http://thesga.org SGA site, redux Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:14:11 +0000 en hourly 1 http://thesga.org/2012/02/long-distance-travel-the-leake-site-example/ http://thesga.org/2012/02/long-distance-travel-the-leake-site-example/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:00:25 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=10329 In an article in the Fall 2011 issue of Early Georgia (vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 173–200), Scot Keith discusses evidence for long-distance trade and exchange in Middle Woodland times (from about 350 BC to AD 650), using data from the Leake Site, near Cartersville. Members of the SGA in 2011 received that issue of Early Georgia as a benefit of membership. Join the SGA, and you will receive the current volume of Early Georgia!]]> http://thesga.org/2012/02/long-distance-travel-the-leake-site-example/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2012/01/blue-ridge-parkway-archive-online-with-geolocation-data/ http://thesga.org/2012/01/blue-ridge-parkway-archive-online-with-geolocation-data/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:00:15 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=10252 Do you geotag your digital photographs? North Carolina archivists have determined the geographic location of myriad photographs and other historical materials that illuminate the history of the Blue Ridge Parkway, then put scans of those materials online for researchers to browse. Read more about Driving Through Time: The Digital Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina in the full story.]]> http://thesga.org/2012/01/blue-ridge-parkway-archive-online-with-geolocation-data/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/12/an-ethnohistorians-insights-into-untangling-the-past/ http://thesga.org/2011/12/an-ethnohistorians-insights-into-untangling-the-past/#comments Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:00:57 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=10106 Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to travel in North America with an early European adventurer? Read Joyce Rockwood Hudson's Looking for De Soto: A Search Through the South for the Spaniard's Trail (published in 1993) and you will learn what it was like to try to trace the route that Hernando De Soto and his entourage took through southeastern North America in 1540. Mrs. Hudson and her husband, then UGA professor Dr. Charles Hudson, set out to retrace and verify the route of the De Soto expedition in 1984.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/12/an-ethnohistorians-insights-into-untangling-the-past/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/11/what-was-the-new-world-like-in-1491/ http://thesga.org/2011/11/what-was-the-new-world-like-in-1491/#comments Fri, 11 Nov 2011 10:00:01 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9961 In 2005, Charles C. Mann's 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus appeared on bookstore shelves, and still is selling well in a paperback edition with a new afterword. Mann's book focuses on what the New World was like prior to the arrival of the Columbus expedition in 1492. Mann offers enough information for you to envision what you would have seen if you could have flown over the Western Hemisphere in AD 1000. What he writes about may be a bit (or a lot) different from what you learned in school about his subject.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/11/what-was-the-new-world-like-in-1491/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/11/gaas-november-speaker-david-smith-will-discuss-meso-american-caves/ http://thesga.org/2011/11/gaas-november-speaker-david-smith-will-discuss-meso-american-caves/#comments Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:46:50 +0000 Kelly http://thesga.org/?p=9873 The November GAAS meeting will feature David Smith and his discussion of Mesoamerica. Caves in Mesoamerica have always had ritual, supernatural, and mystical connotations—rich sources of cultural material. David visited a remote area of the state of Oaxaco in Mexico where he and a friend video-taped the contents of a cave in the culturally and geographically inaccessible Mazateca Indian area. The site, known as Blade cave, is approximately 350 km southeast of Mexico City and was discovered by American spelunkers in 1985; it was undisturbed.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/11/gaas-november-speaker-david-smith-will-discuss-meso-american-caves/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/10/origins-of-agriculture-discussed-in-detail/ http://thesga.org/2011/10/origins-of-agriculture-discussed-in-detail/#comments Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:00:33 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9800 The origins of agriculture is one of the major topics of the field of archaeology. The journal Current Anthropology has just published an issue dedicated to this topic, called The Origins of Agriculture: New Data, New Ideas. The issue's twenty-two articles can be accessed for free. An article by Bruce D. Smith considers the origins of agriculture in eastern North America, in particular the seed plants squash (Cucurbita pepo), sunflower, sumpweed (Iva annua), and lambsquarters/pigweed (Chenopodium berlandieri).]]> http://thesga.org/2011/10/origins-of-agriculture-discussed-in-detail/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/10/volcanoes-and-archaeology-pros-and-cons/ http://thesga.org/2011/10/volcanoes-and-archaeology-pros-and-cons/#comments Fri, 21 Oct 2011 09:00:12 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9630 While volcanoes are undeniably destructive, they can aid archaeological tourism by preserving ancient homes and settlements. We discuss the case of AD 79 Roman Herculaneum, formerly on the Bay of Naples, Italy, and offer a few photographs.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/10/volcanoes-and-archaeology-pros-and-cons/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/10/description-of-indian-mound-from-the-1770s/ http://thesga.org/2011/10/description-of-indian-mound-from-the-1770s/#comments Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:00:07 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9545 Ever wonder what an Indian mound was like in the late eighteenth century? In the mid-1770s, natural historian William Bartram traveled through what is now Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. He described his adventures in a 1793 volume Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, the Cherokee Country, the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges, or Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Chactaws…. He describes a special round building the Cherokees used for important group activities. His architectural description gives a good idea of what careful archaeological excavation may reveal of a building like this.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/10/description-of-indian-mound-from-the-1770s/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/10/long-time-gaas-member-will-be-october-speaker/ http://thesga.org/2011/10/long-time-gaas-member-will-be-october-speaker/#comments Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:56:18 +0000 Kelly http://thesga.org/?p=9708 The Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society October speaker is Curtis Headrick, long time member of GAAS and a dedicated student of Central American cultures. The program will be at Fernbank Museum of Natural History on Clifton Road, just north of Ponce de Leon and will begin at 7:30pm.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/10/long-time-gaas-member-will-be-october-speaker/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/09/conservation-news-near-and-far/ http://thesga.org/2011/09/conservation-news-near-and-far/#comments Fri, 30 Sep 2011 09:00:21 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9621 This Weekly Ponder considers what archaeological resources are, and what it means to conserve them, using two examples. Earlier this month, the Secretary of the Interior awarded a 2011 Partners in Conservation Award to the Camp Lawton Preservation Team, which has been working to investigate and conserve this recently rediscovered Confederate prisoner of war camp that's near Millen. The second example is the joint effort by The Israel Museum in Jerusalem and Google to put digital images of the Dead Sea Scrolls online; five are now accessible.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/09/conservation-news-near-and-far/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/09/an-american-archaeologist-in-england-perceptions-of-the-past/ http://thesga.org/2011/09/an-american-archaeologist-in-england-perceptions-of-the-past/#comments Sun, 25 Sep 2011 12:22:27 +0000 Kelly http://thesga.org/?p=9567 Around this time last year, as I prepared to board a plane and begin my MA program in the United Kingdom, I began to ask myself if the complication and expense of continuing my education in the UK was really worth it. Could these folks with their “sophisticated” accents, meat-pies, and flat ale really give me some deeper insight into the nature and value of archaeology?]]> http://thesga.org/2011/09/an-american-archaeologist-in-england-perceptions-of-the-past/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/09/oldest-egyptian-mummy-in-west-at-emory-university/ http://thesga.org/2011/09/oldest-egyptian-mummy-in-west-at-emory-university/#comments Wed, 14 Sep 2011 16:25:49 +0000 Kelly http://thesga.org/?p=9497 The oldest Egyptian mummy in the Western Hemisphere will be part of an exhibit at Emory University's Michael C. Carlos Museum. The mummy is more than 4000 years old. It is one of about 120 objects from that age in the Emory exhibit. The exhibition will shed light on ancient Egyptian rites and rituals regarding the afterlife.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/09/oldest-egyptian-mummy-in-west-at-emory-university/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/09/gaas-september-meeting-featuring-archaeologist-dr-glover-discussing-the-maritime-maya/ http://thesga.org/2011/09/gaas-september-meeting-featuring-archaeologist-dr-glover-discussing-the-maritime-maya/#comments Thu, 08 Sep 2011 01:33:33 +0000 Kelly http://thesga.org/?p=9477 The talk will cover Dr. Jeffrey Glover's recent archaeological investigations at the ancient Maya port site of Vista Alegre. Located along the north coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, the work of Glover and colleagues is shedding light on this little known section of coastline.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/09/gaas-september-meeting-featuring-archaeologist-dr-glover-discussing-the-maritime-maya/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/07/in-the-national-park-system-cultural-resources-%e2%80%9care-in-serious-trouble%e2%80%9d/ http://thesga.org/2011/07/in-the-national-park-system-cultural-resources-%e2%80%9care-in-serious-trouble%e2%80%9d/#comments Fri, 08 Jul 2011 09:00:17 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=9166 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?]]> http://thesga.org/2011/07/in-the-national-park-system-cultural-resources-%e2%80%9care-in-serious-trouble%e2%80%9d/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/05/natural-disasters-and-history/ http://thesga.org/2011/05/natural-disasters-and-history/#comments Fri, 27 May 2011 11:00:41 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=8864 When we consider the long tale of our human past, how important are major disasters? Consider the recent earthquake/tsunami in Japan. Consider the impact of the 2005 hurricane season on the Gulf of Mexico, especially Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita. Also, consider a hinterland place like Georgia’s own Sapelo Island, and the hurricane of 1898. What choices do people face after a disaster? What are their options if they emigrate? What must they do to stay?]]> http://thesga.org/2011/05/natural-disasters-and-history/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/03/no-cell-phone-how-do-you-communicate-long-distance/ http://thesga.org/2011/03/no-cell-phone-how-do-you-communicate-long-distance/#comments Fri, 25 Mar 2011 09:00:19 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=8314 Consider this…you live in a world without cell phones, without cars, or even bicycles or horses to ride. You walk if you want to go somewhere. People living in the places you know about live in scattered, small villages and hamlets. So, if you want to communicate with someone who lives several villages distant, how do you do it? Think about this and then click over to the full story.

]]> http://thesga.org/2011/03/no-cell-phone-how-do-you-communicate-long-distance/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/03/archaeological-vandalism-two-stories/ http://thesga.org/2011/03/archaeological-vandalism-two-stories/#comments Fri, 04 Mar 2011 10:00:59 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=8152 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.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/03/archaeological-vandalism-two-stories/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/03/nwgas-march-10th-meeting-entitled-creek-and-cherokee-at-chattanooga%e2%80%99s-moccasin-bend-site/ http://thesga.org/2011/03/nwgas-march-10th-meeting-entitled-creek-and-cherokee-at-chattanooga%e2%80%99s-moccasin-bend-site/#comments Fri, 04 Mar 2011 02:22:19 +0000 Kelly http://thesga.org/?p=8159 The Northwest Georgia Archaeology Society will hold a meeting Thursday, March 10th, 2011, at the Etowah Indian Mounds Site near Cartersville. The lecture presented by Dr. Nick Honerkamp of the University of Tennesse at Chattanooga is Creek and Cherokee at Chattanooga’s Moccasin Bend Site. Located at the toe of Lookout Mountain, Moccasin Bend is one of America’s most unique and scenic archaeological sites—located at a significant geographic and geologic crossroads.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/03/nwgas-march-10th-meeting-entitled-creek-and-cherokee-at-chattanooga%e2%80%99s-moccasin-bend-site/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/03/download-publications-from-the-savannah-river-archaeological-research-program/ http://thesga.org/2011/03/download-publications-from-the-savannah-river-archaeological-research-program/#comments Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:04:40 +0000 moonra http://thesga.org/?p=8071 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.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/03/download-publications-from-the-savannah-river-archaeological-research-program/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/02/dr-zachary-hruby-life-at-georgia-state-university/ http://thesga.org/2011/02/dr-zachary-hruby-life-at-georgia-state-university/#comments Mon, 21 Feb 2011 21:07:53 +0000 Kelly http://thesga.org/?p=8039 Dr. Zachary Hruby, of Georgia State University's Anthropology Department, discusses briefly what being a visiting professor is like for him. His research area is Ancient Maya and Mesoamerica. He is enjoying Georgia and hopes to stay for the long haul.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/02/dr-zachary-hruby-life-at-georgia-state-university/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/02/march-8th-gaas-meeting-obsidian-for-the-dead/ http://thesga.org/2011/02/march-8th-gaas-meeting-obsidian-for-the-dead/#comments Fri, 11 Feb 2011 23:33:13 +0000 Kelly http://thesga.org/?p=7976 The Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society will meet Tuesday, March 8th, at 7 PM for its regular monthly meeting. The program will feature Georgia State University visiting lecturer Dr. Zachary Hruby who will discuss his research regarding lithic technology, epigraphy, and iconography of the Ancient Maya and Mesoamerica.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/02/march-8th-gaas-meeting-obsidian-for-the-dead/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/02/hominid-remains-lecture-in-statesboro-february-12th/ http://thesga.org/2011/02/hominid-remains-lecture-in-statesboro-february-12th/#comments Wed, 02 Feb 2011 13:01:05 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=7833 GSU alum Lee Berger will present From Georgia Southern to Africa—The Pathway to the Discovery of the Most Complete Early Humans in History at Georgia Southern University’s Carol A. Carter Recital Hall in the Foy Building on Saturday, February 12, 2011, at 6:30 PM. The event is free and open to the public.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/02/hominid-remains-lecture-in-statesboro-february-12th/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/01/archaeologists-use-ipads-during-excvations-at-pompeii/ http://thesga.org/2011/01/archaeologists-use-ipads-during-excvations-at-pompeii/#comments Fri, 28 Jan 2011 10:00:17 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=7776 A recent story on the Apple website describes how archaeologists working at the famous site of Pompeii, near Naples in central Italy, have been using iPads to record detailed excavation data, using “off-the-shelf” software. While using the iPads in the field reduces post-fieldwork data-entry time, this story asks you to consider the potential drawbacks of using a tablet computer in the field instead of pencils, erasers, and graph paper.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/01/archaeologists-use-ipads-during-excvations-at-pompeii/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2011/01/fee-free-days-at-some-national-parks-in-2011/ http://thesga.org/2011/01/fee-free-days-at-some-national-parks-in-2011/#comments Thu, 06 Jan 2011 19:19:24 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=7575 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.]]> http://thesga.org/2011/01/fee-free-days-at-some-national-parks-in-2011/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2010/12/archaeologys-greatest-challenge-in-the-media/ http://thesga.org/2010/12/archaeologys-greatest-challenge-in-the-media/#comments Fri, 17 Dec 2010 10:00:39 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=7208 Look into your crystal ball. What do you think the greatest challenge is to archaeology in the media? Zachary Nelson argues in the November 2010 issue of The SAA Archaeological Record, the newsletter of the Society for American Archaeology, that the profession's greatest challenge is…read the full article and see!]]> http://thesga.org/2010/12/archaeologys-greatest-challenge-in-the-media/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2010/11/cw-ceram-on-archaeology/ http://thesga.org/2010/11/cw-ceram-on-archaeology/#comments Fri, 26 Nov 2010 10:00:27 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=7032 CW Ceram's Gods, Graves, and Scholars: The Story of Archaeology is a famous but dated book on archaeology, that for years was one of the few serious books on the subject that many people had read. Ceram thought that the practice of archaeology was both romantic and scholarly. In fact he wrote, "Yet in truth no science is more adventurous than archaeology…". Contemplate this and more that Ceram wrote….]]> http://thesga.org/2010/11/cw-ceram-on-archaeology/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2010/10/three-dimensional-human-images-from-the-past/ http://thesga.org/2010/10/three-dimensional-human-images-from-the-past/#comments Fri, 15 Oct 2010 09:00:42 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=6297 Take a look at the black-and-white images in Cyrus Thomas's famous book Introduction to the Study of North American Archaeology, which was published over a century ago (you can download it for free). Thomas includes images of stone sculptures recovered from archaeological sites in Tennessee. Study these figures, and consider other sculptures of human images. What can you learn from these comparisons?]]> http://thesga.org/2010/10/three-dimensional-human-images-from-the-past/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2010/09/road-trip-russell-cave/ http://thesga.org/2010/09/road-trip-russell-cave/#comments Fri, 24 Sep 2010 09:00:20 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=6277 Time to plan a road trip to Russell Cave. You'll see mountains, navigate woodsy trails, and experience the strange change to sound that happens when you are in a cave. What a great place to think about what it'd have been like to live a thousand years ago—or more!]]> http://thesga.org/2010/09/road-trip-russell-cave/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2010/08/of-moose-and-men/ http://thesga.org/2010/08/of-moose-and-men/#comments Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:00:43 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=6244 Believe it or not a study of moose bones is illuminating about the incidence of osteoarthritis in humans. Bioarchaeologist Clark Spencer Larsen believes that moose data from Isle Royale in northern Michigan helps understand osteoarthritis rates in 16th-century native peoples from Georgia.]]> http://thesga.org/2010/08/of-moose-and-men/feed/ 0 http://thesga.org/2010/08/news-of-the-h-l-hunley/ http://thesga.org/2010/08/news-of-the-h-l-hunley/#comments Tue, 10 Aug 2010 21:41:48 +0000 sammy http://thesga.org/?p=6195 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."]]> http://thesga.org/2010/08/news-of-the-h-l-hunley/feed/ 0