Submitted by Allen Vegotsky (vegotsky@earthlink.net)

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.

The speaker provided the following abstract:

The Civil War was a defining event in our state’s history, and has an enormous impact on how we define ourselves as Georgians. The war has been and continues to be a memorial force at the heart of our struggles with issues of race, class and identity. Civil War archaeology has the potential to offer a unique perspective on this defining event. This paper draws from the author’s research concerning recent investigations into the archaeology of the 1864 Atlanta Campaign. The core of this study provides insight into the role of CRM in the preservation of Civil War-related sites in the Atlanta Metro area.

Mr. Silliman’s research blends several approaches including new technologies. He uses GIS (geographic information systems technology) to generate a three-dimensional view of an area, GPS to pinpoint the locations of artifacts or structures, ground penetrating radar to reveal underground structures, such as earthworks, highly sensitive metal detectors, and soil testing, among other techniques. Mr. Silliman is employed by Edwards-Pitman Environmental, Inc., a Smyrna CRM firm. The company provides ecological, historical and archaeological resource surveys.

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. Hope you can make it.

Where to find it

Click above to go to a larger Google interactive map of the area.

Posted online on Saturday, January 9th, 2010