Archaeological crews from the American Museum of Natural History have been excavating on St. Catherines Island for over 30 years. This fall we returned to the island with a very specific, yet far reaching research plan.

Over the past four years, much of our research has focused on two Late Archaic shell rings (2400–1800 B.C.); the St. Catherines Shell Ring and the McQueen Shell Ring. These sites are roughly 70 m in diameter and are represented by a ring of deposited marine shell that measures about 10 m wide and 2 m deep and an interior “plaza” that measures between 30–40 m in diameter (see The Profile, Winter 2008 for a brief synopsis). Our research at these sites thus far has been comprised of geophysical prospection (soil resistivity, ground penetrating radar, gradiometry, topography, and shell density) and both minor and major archaeological testing (shovel test pits, vibra-cores, test units, trenches, and block excavations). Despite all of this work, we have been ignoring one of the most intriguing aspects of these sites; the surrounding landscape.

To better understand the archaeological landscape around the rings, we conducted a shovel test pit survey (at 20-m intervals) around the St. Catherines shell ring in the fall of 2008. Out of 458 shovel test pits, only 7 produced ceramics that are contemporaneous with the shell ring. The data suggests that the ring was the only substantial Late Archaic presence in this section of St. Catherines Island. This interesting revelation sparked a series of questions concerning the landscape the shell rings occupy. For instance; do contemporaneous sites exist outside the shell ring? During what other time periods did people utilized this space? What are the stratigraphic differences/similarities between the rings?

Marc Lorenc and Leigh Davidson excavating a shovel test pit at McQueen Shell Ring.

With these questions in mind we devised a survey that would incorporate our previous shovel testing while at the same time improving on the quantity and quality of information previously gained. A 20-m shovel testing interval was conducted within 250 m of the shell ring while an additional finer 10-m interval was used within 150 m of the ring.

Fieldwork for this project has just wrapped up and therefore, specific results of the survey are pending. However, preliminary distribution maps generated in the field have provided some interesting insights. The area immediately surrounding the shell rings seems to lack any Late Archaic material, suggesting a lack of significant contemporaneous activity around the rings that would lead to deposition events. The only contemporaneous Late Archaic material comes from 3–4 isolated test pits 100–150 m away from the ring.

GIS map of the McQueen Shell Ring (shell density in blue at center) surrounded by proposed 10- and 20-m interval shovel test pits. The green circle marks the 150-m radius; the blue circle marks the 250-m radius.

This survey has given us a fantastic opportunity to juxtapose two intriguing archaeological sites and their archaeological surroundings. Currently we have plans to complete the artifact analysis and integrate those data with our current GIS platform in the effort to better understand the distribution of material culture and the landscape setting upon which these shell rings exist.

The National Park Service’s 2010 workshop on archaeological prospection techniques entitled “Current Archaeological Prospection Advances for Non-Destructive Investigations in the 21st Century” will be held May 24–28, 2010, at the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site near Stanton, North Dakota. Lodging will be in the in the communities of Beulah, Hazen, and Riverdale, North Dakota. The field exercises will take place at the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site. The park preserves the historic and archeological remnants of the culture and agricultural lifestyle of the Northern Plains Indians during the 18th and 19th centuries. Co-sponsors for the workshop include the National Park Service and the State Historical Society of North Dakota.

This will be the twentieth year of the workshop dedicated to the use of geophysical, aerial photography, and other remote sensing methods as they apply to the identification, evaluation, conservation, and protection of archaeological resources across this nation. The workshop will present lectures on the theory of operation, methodology, processing, and interpretation with on-hands use of the equipment in the field.

There is a registration charge of $475.00.

Application forms are available on the Midwest Archeological Center’s web page. For further information, please contact Steven L. DeVore, Archeologist, National Park Service, Midwest Archeological Center, Federal Building, Room 474, 100 Centennial Mall North, Lincoln, Nebraska 68508-3873; tel: (402) 437-5392, ext. 141; fax: (402) 437-5098; or email by clicking here.

Download an archaeological report and list of artifacts recovered during recent research to locate, identify, and determine the level of preservation of as many locales as possible in the City of Savannah that are related to the October 9, 1779 Battle of Savannah. In short, for this research, archaeologists and SGA members Rita and Dan Elliott assembled all map information about the battle, then combined it with a recent digital map of the city to discover where prospecting for intact remains might be productive. They focused ground-truthing in modern green spaces, which again reminds us of another value of green spaces beyond their “greenness.” They examined specific locations in Madison Square, Lafayette Square, Emmet Park, Colonial Park Cemetery, Cuyler Park, Dixon Park, and Myers Park.

The report, authored by the Elliotts, is titled “Savannah under Fire, 1779: Identifying Savannah’s Revolutionary War Battlefield” and is dated June 2009. In part, the report abstract notes:

The project was extremely successful. Archeologists located a defensive ditch (almost two meters deep) dug by the British in 1779, defended during the battle, and in-filled by the Americans in 1782. The ditch lies in what is now Madison Square. Brick fragments/rubble in the ditch was part of the brick from the barracks razed by the British less than two weeks before the battle. The brick was used in the defenses around the Central redoubts and was pushed into the British trenches following the British evacuation of the city in 1782. In nearby Lafayette Square, archeologists discovered artifacts that were likely discarded by British soldiers occupying the defensive lines near and in the Central Redoubts, and by civilians associated with the soldiers. Emmet Park revealed a deep (3.5 ft.) feature that may have been constructed as part of the river battery associated with nearby Fort Prevost. Not only did archeologists discover evidence of numerous unmarked graves in Colonial Park Cemetery, but also an anomaly that appears to be one of the ditches running toward a redoubt. Archeologists found no evidence of Revolutionary War activity in Cuyler, Dixon, and Myers parks.

Perhaps surprisingly, the archaeological resources identified by this research were found to be in excellent condition.

This research was conducted by archaeologists with the Coastal Heritage Society, and primarily funded through the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program, with some matching funds from The LAMAR Institute. The Coastal Heritage Society, founded in 1975 and based in Savannah, has three historic archaeological sites: Old Fort Jackson National Historic Landmark, the Savannah History Museum, and the Roundhouse Railroad Museum.

Go to this page to download the report “Savannah under Fire, 1779″ and the project’s artifact catalogue. The report is a large PDF file, over 88 MB.

You may not know that PDFs of back issues of the Society for American Archaeology’s magazine The SAA Archaeological Record are available for free, except for the latest issue. Volume 8, number 5, dated November 2008, is a topical issue, discussing the “New Archaic.” The seven articles were edited by Ken Sassaman, who also provides an excellent introduction. They examine data from different regions of North America, including two on patterns observed in the coastal Southeast.

Sassaman’s introduction, “The New Archaic, It Ain’t What It Used To Be,” discusses how the old idea that the Archaic was the time before agriculture and extended village life is now discredited. Indeed, archaeological research now shows that the Archaic period encompassed regional variation and considerable diversity. Sassaman notes:

One of the most striking discoveries of late are the monuments made of earth and shell by mobile hunter-gatherer populations as early as 7,000 years ago. Showcased in this issue are early mounds of the Southeast. This region boasts the most varied, dispersed, and ancient record of monument construction on the continent, and archaeologists are puzzling over the implications of these novel data for issues of broad anthropological relevance. [pg. 6]

He goes on:

In addition to the more ancient mounds of northeast Louisiana, the Southeast holds evidence for other types of monumental architecture that predate Poverty Point. Generally consisting of shell, the mounds, ridges, and rings of the South Atlantic and Gulf coast have survived the nineteenth-century bias of being considered natural phenomena, and the twentieth-century bias of being merely accumulated food refuse. [pg. 6–7]

In sum, if you are interested in reading brief but detailed syntheses of recent recent research on Archaic-period peoples, you might enjoy reading this issue, downloadable here.

Archaeologists working twenty or fifty years ago were serious and innovative researchers, however their understanding of the Archaic period differed considerably from the picture presented by the articles in this magazine. Is this difference due only to the substantial data that has been assembled in the interim? What other variables are there?

In the 1820s, a syllabary of the Cherokee language became widely used. It’s inventor had a birth name of George Gist (or Guess), but by this time went by a Cherokee name pronounced something like Sikwayi or Sogwali, although it is commonly spelled Sequoyah.

John Noble Wilford, in the 22 June New York Times, reports that archaeologist Kenneth B. Tankersley, of the University of Cincinnati, has found fifteen identifiable characters from the syllabary carved into the wall of a cave in southeast Kentucky. Apparently, Sequoyah made several visits to the region, and spent time in the caves seeking inspiration.

These may be the earliest known examples of the syllabary, which Sequoyah may still have been developing. This written language is known as a syllabary because the symbols (analogous to the letters we use in English) represent syllables, not individual sounds. Sequoyah’s Cherokee syllabary has 85 characters.

Read Wilford’s New York Times article “Carvings From Cherokee Script’s Dawn” here.

Read Ted Wadley’s article on Sequoyah in the New Georgia Encyclopedia online here.

Read the Wikipedia entry on the Cherokee syllabary here.

Sequoyah image courtesy WikiMedia Commons, here.

On June 16th, President Barack Obama’s office responded to a proposal by the House of Representatives to reduce the funding he has proposed for FY 2010 of the National Science Foundation (NSF) by $108 million. President Obama’s Plan for Science and Innovation proposes a doubling over ten years of the funding for three key federal research agencies. In his proposed FY2010 budget President Obama advocated a $555 million increase to the NSF budget, and increase of 8.5% over the FY 2009 budget. Research and agency operations would be cut as a result of the reduction in the House budget.

NSF is mandated to:

provide a central clearinghouse for the collection, interpretation, and analysis of data on scientific and engineering resources, and to provide a source of information for policy formulation by other agencies of the Federal Government….

Many academic archaeological researchers obtain at least partial funding from NSF. Nevertheless, most archaeological projects in the USA are funded as part of cultural resource management (CRM) projects, which are mandated when federal lands, monies, or licensing are involved. Other CRM projects are funded due to state or local regulations.

Summary tables available from the Office of Management and Budget indicate that the President’s proposed budget included about $6.09 billion for NSF. The $108 million reduction proposed by the House is only about 1.8%, but that will still mean cuts to research, and may imperil at least a few potential archaeological research projects.

The OMB letter discussing this administration priority is available here. The White House document discussing the Plan for Science and Innovation is available here.

Humans are humans; we tend to like some of the same places on the landscape no matter who we are and when we are alive. This means that some of the same places were occupied over and over. The view from Lookout Mountain must have been as compelling to prehistoric Native Americans as it is to us today.

What makes a location more—or less—attractive to human visitors or inhabitants?

Southern Research has recently carried out a number of projects in Georgia that may be of interest to the members of SGA.

Barnes Cemetery Relocation, Bibb County

The Barnes Cemetery was first recorded in 2007 during a reconnaissance for the Macon-Bibb Industrial Authority conducted by Southern Research. The reconnaissance was required by a site certification program for Georgia Allies and the Georgia Department of Economic Development. The Authority gained the important certification and began to market the property for development. When Kumho Tire Corporation selected the Authority’s Property to build a new manufacturing facility, plans to relocate the Barnes Cemetery were developed. In April 2008, Southern Research delineated the cemetery and conducted genealogical research for the Authority. The Industrial Authority petitioned the Superior Court of Bibb County, Georgia for a permit to disinter and relocate the human remains present in the Barnes Cemetery, an Abandoned Cemetery as defined by state law (OCGA 36-72). The Court issued a Consent Order permitting the activity as proposed in the Permit Application’s Disinterment and Relocation Plan. The Authority enlisted the services of Southern Research to carry out the Court’s Order. The Disinterment and Relocation was conducted in late October (yes, on Halloween) and early November 2008. The work discovered 13 individual graves interred in the Barnes Cemetery: four adults, one adolescent and eight children or infants. The results of this effort determined that the living direct descendants included Mr. Thomas Carlton Barnes, his children and grandchildren who live nearby. Based upon the genealogical research, we determined that the individuals were interred between the 1880s and 1907.

Fort Valley State University Reconnaissance Survey, Peach County

During the first two weeks of June 2008, Southern Research, Historic Preservation Consultants, Inc. conducted a Level One Archaeological Reconnaissance at Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Georgia. This effort was part of the development of the first Campus Historic Preservation Plan by a team of preservation professionals. The purpose of the reconnaissance survey was to conduct a literature and records search to determine if previously identified archaeological sites had been recorded on the university campus and to assess the potential for as yet undiscovered sites to be present. The archaeological reconnaissance survey recorded artifacts and features dating from the establishment of Fort Valley High and Industrial School (started in the early twentieth century) as well as evidence of earlier mid-nineteenth century occupations. Using the 1920 Sanborn Insurance Map, we projected the footprints of earlier buildings long since demolished, onto a modern aerial photograph using ArcGIS 9.2. Locating the earliest features of the school contributed to the sense of place that will enhance the students, faculty, staff and alumni’s appreciation of the school’s history as well as what came before.

Don Carter State Park Survey, Hall County

Southern Research has completed the fieldwork and laboratory analysis for an archaeological survey of the portions of Don Carter State Park. A Draft Final Report is in preparation. The area surveyed for the Don Carter State Park consisted of three separate parcels encompassing approximately 400 acres belonging to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District (USACE). The land lies adjacent to Lake Lanier in northeastern Hall County, Georgia. The tracts that were surveyed are where the first improvements will occur on the largely undeveloped property. The land belonging to the USACE was surveyed under Archaeological Resources Protection Act Permit Number DACW01-4-09-0457 issued to the DNR. The survey resulted in the identification of 20 previously recorded archaeological resources: 18 sites and two artifact occurrences. Site 9Hl530 is a cemetery with at least 15 marked and unmarked graves dating to the mid to late nineteenth century. Additional unmarked graves are likely present. Archaeological sites 9Hl537, 9Hl540, and 9Hl542 are house sites that date to the mid nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. All three have retained some integrity as witnessed by intact stone and/or brick ruins and have the potential to yield important information about the history of Hall County. Archaeological sites 9Hl538 and 9Hl540 are prehistoric artifact scatters that yielded pottery sherds from the Middle Woodland Period. These two sites also produced quartz and chert lithic artifacts, fire-cracked rocks, and charred plant remains in sufficient quantities and in context that would suggest they have retained enough integrity to yield important new information regarding prehistory in the Upper Chattahoochee River Valley. Other archaeological sites included quartz lithic scatters of unknown age.

Survey of the Mountain Creek Drainage, Harris County

In 2008, Southern Research conducted a reconnaissance survey of private property located on and adjacent to Pine Mountain in Harris County, Georgia. The work included a search of archaeological records for information regarding past archaeological research on the property and in the region. Historical research in the Harris County Court House yielded important chain of title data for several land lots on the property. During a fieldwork, archaeologists examined at a reconnaissance level, approximately 1,000 of the 8,000 acres. Two previously recorded archaeological sites are located on the property and the field crews found 52 previously unrecorded resources during the survey. These include Native American camp sites, a stone mound, a prehistoric quartzite quarry, historic house sites, cemeteries, a steel truss bridge and a water powered mill site. Most of the sites are disturbed to the extent that little important scientific information about the past remains intact. Poor agricultural practices in the nineteenth century and subsequent timber harvesting activities have contributed to the erosion and disturbance. These resources are for the most part small Native American camp sites probably from the Archaic and Woodland periods. There are some very important resources that are judged to be significant or potentially significant with further investigations. These include the previously recorded archaeological sites, the stone mound, eight cemeteries, a Champion steel truss bridge, the small water powered mill site and four archaeological house sites. These resources are unique, or have retained enough integrity to be able to contribute substantially to our understanding of the past through additional research. The property owners intend to protect and conserve the sites.

How Hoboken got its name

Southern Research recently conducted a cultural resources survey for a client in Hoboken, Georgia. While no archaeological resources were discovered, our historian uncovered the origin of this South Georgia town’s name. Historical research was conducted using traditional published sources, online sources such as NAHRGIS, and informant interviews. It is the latter interviews that proved so interesting. Below are excerpts from some of the informant interviews (edited for general audiences).

One informant suggested that the town was named for Hobo Ken, a country music singer who appeared on the Grand Ole Opry in the 1940s. Another informant countered that Hobo Ken was a professional wrestler on the Southern circuit back in the 1950s to early 1980s. This elderly gentleman went on to say “I went up against him a few times when I was on the circuit, wrestling under the nom de guerre Buddha the Magnificent back in the mid to late 1970s. He was getting on in years back then, while I was an up-and-coming slab in my late 20s. You might have caught us out at the J & J Center on the Commerce Highway (north of Athens) on Tuesday nights back then.”

Another informant suggested that while he had not actually seen the match, he had heard that Hobo Ken whupped Buddha’s a**. Another old timer who said he witnessed the match added “… it’s been many a year since I thought of ‘Buddha’ the Magnificent and his match with Hobo Ken. First off, and this is a fact, ‘Buddha’ started his career as Bubba the Magnificent. But the kid was dyslexic, often getting his b’s and d’s mixed up. So when he wrote his name in Elmer’s glue and glitter on the back of his bathrobe, it came out ‘Budda’ the Magnificent. Now, concerning his match with Hobo Ken at the J & J, it wasn’t really an a** whuppin’, with bodies bouncin’ off the ropes and lots of blood and all. Ken just applied his own form of the ‘sleeper’—a hobo armpit over the nose. It was over in a couple of seconds.” Informant Buddha disputes this version in a tersely worded retort that cannot be repeated here! Further research uncovered this fact: “Hobo Ken” is track 4 on the A side of Ain’t But the One Way written by Vaetta Stewart (aka Vet Stone), little sister of Sylvester Stewart (aka Sly Stone). This was the last album by Sly and the Family Stone released in 1983. Vet Stone was with the vocal group Little Sister which sang backups for Sly and the Family Stone and also did their own thing. Little Sister included Mary McCreary who married Leon Russell, which some say resulted in the recording of the “Wedding Album.”

Finally, our historian settled on this version: Hoboken, Brantley County was incorporated as a city August 16, 1920. This town in the western part of the county may have been named for the city in New Jersey, which was named from the Algonquian word hopocan, meaning “tobacco pipe” or “pipe country.”

Now, who you gonna believe?

If you have a choice, and are driving across Georgia, try to avoid the main highways and interstates, and then look for interesting features across the landscape, including old buildings and the remains of abandoned road grades.

Recently, while driving around between Madison and Atlanta on a beautiful, sunny late fall day, we spotted this somewhat tattered wooden building on a hill next to Bostwick Road in northern Newton County, north of Covington.

A sign by the road says the Gum Creek Courthouse was built about 1888.

Even though buildings in North America aren’t very old compared to some you can find in Europe and Asia, this building is over a century old, which is longer than most of us can expect to live.

In 2008, TRC’s Atlanta office has been working on a stream of large pipeline projects across the Southeast and into the Great Plains, continuing with the kind of projects that kept us busy in 2007. In addition to survey and testing for the various pipelines, TRC has carried out a number of other out-of-state projects with interesting findings to be published when client confidentiality restrictions are lifted. Locally in Georgia, smaller survey projects have taken crews to various parts of the state from Gwinnett County in the northeast to Taylor County in the south.

One notable project in Georgia in February was a Phase I archaeological survey of 375 acres proposed for a gypsum disposal area for Georgia Power’s Plant Scherer in Monroe County, Georgia, followed by test excavations at two sites. The study area included a rock pile site (9MO485) on Berry Creek originally recorded by Dean Wood. The site was revisited in 1992 and tested within a narrow area of impacts by Christopher Espenshade with negative results. However, in view of recent discussions about the possible significance of rock piles in the Georgia Piedmont, the site was again recommended potentially eligible for the NRHP. TRC was authorized to test the site once more in March.

Under the direction of Jim D’Angelo, the site was tested and remapped using a Trimble Geo XT GPS unit in order to show any obvious patterns from which a hypothesis of design could be inferred as Dick Jefferies and Paul Fish had done with Plant Scherer sites 9MO152 and 9MO153. The piles are located along a 10-20 degree slope between a logging road and the level floodplain of Berry Creek. Although not all the piles were measured, they range from as small as about 1 √ó 1 m to about 3 √ó 1.5 m and stand from 0.5 to 1 m high as measured from the downslope ground level.

Sterling Howard and Elizabeth Stipek excavating a rock pile at 9MO487, with other piles visible in the background.

Three rock piles were selected for partial excavation, and two 50-cm diameter shovel tests were excavated on a boulder outcrop associated with the site. No artifacts or associated features were found, and the boulder outcrop was determined to be natural. TRC concluded that there was no apparent pattern to the distribution of the rock piles that would suggest a ceremonial purpose as had been suggested for 9MO152 and 9MO153. Rather, the size and location of the piles suggests that they represent wagonloads of rock that were dumped in connection with the clearing of fields, most probably from the upper part of the ridge just east of the site.

In December we held our meeting with festive flare by combining two events. Members provided a pot luck dinner, with a cool presentation by Jack Wynn on the “Archaeology of Upland Peru.” We had the Andes as a snowy backdrop in many of the slides Jack took of the sites and the archaeologists he met.

The new year started out with a another dual presentation by Dan Page and Brian Babcock. They often work as a team looking for rock shelters, fish weirs, lithic quarries, and other unregistered sites. They photograph, measure, and record these features and pass them on to the state site files at UGA. Their mountain and river accomplishments were one of their presentations. The other was an extensive study of interesting Georgia cemetery finds and the cultural changes they reflect.

During the second week of January Dr. Adam King returned to the Etowah Indian Mound Park to do his fourth week of underground imaging. Fred Scheidler was asked to find willing volunteer workers from the SGA chapters for measuring and placing grid flags, magnetic detection for metal markers, and moving the guide lines during data collection. We had fifteen volunteers from BHAS, GAAS, GMAS, and NWGAS. All work was completed accurately and ahead of schedule.

In January and February, Chip Morgan continued spreading knowledge about archaeology with community education classes in Roswell. Chip teaches a six-week program called Georgia Archaeology 101. It is held on Tuesday nights at the Bulloch Hall cottage and at the Roswell Community Senior Center. For more information call Bulloch Hall at (770) 992-1713.

In our February meeting Fred Scheidler told of his efforts to identify an artifact first shown to him by a co-worker sixteen years ago. The photos and the paper trail of his pre-internet research were explained. It is a Spanish Signal Cannon believed to be about five hundred years old.

The BHAS chapter has been invited to share archaeology with the people of Roswell on March 15 and 16 at a table provided in the Showcase of Homes, which this year has a historic theme.

Our Archaeology Month event is a presentation by Dr. Despina Margomenou on May 17, at 11:00 AM. Her subject is current research in prehistoric northern Greece. She has directed projects on the recovery of residue in the ancient storage containers of that area, as well as work with pottery from the Palace of Knossos on Crete. Her presentation will be at the Bulloch Hall cottage. For information call (770) 992-1713 or (770) 428-4686.

Since the summer, TRC has continued to work hard on pipeline (and other) projects across the Southeast. In Georgia, we have carried out a handful of survey projects in DeKalb, Cherokee, Cobb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Houston, McDuffie, and Whitfield counties, with nothing especially interesting to report. One project that seemed to have potential for some good archaeology was a survey of a large tract on Lake Sinclair, followed by testing of three Lamar sites. The Lamar ceramics recovered from many of the 23 sites identified in the tract reflected the dense occupation that existed along the Oconee River valley during the Mississippian period. Unfortunately, the test excavations at the three potentially significant sites that could not be preserved revealed no archaeological integrity, likely the result of prior land use practices and erosion—all too common in the Georgia Piedmont. But disappointing findings like this make you really appreciate a pristine site when you find one.

Selected Lamar ceramics recovered from one of the sites investigated along Lake Sinclair.

The Gwinnett Archaeological Research Society (GARS) has been conducting an archaeological investigation at the traditional site of one of Georgia’s earliest frontier forts, Fort Daniel, in Hog Mountain (Hamilton Mill), Gwinnett County, Georgia.

New study of old documents shows that Fort Daniel was not original to the site, but rather constructed in late 1813 to replace an earlier fort dating to at least 1799 and perhaps earlier, when we know there was a militia at Hog Mountain. The traditional site of the second fort, and probably the first fort as well, is located on a 4-acre parcel of private land that is currently for sale and may be subject to commercial development. With the owner’s permission, GARS has been working at the site to establish the existence of archaeological remains dating from this period, and to determine what those remains represent.

The research design for this investigation included several phases, which have been carried out in succession: clearing the project area of underbrush, saplings and dead trees; laying out a 200×160-foot grid over the approximately 0.8-acre area to be investigated (Figure 1); shovel testing to characterize the soils at various points on the grid; creating a local 1-foot interval topographic map and mapping all surface features; carrying out an intensive metal detection (MD) survey of the upper approximately 1-foot of soil (Figure 2), followed by a ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey (Figure 3); and, based on the results of those surveys, carrying out limited archaeological excavations including mechanical stripping and hand-excavated test units (Figure 4). All excavated soil from two 20×20-foot units (a total of approximately 1200 cubic feet) is being screened (Figure 5), and soils from stripping in four other units has been replaced (and seeded) without screening. All recovered artifacts have been provenienced and registered in the field before being sent on for cleaning, stabilization, and curation. The results of this investigation along with historic research that is being conducted concurrently will then be published in a technical report as soon as possible.

Partnering with GARS in this ambitious project were members of the Gwinnett Historical Society; TRC (Norcross), whose Lab Director, Tommy Garrow, is cleaning and stabilizing metal artifacts; local members of a metal detecting club who ably assisted with the MD survey (and came away with a new appreciation of archaeological context); the Student Association of Archaeological Sciences (SAAS), a student-run organization loosely associated with The University of Georgia that conducted the GPR survey; the Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation Division, which provided machinery and an operator for clearing of push piles and mechanical scraping; and the Gwinnett County GIS Department, which has provided a Digital Elevation Map and rectified satellite image of the site and vicinity, and has offered continued support for developing a project GIS.

The project has yielded a large number of wrought nails of various sizes as well as some early cut nails of various sizes (Figure 6). Several ‚“buck and ball” buckshot balls, two period brass-plated buttons, and a variety of other metal objects have been recovered. There is also some historic pottery dating from the late eighteenth century through the nineteenth century, and thick green (‚“black”) wine/ale bottle glass.

As expected, given the landform and availability of water nearby, this is a mixed component site. Quartz lithics seem to be ubiquitous across the site and include cores, secondary and tertiary flakes, one Wade-like projectile point, and a white glass bead. According to J. Brain’s schema, this is a Type IA2 glass bead, which might be dated to 1725 based on one excavated example. Brain has no bead data from Georgia. [GARS had previously recovered a similar Type 1A3 blue trade bead from the Creekside Rock Shelter on the Elisha Winn property that, based on several known excavations, is given temporal range of 1650-1833 with a mean date of 1726.]

Ground-truthing of the GPR survey, which was limited to about 25 percent of the site due to time constraints, has so far turned up one linear feature and a possible hearth feature as well as several ‚“post holes” that turned out to be tree or rodent holes. The linear feature exhibits charcoal and hardened burned clay several inches deep. These features will be excavated in the near future. Unfortunately what was thought to be stockade wall trench turned out to be a deep vein of quartz. However, selective stripping in an area not covered by the GPR survey has intersected a north-south, 20-inch-wide trench that may represent the east stockade wall. This also will be further investigated in the near future.

A PowerPoint presentation on ‚“The Search for Fort Daniel,” including results of the GPR survey, will be made at the October meeting of SGA. A poster-board and artifact display will also be presented by members of GARS.

 

Screening at Callaway Gardens Site 9Hs157.

Southern Research, Historic Preservation Consultants, Inc., and the Ida Cason Callaway Foundation held an archaeology demonstration dig in conjunction with the Summer Meeting of the American Council of Engineer Companies/Georgia on June 16th. The ACEC met this year at the Southern Pines Conference Center at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia. The demonstration project provided engineers with hands on experience conducting the field and laboratory analysis that would be expected for Section 106 or NEPA compliance Phase One and Phase Two assessment.

Southern Research conducted a Reconnaissance Survey in 1999 of portions of the Preserve at Callaway, a 12,000 acre wilderness tract adjacent to Callaway Gardens. During the reconnaissance we recorded a number of Native American Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian archaeological sites. One of these sites, 9Hs157, was selected for the demonstration project as it was close to the Conference Center, was in an open field and thus easy to work, and had yielded more Native pottery and chert debitage than the other nearby recorded sites.

In 1999, Southern Research excavated eight shovel tests at 20-meter intervals but did not delineate the site. For the demonstration project, we excavated an additional 11 shovel tests at 10-meter intervals filling in the earlier grid. We identified the artifacts in the field, produced an artifact distribution map, and selected a location to excavate a 1 x 1-meter test unit. The test unit was excavated where more pottery sherds were recovered relative to the rest of the site. The engineers and Callaway staff did the work in teams of three to four and each team was supervised by a Southern Research staff archaeologist. As one would expect, the engineers dug precise holes and were diligent in finding all the small artifacts in the screen. The ACEC attendees earned professional development credit hours for participating in the demonstration project and learned how and why archaeologists do what they do in the field.

The 19 shovel tests and one test unit we excavated yielded 35 small unidentifiable sherds, two biface fragments and 49 pieces of debitage in plow zone context. What makes this site unusual is the high percentage of chert debitage recovered compared to quartz and quartzite debitage. The site is located in the Pine Mountain Region of the lower Piedmont where quartz and quartzite sources are abundant and close by. Chert is considered a non-local source from either the Ridge and Valley or the Coastal Plain regions. To find such a high percentage at 9Hs157 is remarkable. For comparison, during recent data recovery of three Native American sites on Palmetto Creek, also in Harris County, we recovered over 900 kg of lithics, and quartz accounted for 99% and chert less than 1% of the collection.

Southern Research staff included Dean Wood, Kay Wood, Susanne Newberry, Wes Mattox, and Christine Meyer. Ms. LuAnn Craighton and Mr. Cory Croft represented the Preserve at Callaway. Thanks to Ms. Gwen Brandon of the ACEC/Georgia for organizing the demonstration.

Terracon archaeologists and historians continue to maintain busy field schedules across the southeast. The summer and autumn seasons have sent our staff to southwest, northern, and coastal Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, and the far reaches of northwest Virginia.

Recently we have completed Phase I & II surveys for GDOT of a 32-mile corridor road expansion project through Dougherty, Worth and Colquitt counties. Forty-five archaeological occurrences were found during the survey, 39 of which were archaeological sites and six were isolated finds. Additionally, an unmarked cemetery was delineated and recorded within Worth County. Two sites, 9WO41 and 9DU173, were examined with Phase II testing. 9WO41 is an amalgam of small Early to Middle Woodland seasonal habitation sites; however, there is the possibility of a Paleoindian component. 9DU173 is a multi-component site with evidence of Archaic encampments and an historic mid-to-late twentieth-century privy. Neither site was recommended eligible for the NRHP due to lack of integrity and heavy disturbance over long periods of time.

In north Georgia, we conducted four surveys in Hall County for various multi-use developments, including a 6-mile survey for bike trail improvements at Chicopee Woods Nature Preserve. Currently, we are completing a 13-mile GDOT corridor survey that extends from Forsyth County into Hall County. Thus far, we have identified an early nineteenth-century house site in Hall County. Miscellaneous projects north of the Fall Line were completed in Clayton, Fayette, Fulton, Gordon, and Gwinnett counties; however, much of the fieldwork for these counties fell within urban limits, which yielded negative findings.

In August, we identified an Early Woodland site, 9GN326, upon the completion of a survey for a proposed sewer line. The survey area was located adjacent to Oak Grove Cemetery, the oldest historic cemetery in Brunswick, Georgia. A possible grave shaft was also discovered outside the cemetery fence line. Neither archaeological occurrence was recommended eligible for the NRHP; however, based on our findings, the proposed line was relocated, preserving 9GN326 and the possible grave shaft.

In Laurens, South Carolina, we discovered a mid-nineteenth century homestead and an associated unmarked cemetery within a 22.3-acre tract of land slated for commercial development. Due to heavy erosion and bulldozing, the site was not recommended eligible for NRHP.

This winter season we look forward to commencing archaeology and historic preservation work in Peach, Troup, and Sumter counties.

—photo by John Trussel

John Trussell and Stephen Hammack visited two small caves along the Houston-Macon County line in August 2006 to look for petroglyphs. Only the Houston cave was large enough to crawl into, though John (2007 OAS Treasurer) put on his thinking cap and opted to take pictures. John’s photo of Stephen emerging from the cave in an uncomfortable position is quite humorous. We found no petroglyphs, but did see graffiti outside the cave that may date to the nineteenth or early twentieth centuries. Despite local legend, no underground passageway to Montezuma was discovered. More research is needed before recording the cave as an archaeological site.

—photo by Stephen Hammack

John Whatley, left, of the SGA’s Augusta Chapter, expounds on Georgia lithics to David Mincey (middle; 2007 OAS President) and John Trussell (right) during a brief lull at the Ocmulgee Archaeological Society’s Artifact ID Day in Thomaston in December 2006. This event was held jointly with the Upson County Historical Society at the Archives building in downtown Thomaston and attracted scores of people from all over the county who brought many, many artifacts.

—photo by Stephen Hammack

SGA members and the general public gather for the Ocmulgee Archaeological Society’s Artifact ID Day in Vienna (Dooly County) in December 2006. This event was held in conjunction with the Vienna Historic Preservation Society on the town square in downtown Vienna, and was also very successful.

Southeastern Archeological Services (SAS) has completed a data recovery excavation project and several surveys in Georgia in the past few months. We have current survey work ongoing in Sumter and Lee counties, Pickens County, and Gordon County. Tom Gresham and Rob Benson just completed data recovery excavations on a buried, stratified site on the banks of Salacoa Creek in Gordon County. Because the project will not extend beyond existing right-of-way, our project area was very narrow and small. We excavated eight 2×2-m units to depths of about 1.5 m. About a half dozen clusters of fire-cracked rock were encountered, along with a “normal” range of tools, flaking debris and pottery. Almost all prehistoric components prior to Mississippian are present, including Middle PaleoIndian (we found a fluted, Clovis-like point). We also encountered a cache or cluster of similar bifaces, at least a dozen soapstone sherds and a small, shaped soapstone object. To enhance public outreach, we hosted two tours, one for a primitive technology group, and a day of digging and experimental archeology with local Boy Scouts who we are guiding as they attain the Archaeology merit badge. Geormorphologist Andrew Ivester of the University of West Georgia is working with us to interpret site formation processes at this site, which is on a piece of high ground just below the intersection of two creeks. Scott Jones is working with us on sourcing the chert and cobbles, and he led both tours and directed the experimental archeology project replicating fire-cracked rock.

Jerald Ledbetter recently completed a survey of a proposed bypass of Greensboro, in which 15 previously unrecorded sites were documented. Six of the sites may have archeological research potential. Most of these contain artifacts dating to the late Mississippian period, and probably represent upland Lamar farmsteads.

Chad Braley recently completed a survey of a new alignment of the Bishop bypass in Oconee County. Forty-three archeological sites and a cemetery were recorded. The proposed road is very close to Greenbrier Creek, which partially explains the high density of sites. Ten of the sites may contain significant archeological information. Like the Greensboro sites, most of these date to the late Mississippian period and probably represent Lamar farmsteads. The survey data support earlier hypotheses that Mississippian occupation in this portion of Georgia is late, postdating initial European contact in the mid-sixteenth century.

We are currently conducting two surveys in Gordon County, including at the SR 53 bridge over Salacoa Creek. With the help of geomorphologist David Leigh, Joel Jones located and largely delineated a buried A horizon with Woodland and Mississippian material that is between 45 and 135 cm below surface. A close comparison of modern maps with 1832 land lot survey plats and 1938 aerial photos showed that the creek was shifted over several hundred feet and channelized in the 1930s and 1940s. The plats show numerous Cherokee fields in the land lots containing the project area, and one Cherokee site recorded in 1987 is being further investigated.

In out-of-state news, Rob Benson just completed an Overview of Cultural Resources in the Sumter National Forest of South Carolina for the USFS. Copies are available by writing to Jim Bates of the Sumter National Forest.

Over the last three months, TRC has become very busy with a number of large archaeological projects across the Southeast. Here in Georgia, we’ve conducted archaeological investigations in Cobb, Coweta, Forsyth, Fulton, Gordon, Hall, Henry, Lowndes, and Whitfield counties. The most exciting project we’ve been working on is for a planned Civil War battlefield park in Henry County. Due in large part to the efforts of local historian, Mark Pollard, and like-minded preservationists, the county was persuaded to condemn a 200-acre parcel that was proposed for development as a subdivision. Now the county is in the process of developing the site as a park that will interpret the history of two Civil War engagements that took place on site in 1864.

Bullet recovered from Nash Farm battlefield.

Mark Pollard has been collecting artifacts from the property for many years, keeping very good records of his findings. Taken together with his historical research, the archaeological information Mr. Pollard had assembled gave us a great head start on our investigation of the property when the county asked us to get involved in the project. Essentially, TRC is investigating the archaeological potential of the resources within the park tract, providing recommendations for future research avenues and stewardship, and packaging historical and archaeological information in a format to facilitate the development of interpretive signage and materials at the park.

Partial iron kettle lid with handle.

The archaeological investigations, headed up by Dr. Jim D’Angelo, were made difficult by the waist-high hay across the site, which encumbered our metal detection efforts. Nonetheless, we did find a handful of interesting artifacts (see pictures), and were able to find evidence of the various encampment and battle areas located within the tract. Of course, on a site that has been a working farm ever since the war, and has also been picked over by relic collectors, we were not expecting to find dense, in situ artifact concentrations. But archaeologists are not motivated primarily by an interest in mining a site for artifacts; recording the context of finds, and evaluating the integrity of site deposits is of equal importance. In the case of the Nash Farm project, TRC was able to make an assessment that will help the county as it develops and maintains the park in years to come. As for filling the display cases in the farmhouse museum on site, they will probably want to solicit donations from collectors who’ve been busy on site for far longer than us! For more information about the park and its history, please visit Henry County’s Nash Farm Battlefield web site.

Archaeologists with EEG recently completed the evaluations of 11 sites on Robins Air Force Base in Houston County, Georgia. Sites 9HT55 and 9HT56, both near Echeconnee Creek, were the only two found to be eligible for listing on the National Register. The former had seven components (Early, Middle, and Late Archaic; Early and Middle Woodland; Late Mississippian Lamar; and Historic Creek) and the latter had five (Late Archaic; Early and Middle Woodland; Late Mississippian Lamar; and Historic Creek). A number of lithic and ceramic diagnostics were recovered from both sites. One interesting item that caused some premature Paleo excitement was an Early Archaic unifacial sidescraper (see picture). A report on this work is forthcoming.

The 1990 issue of Early Georgia (volume 18) featured Thomas H. Gresham’s article “Historic Patterns of Rock Piling and the Rock Pile Problems.” In the introduction, Mr. Gresham notes:

Rock piles, a term that can be broadly applied to a wide array of prehistoric and historic features, have long been of interest to the archaeologist and the general public. Rock piles occur in many parts of the world and appear to have great time depth. Since rock piles are often one of the most conspicuous aspects of a past society (the great pyramids of Egypt being an ultimate example), they persistently provoke general curiosity and scientific interest. Although I have not attempted even a cursory cross-cultural review of rock piling or archaeological investigation of rock piles throughout the world, I believe it true to say that most rock piles that have provided evidence of function have been determined to be mortuary or funerary.

He adds that the goals of this article are:
1) formally defining categories of piled rock features;
2) discussing uncited or rarely cited studies of rock piles;
3) presenting unpublished archeological data on historic rock piles;
4) presenting documentary and ethnographic data on historic patterns of rock piling;
5) introducing new ideas on the historic origin of rock piles; and,
6) critiquing some prevalent assumptions on historic rock piling.

Mr. Gresham concludes that Georgia rock piles date to at least three major chronological periods, including, Woodland, protohistoric Cherokee, and historical, and some rock pile clusters date to more than one period. He concludes that most rock piles made during the historical period date to the early, frontier days when the land was being cleared and improved to make agricultural fields. He believes that apparent distribution patterns of rock pile in clusters can be subjective and very misleading. Nevertheless, Mr. Gresham thinks most rock piles in Georgia were constructed in prehistory, although some excavated rock piles certainly have firm evidence of historic period construction.

To download a PDF of this article, Historic Patterns of Rock Piling and the Rock Pile Problems, click here.