Submitted by Allen Vegotsky ([email protected])
GAAS member Allen Vegotsky keeps the Greater Atlanta Chapter of the SGA and all of us current on meeting information….
It is a real pleasure to announce the GAAS (Greater Atlanta Archaeological Society) presentation for March [2012]. The speaker will be Dr. Adam King a Research Associate Professor of Anthropology of the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology and the Savannah River Archaeological Research Program (SRARP). He has a MA in Anthropology from the University of Georgia (1991) and a PhD in Anthropology from Pennsylvania State University (1996). Dr. King’s major research focus is on “The emergence and evolution of complex societies, particularly Mississippian chiefdoms.”
He will be speaking at the March GAAS meeting (Tuesday, March 13th, presentation beginning about 7:30 PM). Our meetings are held at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History on Clifton Road, just north of Ponce de Leon. The following is Dr. King’s abstract of his talk: “In this presentation I discuss ideas on the meaning of Mississipian imagery found at the Etowah site located near Cartersville, Georgia. I begin with a short discussion of how we try to find meaning in ancient symbolism. I will follow with a summary of current ideas generated by the Texas State Iconography Workshop on the meaning of common Mississippian symbols. Finally I discuss ideas on the meaning of four different sets of imagery recovered from Etowah’s Mound C. My ultimate conclusion is that the elaborate objects associated with the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex were not simply status markers or highly valued trade items. They were also ritual objects designed to bring their users power from other realms of the cosmos.”
Please let me know if you would like to join Dr. King for a pre-meeting dinner at Athen’s Pizza at 5:30 PM. The restaurant is located on Clairmont Road, less than a quarter mile north of Ponce de Leon.
Where to find it
Click above to go to a larger Google interactive map of the area.
Posted online on Sunday, March 4th, 2012