The Society for Georgia Archaeology’s seventeenth annual Georgia Archaeology Awareness promotion, Archaeology Month 2010, had as its theme Making the Past Come to Life: Exploring Ancient Techniques. Making Archaeology Month 2010 happen involved several events. Governor Perdue signed the proclamation designating May as Georgia Archaeology Month on May 25 at the Capitol. Volunteers met on April 26th at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History to package posters, fliers announcing the lesson plan, and surveys for the teachers to return to the SGA. Finally, the SGA’s annual gathering for the spring meeting was held in Albany, Georgia on May 14–16, 2010, complete with demonstrators and the ArchaeoBus.

Read 11alive’s report on the Fort Daniel Faire and Public Archaeology Event, held at the Fort Daniel historical site in Gwinnett County in late May 2010. The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation named Fort Daniel to its 2009 Places In Peril list in recognition of the importance of this military site. Visit the Fort Daniel Foundation website and learn how you can help save this important place, which is presently on private land.

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!

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

The SGA President Dennis Blanton catches us up on the business of the Society.

In the full story, The Profile Editor Larissa Thomas discusses publication issues, and notifies the membership that she is stepping down as editor, and asks for a volunteer to take over this important position.

Long-time SGA supporter Rita Elliott discusses the perfect gift: a donation to the SGA’s endowment fund! (Psst, and it’s tax deductible!)

The theme for Archaeology Month 2010 will focus on Primitive Technology, and the committee is very close to deciding on a catchy title for use on the poster and other promotional literature for this celebration. Committee members are busy working to nail down a time and place for the event in the southwestern corner of the state near Albany.

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 ArchaeoBus wranglers have been busy. During the past six months with few attempts to solicit venues, we have exposed 8,500 people to the Archaeobus and archaeology. Read the full story for a summary of ArchaeoBus activities, and a discussion of funding sources and some volunteers (a hearty thank you to each!) and expenses.

Although the Georgia Mountains Archaeological Society (GMAS) in Gainesville is no more, there is a new SGA chapter rising in north Georgia. The Blue Ridge Archaeology Guild (BRAG) is meeting on the third Thursday each month at North Georgia College and State University (NGCSU) at 7:00 pm in Young Hall. Their meetings are in conjunction with the new student club, the North Georgia Archaeology Guild (NoGAG). The two clubs are already busy with hands-on projects.

Our annual public meetings and Archaeology Month events are occasions that expose all that is good about SGA. Our members respond with a great turnout and inevitably we reach a goodly number of others who are just plain curious about Georgia archaeology. The spring meeting at Wesleyan College in Macon was just such an event [...]

Since our initial implementation of the revamped website early this year, we’ve continued to add stories and make sure the new material can be found. We continue to work toward making our Society’s website useful and informative to students, educators, researchers, and those with an interest in our human past. Now that there’s substantial material [...]

As your editor, it is my pleasure to announce that starting with the next issue, The Profile will be published exclusively in electronic format. The SGA Board made this decision at its recent retreat in an effort to cut costs. For you, the reader, the benefit will be having a full-color publication with no page [...]

The SGA’s website committee—that is: Michael Shirk, Kevin Kiernan, and Sammy Smith—has been hard at work developing a new website for the Society. Actually, the three of us have been working on content and ideas for the structure of the site. Most of the technological heavy lifting has been done for the SGA on a [...]

The Visitor Information Center Program of the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Tourism Division is once again sponsoring Georgia On My Mind Days at Georgia’s Visitor Centers. These events are free, and SGA can set up a table/display (we must provide the table) to distribute our brochures and informational fliers; offer fun, educational games and [...]

The SGA’s Board of Directors and Officers met for a retreat to discuss Society business and make plans for future undertakings on 23-24 January 2009 at Camp Martha Johnston Girl Scout Camp west of Macon.

Working on the Society for Georgia Archaeology’s Endowment Fund has been an insightful learning experience. Most recently, it has been both a somber and uplifting one. As many of you know, Mr. Fred Scheidler, a devout SGA member, recently passed away. Our condolences go to his wife, Carol; son, David; and all his family, friends, [...]

ArchaeoBus is quickly becoming more than just a pretty face! The last Profile article described the colorful “wrap” that will embellish the exterior of the vehicle and create an exciting traveling billboard for public archaeology outreach. Thanks to Best Buy Children’s Foundation, ArchaeoBus will now be equipped with substantial technology that will expand the potential [...]

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

The SGA is proud to award long-time member Thomas H. Gresham the prestigious Joseph R. Caldwell Award for outstanding service to Georgia Archaeology.

Madison Zerbe, fifth grade, and her winning exhibit. For the sixth year, SGA and the Georgia Council of Professional Archaeologists sponsored an Archaeology Award at the State Social Studies Fair held at Clayton State University on March 22. Madison Zerbe, a fifth grade student at Varnell Elementary School, won for her project on “Sequoyah.” Joshua [...]

Many readers of The Profile have no doubt heard of the recent announcement of the pending transfer of ownership of the Singer-Moye mound site from the Columbus Museum to the University of Georgia. Those that have not will likely want to know how this decision came about, while those with some understanding of it will [...]

Recently my husband, Dan, and I learned of the deaths of two friends. Both had been clergy and both were connected to the coastal colonial site of the Salzburgers, some of Georgia’s first European settlers. One friend was young and one was not. One recently died and one passed away several months before we learned [...]

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

The Archaeology Bus Committee has several exciting items to report to the membership. First, John (JC) Burns of jcbD, has generously provided pro-bono work to create the graphic and text design that will go around the vehicle. This will allow the vehicle to be “reborn” from the bookmobile that it was to the new and [...]

Pictured left to right: Joe Joseph, Rochelle Banks (TRC-Houston), SHA Conference Chair Howard Higgins (TRC-Albuquerque), Mary Beth Reed, Jim D’Angelo, and Barbara Garrow. The Society for Historical Archaeology and Council on Underwater Archaeology held their annual meetings jointly in Albuquerque, New Mexico this past January, co-sponsored by TRC. Papers examined the interface between archaeology and [...]

Stephen Hammack, the Robins Air Force Base on-site archaeologist, continues to give lectures about the archaeology of the Base. He spoke to Dr. Jo Anna Watson’s Mercer University “Introduction to Archaeology” class in Macon on January 17th, and to the Jones County Rotary Club on February 28th. An informal talk is set for March 14th [...]

As 2008 rolled in, so did a number of important contributions to The Society for Georgia Archaeology’s Endowment Fund. January, alone, brought $700 worth of donations to the fund. These much-appreciated contributions continue to add to the fund’s principal, which is kept in perpetuity, generating interest. This interest provides funding for archaeology public outreach, research, [...]

The 12th Annual CoastFest—Georgia’s largest coastal natural resources festival—was held on October 6, 2007, along the scenic Marshes of Glynn in Brunswick, Georgia at the Department of Natural Resources Regional Headquarters. The Society for Georgia Archaeology’s booth was visited by many of the over 6,700 visitors in attendance. Although the forecast called for rain almost [...]

The story of the transformation of the Bookmobile acquired by SGA from the Athens Clarke County Regional Library continues! The Archaeology Mobile Advisory Panel had its first meeting on Saturday, November 10. Joined by about 93,000 fans in town for the UGA-Auburn game, members of the advisory panel converged on Athens from around the state. [...]

In Fall 2007, SGA met at the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center, 2020 Clean Water Drive (near The Mall of Georgia), Buford. The Search For Fort Daniel Jim D’Angelo, TRC and Gwinnett Archaeological Research Society The traditional location of one of Georgia’s early frontier forts, Fort Daniel, has been marked with a roadside historical sign [...]

The bus is here!! The Society for Georgia Archaeology (SGA) is pleased to announce the acquisition of a book mobile from the Athens Regional Library System and the beginning of an innovative, large-scale project. The project, now known as the Archaeology Mobile project, but soon to have an official name, is an ambitious plan aimed [...]

Georgia’s archaeological community has recently lost one of its own. Journalist, artist, archaeologist, and ethnohistorian, Marilyn Pennington passed away on June 9, 2006 at the age of 75. Pennington was born in Bluefield, West Virginia, and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Georgia in 1950. After working as a reporter for [...]