and SGA Leadership. She wants to see others enjoy this same excitement and become a member of the SGA. The SGA is an organization that recognizes amateurs and professionals in lectures, fieldwork, meetings, and other events focused to promote the preservation of archaeological sites, the study of archaeological data, and education to the general public about archaeological issues.

Virginia Shadron, Chair, Friends of Georgia Archives & History, reports that the Fiscal Year 2012 budget that passed the Georgia House of Representatives on March 11th includes budget reductions that probably will result in the State Archives closing its doors to the public. Shadron’s comments are made in an open letter online here. The House Bill must now be considered by Senators. Archaeologists use records stored at the Georgia Archives regularly in their research. Most materials are not online, so visiting the Archives is the only way to obtain the unique information stored there.

Why are archaeological resources vandalized? Consider the two examples in the full story, one from the Macon area, and login and tell us your thoughts.

The Savannah River Archaeological Research Program (SRARP), a division of the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, conducts archaeological research on and around the US Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. The SRARP has recently added several downloadable PDFs of publications about archaeology to their website.

Join us on Saturday, May 14th for the Spring Meeting of the Society for Georgia Archaeology. The theme for Archaeology Month is Gone But Not Forgotten: Rediscovering the Civil War through Archaeology. Papers that focus on archaeological research in Georgia or the bordering states will be considered for the program. Each presenter should plan for a presentation of 20 minutes or less. Please submit your title and abstract (100 words) by March 15th. The meeting will be held at the Henry County Chamber of Commerce, McDonough. Details are in the full story.

Mark your calendar and register now for the SGA’s Spring Meeting, which will be held May 13–15, 2011, in McDonough. Seating for Saturday’s meeting is limited, so be sure to return your registration form (click here) and check soon. This year, the theme for Georgia Archaeology Month is Gone But Not Forgotten: Rediscovering the Civil War through Archaeology. The full story includes exciting meeting details.

Augusta followed some of the broader trends of urbanization experienced across the USA in the 19th century. As the city spread from its original core area, it took on many characteristics of a modern city, including residential neighborhoods that were divided based on class, race, or other attributes. In this example, a planned residential development specifically incorporated prevailing social ideologies at the turn of the century. The development was designed and built to separate residents on the basis of race and class, which helped to reinforce ideologies of the appropriate racial and economic social positions and roles.

Plan an event anywhere in the state for Archaeology Month in spring 2011! This story links to a form you can download and fill out to get your event listed in our Calendar of Events brochure, which is distributed around the state, and beyond. Activities of all sorts are encouraged!

The January 2011 newsletter of the Society for American Archaeology, The SAA Archaeological Record, is now available free online. The issue includes a Special Forum titled “Digital Communication and Collaboration: Perspectives from Zooarchaeology,” and includes ten articles and many examples of data-sharing among zooarchaeologists.

A January 2011 article in the Wall Street Journal by Cameron McWhirter discusses battlefield archaeology in the Kennesaw/Smyrna area, highlighting research by SGA’s own Garrett Silliman.

The SGA leadership met on Saturday, 22 January 2011, at the the Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center. During the all-day meeting the group covered old and new business, including moving forward with 21st-century technologies, like using the cloud for collaborative document generation and establishing a Facebook presence for the Society.

The 2011 Spring Meeting weekend is not finalized, but we we will meet May 13–15. Look for updates on this website.

The Society for Georgia Archaeology is moving forward with embracing 21st century technologies. The SGA is now on Facebook(!!), here. If you’re already on FB, you can “like” the SGA, and look for updates about new stories on this website and other information. However, the principal online focus of the SGA will remain this website.

In January 2011, John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s daughter Caroline announced that tens of thousands of the most important papers (including drafts of speeches), images, and other materials from her father’s presidency are now viewable online on JFK’s Presidential Library and Museum website. These records provide valuable and detailed information about how an individual thought that are usually unavailable to archaeologists. (Photo is from Associated Press, online here.)

Get out your calendar and plan a trip to a national park on a fee-free day in 2011. Details are in the full story.

The Golden Isles Archaeological Society (GIAS) is the newest Chapter of the Society for Georgia Archaeology. Jamice Meschke, president of GIAS, appointed a sub-committee to write up new By-Laws in compliance with the rules and obligations of the SGA. Also read a brief summary of what the group has been involved with this fall.

During this holiday season, consider honoring a special someone with a contribution in their name to the Endowment Fund of the Society for Georgia Archaeology. Give a remarkable gift that touches generations to come and preserves your archaeological legacy in Georgia. We hope you also think of the Endowment in your end-of-the-year giving.

The New York Times has dipped into its archives and assembled an interactive timeline of stories and photographs from 1860 and throughout the Civil War period.

I, Kelly Woodard, would like to introduce myself as the incoming editor for The Profile newsletter and website. As a recent graduate of Georgia State University, I am excited to be an active member of the Georgia archaeological community, especially the Society for Georgia Archaeology. Please consider sending me a story of interest to our members for posting on this website!

In the Georgia Department of Natural Resources—Historic Preservation Division’s free digital newsletter, Preservation Posts, for November 2010, Archaeology Section Chief and Deputy State Archaeologist—Terrestrial Bryan Tucker discusses his perspective on his profession, including his response to “What is the coolest thing you have ever found?”

In fall 2010, the Bishop Museum in Hawai’i put the state’s archaeological site file data online in a searchable database open to public use. Many states, including Georgia, restrict access to this information. Read about the Hawai’i database and consider the implications of making this data available to all.

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.

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.

Good news! The SGA website’s numbers are up! We are now averaging a new story at least every other day each month, and almost five thousand unique visitors each month! Also, we’re averaging just under four hundred average daily pageviews! That’s nearly four hundred! Per day! So, SGA members—you can contribute to these numbers! Get your contribution to the website ready now! And, tell a friend about our website!

At the SGA business meeting on October 16th, 2010, Ellen Provenzano, Glynn County 4th grade teacher and Glynn County Schools Archaeology Education Coordinator received the prestigious George S. Lewis Archaeological Stewardship Award from the Society for Georgia Archaeology.

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.

Make plans now to join Ocmulgee Archaeological Society members for an artifact identification day on Saturday, October 23rd, 2010, at the historic Indian Spring Hotel near Flovilla, about 55 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta. See live demonstrations, too! The full story has a link to a downloadable flyer about the event….

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.

You can order $5 box lunches for the Saturday picnic on Gascoigne Bluff during the Fall Meeting (Friday-Sunday, 15-17 October, 2010) through today, October 8th. The full story has a downloadable registration form to send in. The Meeting will be held on and around St. Simons Island, near Brunswick. Meeting details are here. Order form is here.

The Cave Spring Historical Society is seeking to restore the town’s old hotel, which has two-story squared-log walls that were long obscured by blue siding.

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.

An October 3rd article in the online version of The Augusta Chronicle by Terry Dickson describes work in the Brunswick community of Selden Park. Archaeologists have recovered broken pottery, shells, and other artifacts left by prehistoric peoples.

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!

Dr. Terry Powis, a Mayan archaeologist on the faculty of Kennesaw State University, will speak before the Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society, a chapter of the SGA, at the chapter’s monthly meeting on Tuesday, October 12th, at 7:30 PM. The meeting is open to the public.

If you haven’t done so already, we invite you to make plans to join the SGA at the Fall Meeting, which will be held on St. Simons Island and environs from Friday-Sunday, 15-17 October 2010. The theme of the meeting is Historic Preservation of Prehistoric, Colonial and Plantation Structures on the Coast, and attendees will tour (plan to carpool!) many interesting historic and prehistoric sites in the area, guided by archaeologists familiar with each location.

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 one of the first blog entries on the new PLoS Blogs, which discusses viral archaeology—the “archaeology” of viruses! The Public Library of Science has debuted PLoS Blogs, a “new network for discussing science in public; covering topics in research, culture, and publishing.” PLoS sees the blogs as an extension of their mission to make “the world’s scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource.”

UPDATED!
Now’s the time to get out your calendar and checkbook, and make your reservations for the Fall 2010 meeting. The Fall meeting will take place on St. Simons Island and environs from Friday-Sunday, 15-17 October 2010. The general theme of the meeting is Historic Preservation of Prehistoric, Colonial and Plantation Structures on the Coast. Reservations for events and hotel rooms are due by September 8th. We have dropped the Friday night BBQ and accordingly adjusted the Friday activities for early arrivals. Send in your completed form and check NOW!

Heritage management involves several basic steps. Resources must be located and described. Once found, some kind of filing and data retrieval system is needed to manage them properly. Here in our state we have the Georgia Archaeological Site File. For places with fewer options than we have in the US of A, the Getty Conservation Institute has spearheaded development of an electronic inventory system that includes locational data; the pilot project is based in Jordan, but probably will be expanded to other areas.

Many archaeological projects are only possible because of the hours and energy that volunteers contribute. The same is true for your SGA. Please think about what you can do to help the SGA.

Even the national news recently picked up on the story about Camp Lawton, where investigations, including a ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey, have revealed the exact location of this Civil War/War Between the States prisoner of war camp that was established in 1864.

Ten years ago, archaeologists raised the submarine H.L. Hunley from where it had been resting since February 1864. HeraldOnline’s Brian Hicks reports on the latest research and plans for what he calls “the first successful combat submarine in history.”

Looking for digital access to early twentieth century soil maps of Georgia? The University of Alabama’s Historical Map Archive includes them, but only if you use the free Mr SID plugin, which is only available for Windows XP or Vista.

Are you interested in visiting a castle? There’s a thirteenth-century fortress under construction in northern Arkansas that opened in May. Well, the construction site opened. Planners say it’ll take thirty years to finish the stone complex.

The US National Archives and Records Administration keeps papers, photographs, moving images, and more, only a very few of which are available online. Examine a photo from the digital collection, and consider the information about the photograph. You can search the online records yourself by following a link in the full story.

Georgia’s Historic Preservation Division has composed a survey to solicit your input about the goals of their program for their next five-year preservation plan. Their existing plan goes through 2011. The full story has a link to the online survey, which will take you perhaps five minutes to complete. Your opinions are important!

Take a moment to browse some of the two thousand photographs the National Park Service has posted online from its Historic Photograph Collection. The posted photos include six of Ocmulgee National Monument, including one of the earthlodge while it was being excavated. That photograph dates to the 1930s.

Kennesaw State University journalism student Elizabeth Johnson put together an eight-plus minute video documentary for her senior capstone project about the efforts to preserve and protect the Leake site in Cartersville, Georgia. Go to the full story to read more about the preservation efforts at the Leake site (you can help, too!), and for a link to the video.

World Trade Center workers revealed a long-buried ship in black mud on July 13, 2010. Archaeologists have been working to record the timbers before they dry out and crumble. Follow the link in full story to a New York Times story with details and pictures. The small picture here is from a Fred R. Conrad photograph in the Times story.

Many of us have probably been thinking about impacts of the oil washing ashore on coastal archaeological resources—but what about underwater resources like shipwrecks? An AP story from early July notes that BP has hired an archaeological firm in the face of concerns about the effects of the spill on terrestrial and underwater archaeological resources.

We hope you’ve noticed the little search box below the tag cloud on the green navigation bar along the right side of your screen. Using this search box, you can find specific words or phrases in stories on our website. In addition, careful use of quote marks and exclusion searches makes the searching we offer quite powerful!

Members of the SGA are often interested in historic maps. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has debuted an online resource called North Carolina Maps with digitized versions of more than 3000 historical maps, including Sanborn Fire Insurance maps.

The foods of a people, like their language, provide a window into their culture. Check out the “online educational companion” to the exhibition Key Ingredients: America by Food and learn more about the foods of North America, with special focus on regional traditions and international influences.

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!

Save the date for this year’s Fall Meeting, to be held in the Brunswick/St. Simons Island area on Saturday, October 16th.

The website of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources has been redesigned, and is now more attractive, not to mention useful! The DNR is the state entity responsible for Georgia’s cultural resources. DNR’s Historic Preservation Division “promotes the preservation and use of historic places for a better Georgia.” The Director of HPD is Dr. David Crass, an archaeologist.

Did you know this website hosts, on average, around three hundred pageviews per day? Did you know that visitors to our website have come from over 100 countries so far in 2010? Did you know that over eight percent of our visitors visit, on average, multiple times each month? Check out the full story for data on how our website’s use has grown since it was revamped in early 2009.

How “big” is this website? How has it “grown” over the last year? We could measure it in megabytes, but a simple page count makes more sense. Our page count statistics show steady growth, and thesga.org now can proudly boast some 630 pages (or “stories”)!

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.

Endowment Fund Committee Chairperson Rita Elliott has compiled a list of all contributors to the Society’s Endowment Fund from 2001 to May 2010. The Endowment Fund provides the Society with a constant and steady financial base. Contributions are tax-deductable as allowed by law. Make your 2010 donation now!

Read summaries of the latest scientific studies and analysis of human evolution. Over a dozen papers are now available for free online from the December 2009 Arthur M. Sackler Colloquium titled In the Light of Evolution IV: The human condition. Topics range from genetics to language capacity to morality—and more. The papers are published in a supplementary issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, dated 11 May 2010.

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.

On Saturday, May 16th, 2010, the Jones Archaeological Museum at the 320-acre Moundville Archaeological Park reopened after a two-year, $5 million renovation. The Moundville site is in Alabama, south of Tuscaloosa. Moundville is a multi-mound civic-ceremonial community dating to the Mississippian period.

Coastal Heritage Society archaeologists, supported by the NPS American Battlefield Protection Program, are investigating Revolutionary War archaeological sites throughout downtown Savannah. Read about their activities in their recently established blog, “Savannah Under Fire.” The blog has frequent updates, sometimes more than once per week!

In conjunction with the Spring Meeting during 2010 Archaeology Month, SGA’s Board and Officers met in Albany for about three hours on Friday afternoon, May 14th, the day before the general meeting, and discussed the business of the organization.

What bills currently up before Federal Senate and House decision-makers deal with archaeological resources? While the text of bills is available online from THOMAS, a government website named after Thomas Jefferson, OpenCongress is a different website that offers significantly enhanced bill-tracking information. While the only version of OpenCongress is for the Federal government, versions for each state are under development. Read the full story to find out how you can check on bills related to, for example, “historical and cultural resources.”

On Monday, April 26th, thirteen volunteers met at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta ready for an SGA work detail. The assignment: prepare the 2010 posters for mailing! There were boxes, posters, mailing tubes and labels, and…organization! The volunteers logged about 45 hours on behalf of the Society getting this valuable assignment completed. Read the details and see pictures with the full story!

What’s the best way to find out what’s new at websites you visit regularly? Many savvy users employ a web technology called RSS that allows them to subscribe to a feed—a listing of the stories that have been added to a website, often in excerpt form. RSS is now set up on this website’s home page! Set up your thesga.org RSS feed now! Read on for details….

Georgia Archaeology Month 2010 Chairman Tammy F. Herron announces a tour scheduled for Sunday, May 16th, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., arranged by the Albany Convention and Visitors Bureau. Cost is $5.50 for the Flint RiverQuarium group ticket rate and you will provide or buy your own lunch. The itinerary is in the full story.

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!

Campus to Careers is hiring an intern for its National Park Service Climate Change Internship Program at the Russell Cave National Monument, in northeast Alabama. This is a paid internship, lasting up to 12 weeks, working with archaeologist Sarah Sherwood assessing prehistoric climate conditions from soil samples. Online application information is in the full story.

The 1906 Antiquities Act offers the President of the United States of America the authority to set aside lands the government owns as national monuments. The Act was intended to allow the President to preserve “antiquities” including “historical and prehistoric structures.” These resources were to be preserved for scientific and educational research. Some people object that this Act has been used with the intent to preserve natural areas rather than merely “antiquities.” In April 2010, representatives of over sixty organizations, including the 7000-plus member Society for American Archaeology, sent a letter to President Barack Obama expressing concern over attempts to limit this Act.

The Spring 2010 Meeting of the Society for Georgia Archaeology will be Saturday, May 15th, at The Parks at Chehaw, just outside of Albany. The full story has a link to a hotel and a campground, for those attending the meeting. The SGA Board will meet on the afternoon of Friday, May 14th, as they traditionally do, after meetings of the Georgia Council of Professional Archaeologists. The Friday meetings will be at the Country Inn & Suites in northwest Albany.

Eighteen years of research by history professor Loren Schweninger at the University of North Carolina—Greensboro has produced an online database is called the Digital Library on American Slavery. Data are drawn from court cases from across fifteen states, with over 1100 records from the state of Georgia.

The Society for Georgia Archaeology invites you to join us in honoring the our state’s seventeenth annual Archaeology Month! The theme is “Making the Past Come to Life! Exploring Ancient Techniques.” The meeting will be Saturday, May 15th at The Parks at Chehaw, near Albany. The meeting features exciting outdoor demonstrations by modern-day craftsmen who will show you skills much like our ancestors’.

The Society for American Archaeology recently announced that their newsletter, The SAA Archaeological Record, published five times each year, is available in a new format for reading online beginning with the 2010 issues, and also is downloadable. The March 2010 issue includes several articles that discuss the roles of women in the prehistoric North American archaeological record.

On Saturday, April 10th 2010, Harvard University will host a symposium with three panels of experts discussing “what they believe to be the hardest unsolved problems in the social sciences.” Archaeologists rely on the social sciences, especially anthropology, for the theory that underpins their understanding of ancient societies. The symposium will be webcast live from 10AM to 5PM, and the webcast will be streaming after the symposium concludes so you can participate in post-symposium discussions online.

The SGA proudly presents a brochure listing Archaeology Month events scheduled for around the state. This year, 2010, is Georgia’s seventeenth Archaeology Month! Read the full story and download the brochure listing special events, including the SGA’s Spring Meeting, Saturday, May 15th at The Parks at Chehaw, near Albany.

Lately, the Society for American Archaeology has included an Electronic Symposium as part of its annual meeting. This year’s Electronic Symposium is “The Canvas of Space: Method and Theory of Spatial Investigations in the 21st Century.” Eleven papers are posted online, which means that anyone who can get online can download and read them.

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!

NAGPRA stands for the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. NAGPRA is a federal law. In March 2010, NAGPRA has been in the news three times….

Edwards-Pitman Environmental, Inc. recently tested seven prehistoric late Lamar (Mississippian) farmsteads in Oglethorpe County, finding post and pit features. This project provided a good opportunity to study a series of closely-grouped Wolfskin phase sites.

The Georgia Social Studies Fair was held Saturday, March 20, 2010 at Dutchtown High School in Hampton, Georgia. Catherine Long attended on behalf of the Society for Georgia Archaeology and the Georgia Council of Professional Archaeologists to present two awards of $50 in recognition of excellent projects that promote the study, preservation, and education of archaeology. Winners are 6th graders Jessica Anthony and Christina Moore. The full story includes photos of the winners.

Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta announces that an exhibit titled “De Soto’s Footprints: New Archaeological Evidence from Georgia” will open in May 2010. The exhibit features the findings of Fernbank Museum’s ongoing archaeological explorations along the lower Ocmulgee River. The Museum’s research team unexpectedly found early Spanish artifacts that date before 1550. They quite possibly are associated with Hernando de Soto’s trek across Georgia in 1540.

You might not agree with the order given, but some of the blogs in this list, “50 Best Blogs for Archaeology Students,” may interest you….

Archaeological investigations are underway at Camp Lawton in Magnolia Springs State Park near Millen. Ground penetrating radar conducted in December 2009 by the Lamar Institute revealed a possible location for the southwest corner of the prison stockade. Georgia Southern University has begun archaeology to “ground truth” the results of the GPR survey. The public will be invited to view the progress of the excavations at the Park on specific Saturdays each month.

The SGA invites you to host an Archaeology Awareness event in May 2010! It’s not too late to set up an event and submit information about it for listing on this website, and for inclusion in our Society’s publicity on 2010 Archaeology Month. The full story offers great ideas for your event! Schedule an event by submitting the form provided. Read more here….

Follow the GaPA blog to read up on the latest news about legislative sessions, budget proposals, etc. GaPA stands for Georgians for Preservation Action. GaPA coordinates historic preservation advocacy efforts within our state. The SGA leadership has often worked with GaPA, since our organizational goals overlap.

Among the world’s major regions, ancient North America is not known for having many domesticated animals. In an article free online, Camilla F. Speller and her colleagues examined the DNA of modern and ancient turkeys and argue that there were at least two places were turkeys were domesticated: in Southern Mexico and a second time with Rio Grande/Eastern wild turkey populations. Read details in the full story.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has recently released a report called American Bison: Status Survey and Conservation Guidelines 2010. The report discusses the current status of American bison (Bison bison). You may be interested in a discussion of the history of the bison that is included as background for the report’s focus on conserving the species and the ecological restoration necessary to accomplish that for this large herbivore.

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.

Save the date: Saturday, May 15th. Plan to meet SGA members and other interested attendees at The Parks at Chehaw just outside of Albany. Read the full story and stay tuned to this website for more details!

The Center for the Study of the Civil War Era cordially invites you to attend the 7th Annual Symposium on New Interpretations of the American Civil War, titled Alternative Southern Realities: African Americans and the American Civil War. The event is hosted by Kennesaw State University, and will be held on March 19–21, 2010. The symposium is open to the public. Registration is $25.

If you haven’t visited bartowdig.com recently (or ever!), now’s the time to do so! Read about the Leake Site, which is downstream of the Etowah Mounds and pre-dates it, and is on the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2010 list of Places in Peril.

Dr. David Crass, Georgia’s State Archaeologist and new Historic Preservation Division Director, has reorganized HPD. He discusses the reorganization and its benefits in this article, published first in HPD’s Preservation Posts, February 2010.

The Florida legislature established the Florida Public Archaeology Project in part to do outreach. Among the materials they have posted online are books of hands-on archaeology activities for teachers. Although FPAN is oriented toward Florida, many of their activities can be used or adapted for use in Georgia classrooms. The books are free and downloadable.

The Archaeological Conservancy owns Stallings Island, and has partnered with the Augusta Archaeological Society to monitor and help protect this significant site, which is difficult to access and protect. Unfortunately, looters have returned. We all lose when our hidden heritage is destroyed and thus important information is lost.

In early February, 2010, the SGA’s website received a strongly positive review on a blog, Archaeology, Museums and Public Outreach. Outreach is difficult, and we’re happy to hear people find our website useful and informative.

When the SGA leadership visited the coast in February 2010, many of us also toured Sapelo Island with archaeologist Dr. Ray Crook, who has worked on the island for decades. We took the morning ferry out underovercast skies, watched the sun arrive with us at the island dock, and returned to the mainland late in the afternoon. We took a break to enjoy a Geechee lunch at mid-day.

The SGA Board and Officers met on Saturday, February 6th, 2010, at the Ashantilly library, named after the home’s builder, Thomas Spalding. Ashantilly is a plantation just north of Darien. The SGA and its members owe a big debt of thanks to the wonderful, kind folks at the Ashantilly Center, who hosted our meeting.

Frank Schnell’s memorial service is scheduled for March 14 at 3:30 at the Lumus Chapel at Linwood Cemetery in Columbus, Georgia.

Dr. Vincas Steponaitis will deliver the keynote address at the 36th Annual Conference of the Archaeological Society of South Carolina (South Carolina’s version of the Society for Georgia Archaeology) on Friday, April 9th, in the Business School Auditorium, Room 005, on the University of South Carolina campus in Columbia. Read more about this meeting, and the call for papers, in the full story.

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

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 Society for American Archaeology recently announced that their newsletter, published five times each year, is available in a new format for reading online beginning with the 2010 issues, and also is downloadable.

Perhaps you watched Steve Jobs and other Apple people introduce the iPad on 27 January 2010…. Fans of archaeology might have noted that one of the major demonstrations, of the program Keynote, used the topic “Seven Wonders of the World,” which focused on selected archaeological sites. What does it mean that they chose an archaeological topic to punch their high-profile product introduction?

State Archaeologist Dr. David Colin Crass is the new Director of the Historic Preservation Division (HPD) of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the DNR announced on 27 January 2010. Dr. Crass came to Georgia HPD twelve years ago.

This story marks the first year of Weekly Ponder posts! Yes, it’s been a full year of 5am Friday postings of thought-provoking articles to this website. Indeed, the very first Weekly Ponder was posted on 26 January 2009.

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.

Frank T. Schnell, a Columbus native and long-time SGA member, died Monday, 18 January 2010 after he fell from a ladder. He is survived by his wife, Gail, who also is an SGA member.

The Bartow History Museum in downtown Cartersville invites you to visit! The Museum has interactive exhibits and also hosts monthly lectures. Road trip: combine a trip to the Etowah Mounds and a visit to this Museum!

An international working group called INTCAL has announced an updated radiocarbon calibration curve based on cross-checking thousands of tree-ring samples with raw radiocarbon dates. The new curve is available online.

Back by popular demand, the Northwest Georgia Archaeology Society will hold a prehistoric pottery washing and seminar on Thursday, January 14, 2010 at New Echota Historic Site located near Calhoun, Georgia. The meeting will begin at 7 pm. The public is invited to attend the program and meeting.

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.

The Human Spark is a three-part series investigating the topic of human uniqueness hosted by Alan Alda. One of the interviewees, Dr. Veronica Waweru, discusses the pros and cons of arrow and spear use, along with other interesting topics, in a blog entry associated with the program’s web pages.

In mid-December 2009, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that the National Park Service is awarding $46.5 million in historic preservation grants to 59 states and U.S. territories. However, nine states will receive more than $1 million each, leaving just under $35 million for the other states and non-states. Georgia’s piece of this historic preservation pie? Read the full story for more details.

On 27 December 2009, the online version of Charleston’s Post and Courier published a fascinating story by Tony Bartelme titled “Research on Hunley spurs new discoveries.” The new discoveries relate to faster methods for preserving metal artifacts, like the H.L. Hunley Confederate Civil War submarine, which sunk near Charleston in February 1864.

Archaeologist Scot Keith reports on the Leake site, which is west of Cartersville in Bartow County not far from the Etowah Mounds site, and partly within the right-of-way of Highways 61/113. The site has been named to the 2010 Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s Places in Peril listing, which will aid Keith and others to raise money to protect the remaining portions of this important Woodland and Mississippian site. The full story includes excellent aerial photographs.

Download number 143, the Fall-Winter 2009 issue of The Profile, the newsletter of the Society for Georgia Archaeology, by going to the full story.

The SGA Fall Meeting was held at the Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center on Saturday, October 17th in Buford, with a great panel of presentations. During the Business Meeting, members learned the SGA is seeking volunteers for two important positions: Society Secretary and Editor of The Profile. Please read the full story and let President Dennis Blanton know your thoughts regarding The Profile publication—web only versus a costlier “dead-tree” version.

The Savannah River Archaeological Research Program is seeking information about prehistoric metavolcanic stone quarries in the Carolina Slate Belt Region in South Carolina. As this map shows, the Carolina Slate Belt Region is prominent in the Carolinas, and extends southward into Georgia.

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

A recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution article by Cameron McWhirter discusses the application of modern technologies to Civil War archaeological sites in the Atlanta area. Most of the article stems from an interview with SGA member Garrett Silliman, and also mentions SGA member Dan Elliott.

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.

Just a brief head’s-up that plans for the Spring Meeting (that is, Spring 2010) are moving forward.

If you want to have coffee in an historic eighteenth century coffeehouse, you can now do so! The drinks that are offered are tea, chocolate, and, of course, coffee!

R. Charlton’s Coffeehouse at Colonial Williamsburg is a new building now open for business!

You’ve been hearing about the end of the world in 2012? Read the real dirt here!

CLUE: NOT!

What insights into our current agricultural and food production dilemmas can we get from prehistoric Native American practices? Check out David J. Minderhout and Andrea T. Franz’s article, “Native American Horticulture in the Northeast,” discussed here.

On November 4th 2009, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation announced its list of Georgia’s top ten Places in Peril, which includes the Leake Archaeological Site, a rich Middle Woodland and Late Mississippian-period prehistoric settlement on the outskirts of Cartersville. Scot Keith, an archaeologist who lead recent excavations at the Leake Site, notes, “with help from the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation and numerous volunteers, we will be conducting many activities in the next year (and beyond) to foster public awareness of the site and its important place in history. This will include public education days at the site, community meetings, interviews, articles, partnerships and grants, research and fieldwork, and regular website updates.”

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!

The Fort Daniel Foundation has scheduled its annual meeting for 7:00 pm on December 15th at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center (GJAC) in Lawrenceville in the 2nd floor conference room center.

The Gwinnett Archaeological Research Society will have its regular meeting for November 2009 on the 17th, beginning at 7 pm. The speaker will be Scot Keith, lead archaeologist for recent excavations at the Late Woodland Leake Site. The site has been listed by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation as a 2010 Place in Peril. (See a story on this website about this here.)

The Gwinnett Archaeological Research Society has scheduled a field trip to the Roswell Mills site for Sunday, November 15.

The Gwinnett Archaeological Research Society will be having work day at Fort Daniel this Saturday, November 14, weather permitting, beginning about 9:30 am.

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.

Sgt. Ronald Peters, a geospatial analyst whose hometown is Fort Lewis, Washington, with Multi-National Corps – Iraq C-7, has been mapping the archaeological sites of Iraq in his spare time.

The Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Natural Resources is moving back into state offices at the end of this month. As a result, the office will have limited service on October 26-27, will be closed October 28 through November 3rd, and will have limited service November 4-6.

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.

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

The Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta announces a lecture by SGA President and Fernbank Curator of Native American Archaeology Dennis Blanton, to be held on Sunday, November 1st, at 4 pm. The lecture is titled “De Soto’s Footsteps: New Archaeological Evidence in Georgia.”

The SGA’s Fall Meeting organizer, Catherine Long, has announced the meeting schedule. The Fall SGA Meeting will be held on Saturday, October 17 at the Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center in Buford.

The Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources has a downloadable sixteen-page booklet dated November 2007, titled Preserving Georgia’s Historic Cemeteries that you may find interesting.

Preservation Georgia Online for September 12–18, 2009, lists the four grants funded through statewide preservation license tag sales. The four SFY 2010 Georgia Heritage Grants total $46,285.

Quick: where in the world is the largest concentration of Bronze Age graves?

Can’t you just guess that they might be threatened by development?

Read on….

The Digital Library of Georgia website includes a page of links titled “Southeastern Native American Documents, 1730-1842″ that you may find useful. Links include the official websites of Southeastern tribes, and some museums, archives, and libraries, etc.

CoastFest is Georgia’s largest organized celebration of the state’s rich and vast coastal natural resources, and this year will be held on Saturday, October third, in Brunswick.

Researchers have new geomagnetic dates for Achulean-style hand axes from two sites in Spain that indicate earlier use of those tools in Europe than previously known. Earlier dates were known for Africa and Asia, until this report. The question, then, is: did the tool-makers arrive from the south (from Africa directly) or from the east (following around the Mediterranean Sea).

The Georgia Municipal Cemetery Association’s Annual Conference, Tangible Links to Our Past, will be held in Rome, Georgia September 17-18 2009, at the Rome Forum Conference Center, downtown.

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.

National Geographic Traveler has highlighted fifty “Drives of a Lifetime.” A route along the Georgia and South Carolina coasts is one of the trips discussed. Several small detours would take you to enjoyable historic places like the Tybee Island lighthouse.

A crew of students lead by Diana Greenlee of the Department of Geosciences at University of Louisiana at Monroe tested buried circles in the plaza area of the famous Poverty Point site in northeast Louisiana this summer and was able to date the features they tested. This important civic-ceremonial site dates to the Terminal Archaic and is open to the public.

Members of the SGA may be interested in attending a meeting discussing the latest budget reductions to Georgia State Historic Sites. The meeting will be on Tuesday, August 11th, at the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation offices at Rhodes Hall on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, from 10 AM to 2:30 PM.

The Coastal Heritage Society of Savannah has been sponsoring archaeological research on Revolutionary War archaeological sites across the city as part of the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program (your tax dollars at work!). The report of this highly successful research is now complete, and available as a downloadable PDF.

The July 2009 issue of the Smithsonian magazine has an article by Barbara Krieger that details the research lead by Ehud Netzer of Hebrew University at the hilltop fortress palace that the Biblical King Herod built to eventually house his mausoleum. The exact location of his burial place, however, become lost to history, and remained an archaeological mystery until 2007.

The Society for American Archaeology, a national organization with over 7000 members, is concerned about Senate Bill 409, which would swap some federal lands for other property. The SAA is concerned about the loss of protections to archaeological sites on the lands that will pass out of federal ownership.

The famous Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site, just south of Cartersville, is now only open Thursdays through Saturdays, 9 am to 5 pm. On Saturday, the 3rd of October, however, you can join a special evening walking tour of the site by torchlight.

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)

Laboratory work is now underway at Fernbank Museum, lead by SGA President Dennis Blanton, wearing his day-job hat as Curator of Native American Archaeology. Summer 2009 was the fourth season of fieldwork he’s lead at a South Georgia site that’s produced early Spanish artifacts, including glass beads.

If you find yourself curious about a particular species, be it plant, animal, or even fungi, bacteria, archaea, protozoa, or virus, visit the Encyclopedia of Life website. This ambitious website plans to list all estimated 1.8 million species on Earth by 2017. You can even contribute information, including pictures, and class projects using the website are encouraged.

The Society for American Archaeology has 7000-plus members, and is “an international organization dedicated to the research, interpretation, and protection of the archaeological heritage of the Americas.” PDFs of back issues of the Society’s magazine The SAA Archaeological Record are available for free, except for the latest issue. You may enjoy perusing them. In particular, the November 2008 issue is recommended; it has a series of articles on our current understanding of the Archaic period in North America.

Wanna read about how “real archaeologists” compare what they do with what Indiana Jones does? The National Science Foundation (your tax dollars at work) funds archaeological projects, and the present an online “report” discussing what archaeologists the NSF has funded really do—in contrast to the behavior of Dr. Jones in the Steven Spielberg and George Lucas movies.

Glass bottles are quite common on historic sites, and we can often find interesting specimens at flea markets or in antique stores. This website, sponsored by the Society for Historical Archaeology and the Bureau of Land Management, provides detailed information about bottles made in the USA (and some from Canada) between about 1800 through the 1950s.

Heritage News is a monthly e-newsletter published by the National Park Service that delivers timely information on national heritage topics including grant opportunities, new laws or policies, events, and activities of interest. The July issue notes that a 1929 house in Dawsonville was listed on the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places in May 2009. The house was owned by a moonshiner who built his still right in the house.

Looking for weekend roadtrip destination in mid-September? Consider attending an all-day symposium sponsored by the Pre-Columbian Society of Washington, D.C. on Saturday, September 19th. This year’s symposium is “The Caribbean before Columbus.” The symposium abstract notes: “Contact and exchange throughout the Caribbean basin are the twin themes of modern day researchers.”

Next time you’re in Augusta, go downtown and visit the Springfield community. Springfield community is just west of the original downtown Augusta, right on the river. The community was a free African American community established around the time of the Revolutionary War. The heart of the community was and is Springfield Baptist Church, which was probably established between 1787 and 1793.

Larissa Thomas, editor of The Profile, is working on the newest issue, which will appear here, on this website, when finished.

Mark your calendar now! The SGA’s Fall 2009 meeting will be Saturday, October 17th, at the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center. Stay tuned for details!

Every once in a while news about the archaeology of southeastern North America is reported in mainstream publications. In June, the New York Times includes a report on carvings found on the wall of a cave in southeast Kentucky which may be an extremely early version of Sequoyah’s Cherokee syllabary. The final syllabary had 85 characters, each representing a syllable.

Many academic archaeological research projects are funded at least in part by the National Science Foundation. President Obama has made it an administration priority to as part of his Plan for Science and Innovation to double funding to key research agencies over the next decade. The House of Representatives in turn has proposed a reduction in the President’s proposed increase for FY 2010 for NSF.

To explore and learn about the decorations used on prehistoric pottery from Georgia, visit the University of Georgia’s website on Georgia Indian ceramics. The helpful website has pictures, discussions, and full bibliographic citations for pertinent literature.

The National Park Service website offers a list of laws and regulations pertaining to our nation’s cultural heritage on its website, along with links to the complete texts of the legislation. Perhaps most historically important is the Antiquities Act of 1906, which has been amended once and protects historic and prehistoric antiquities on Federal lands. Another important one is Executive Order 11593, signed in 1971, which charged the Department of the Interior with leading historic preservation activities for the nation.

The SGA is proud to make a digital version of our 2009 poster celebrating the Society’s theme of this year’s Archaeology Month, Mounds in Our Midst. Mounds are easy-to-see remnants of Georgia’s prehistoric past, mainly built between 500 BC and AD 1550. Research over the last century and more indicates that these artificial, human-constructed features of Georgia’s landscape varied in their design and purpose.

Please send your contributions to Larissa Thomas by Monday, June 15th for inclusion in your first all-electronic issue of The Profile! Dr. Thomas is interested in having articles from everyone, so we will continue to have a well-rounded picture of archaeological research and activities across the state, by everyone involved. We’d like to have articles from high in the mountains, inside and outside I-285, the Georgia Fall Line, from the ’skeeter-bit Big Bend, and down along the coast, wherever archaeology is going on in the state.

Dennis Blanton is blogging about his current field project, excavations in south Georgia. This informative blog constitutes a diary of on-going investigations at the site in Telfair County, in south Georgia….

Georgia’s Historic Preservation Division has released the first “issue” of a new monthly on-line publication called Preservation Posts, with articles on HPD activities, in more depth than are reported in their weekly newsletter, Preservation Georgia Online. Read staff profiles, National Register news, and about other interesting topics.

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.

Rebecca Burns writes a lively and informative blog on Atlanta called Terminus 2.0. Terminus is one of Atlanta’s old names, and her blog is about the history of the city. Plus, Ms. Burns’s blogroll includes a link to thesga.org! Thanks, Ms. Burns!

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!

The next SGA Board Meeting will be at 3 pm on Friday, May 15th, in Taylor 110, a classroom at Wesleyan College in Macon.

The Lamar Mounds trip is on for Sunday, May 17th at 10 am. Meet at the Ocmulgee National Monument. Get your gear together and join us! Remember, this is a three-mile hike (round trip), and the road is muddy this season, and we will be immersed in hordes of mosquitos, and expect ticks, too.

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!

Make plans NOW to attend the SGA meeting May 16th and 17th in Macon. On Saturday, we’ll enjoy presentations on the theme Mounds in Our Midst: Monuments of Prehistoric Culture in Georgia at the Anderson Amphitheater in the Taylor Building on the campus of Wesleyan College. For those who stay over, on Sunday there’ll be a walking tour of the Lamar Mounds site south of Macon.

SGA President Dennis Blanton has received a Preservation Achievement Award from the Georgia Historic Preservation Division, honoring him for his success in bringing one of Georgia’s few existing Native American dugout canoes to Fernbank Museum, among his many other activities that promote archaeology in Georgia. Kudos to President Blanton!

The Georgia Council of Professional Archaeologists has scheduled its semi-annual meeting for Friday, May 15th, from 1:45–3:30 pm in the Taylor building at Wesleyan College in Macon, in advance of the SGA Spring Meeting.

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!

The Gwinnett Archaeological Research Society, together with the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, hosted an Archaeology Month function at Fort Daniel on Saturday, 2 May, called the Frontier Fort Faire and Public Archaeology Event, which was covered by Heath Hamacher, of the Gwinnett Daily News.

Please enjoy Archaeology Month in Georgia. Attend the Society’s semi-annual meeting on May 16th and 17th at Wesleyan College in Macon ($10 per person). You may also want to attend another event, as many are held around the state!

On behalf of the Society, President Blanton thanks the many volunteers who worked hard to set up, take down, and staff the SGA table at the Society for American Archaeology Annual Meeting in downtown Atlanta in late April. The table and display were open for several days, and it took the contributions of many people to make this happen. Thanks to all!

The National Park Service is scheduled to receive $750 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to be spent on parks across the country. Georgia’s parks are to receive just under $2.5 million, or approximately 0.33% of the total budget, and far below one-fiftieth of the total budget. How do you feel about this?

NEWS FLASH: Georgia’s 2008 “Archaeological Encounters in Georgia’s Spanish Period” poster wins Society for American Archaeology annual Archaeology Month Poster Award on April 24th!

In Georgia, by proclamation by Governor Sonny Perdue, May is both Archaeology Month and Historic Preservation Month. Celebratory and educational events are scheduled around the state, including a series of lectures at Rhodes Hall, Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s office in Atlanta.

Click [More] immediately below for details on the rooms SGA has reserved in Macon at the Zebulon Road Fairfield Inn at a special rate for during the Spring Meeting. We hope to see you there!

The Ocmulgee Chapter of the Society announces the speakers for its May and June meetings.

Read William Bartram’s Travels Through North & South Carolina, Georgia, East & West Florida, the Cherokee Country, the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges, or Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Chactaws; Containing An Account of the Soil and Natural Productions of Those Regions, Together with Observations on the Manners of the Indians, published in 1791, right here on the internet. You will miss the experience of turning aging pages, but you can read every word, and see some pictures, too!

The World Digital Library is now online. UNESCO has spearheaded this collective effort to make precious documents of all kinds from cultures around the world available in digital form to all who have internet access. The site launched with content from libraries and other cultural institutions across the globe—contributions from 26 institutions in 19 countries. The picture is from the frontispiece of a Dutch-published book about the New World and Australia dated 1671.

The Society for Georgia Archaeology is proud to present the schedule of events for Archaeology Month 2009. Click [More] below to read more and download a PDF of the events calendar.

For each of the last twelve years, the SGA has produced a Lesson Plan in coordination with Archaeology Month. This year’s Lesson Plan, called Learning through Archaeology: Etowah Indian Mounds, is now available. It coordinates with the theme of our 2009 Archaeology Month meeting, Mounds in Our Midst: Monuments of Prehistoric Culture in Georgia. Our Spring Meeting will be held May 16th and 17th at Wesleyan College in Macon.

The Federal Omnibus Appropriations Act, which funds departments, agencies, and programs not funded through the regular appropriations process for FY2009, includes funding for some archaeological and historical programs and endeavors. The major allocations, listed in the full story, total nearly $500 million.

The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation is soliciting nominations to its 2010 Places in Peril list. Selected properties will receive matching grants and advice in improving the properties’ preservation plans. Fort Daniel was on the 2009 list, and efforts there escalated after it was selected. Read the full story for qualifications and the link to the nomination form.

Georgians for Preservation Action report that the archaeology allocation in the final state budget includes the $100,000 that was in the Senate version, plus two positions that had been cut. This compares to a previous budget of over $279,000. HPD now has to decide which missions can still be accomplished on this severely reduced budget.

The Society for American Archaeology, a national organization, sent a letter of concern about major cuts to the state’s archaeology program to Georgia’s Republican and Democratic leaders during budget negotiations at the end of March.

On Tuesday May 5th, Georgia’s Historic Preservation Division and the Georgia Trust are offering an all-day orientation session on the programs and services offered by the two organizations. Cost is $30 per person, which covers program materials, continental breakfast, and the afternoon break, and the orientation will be held in downtown Atlanta. The full story has the agenda and a link to the registration form.

On Thursday, 2 April, Governor Sonny Perdue proclaimed May Archaeology Month for 2009. Part of the proclamation states “Whereas: The study, interpretation and preservation of our archaeological sites offer important educational, cultural and economic benefits to all Georgians….” Read the full story and download a PDF of the proclamation by clicking [More] below.

Check out this story to download the latest newsletter by the Friends of Scull Shoals. There’s also a link to their website. The Friends are sponsoring a Spring Crafts and Tours Festival from 10 am until 4 pm on 2 May. The Scull Shoals area is between Athens and Greensboro, east of Atlanta, in the Oconee National Forest.

Georgia State students got real-world experience in salvage archaeology and historic preservation projects under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey Glover when they worked recently in Atlanta’s historic Oakland Cemetery. The March 2008 tornado tipped over trees, bringing up soil and potentially disturbing human remains. Students used archaeological field techniques to examine this disturbed soil.

The 2009 State Social Studies Fair winners in archaeology are Destiny Jackson, with her project entitled “What Archaeological Remains Did King Tut Leave Behind?” and eighth grader Jack Doresky, whose project was titled “Southeastern US Indian Removal.” Each winner received a $50 check and educational materials from the SGA and the Georgia Council of Professional Archaeologists. Read the full story for details and photos.

The Senate Appropriations committee has only $50,000 total in the archaeology budget, not even enough to fund a single position. This means Federal and state projects will be delayed in the Historic Preservation Office, and that DNR will have to hire consultants in order to comply with State and Federal laws. Click [More] below to read the details.

You may be interested in subscribing to the Historic Preservation Division’s Preservation Georgia Online newsletter, to keep up with news and events around the state relevant to archaeology and historic preservation, including grant programs and National Register news. If you’re not already a subscriber, you might want to give it a try—it’s free!

Late on the afternoon of March 24, Georgians for Preservation Action reported that the Georgia House budget for SFY 2010 cuts over $279,000 in funding for the Historic Preservation Division, effectively gutting the state’s archaeology program. In a followup email on the 26th, the group reported that they could not determine the reason for the cuts.

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.

The complete archive of online news on various topics in archaeology is here, listed in reverse order of publication on this website. If, instead, you are interested in an archive of notices about the business of the Society (e.g., preparations for meetings), click here.