Dr. Hugh B. Matternes of New South Associates in Stone Mountain will discuss his work on “Upland Box Tombs: Southern Variants on a Popular Nineteenth Century Grave Cover” for the Blue Ridge Archaeology Guild 6pm on Wednesday, May 9, 2018.The Archaeology Guild meetings are free and the public is welcome to attend.  They begin at 6:00 pm in the Dahlonega Parks and Recreation Building.

Box tombs (aka False Crypts) are a common grave cover in late eighteenth and nineteenth century cemeteries.  Above the Georgia fall line local stone was used to form rectangular surface chambers approximating the shape and dimensions of their milled counterparts. While frequently observed, very little is known about variations in grave stone form, when in time they were used and who was using them.  This presentation on ongoing research will illustrate the various forms, their components, their distribution in time and space, and how they relate to other parts of the grave.

Dr. Hugh B. (Matt) Matternes is Senior Mortuary Archaeologist and Physical Anthropologist at New South Associates, where he is responsible for the identification, preservation, and recovery of cemetery sites, and the professional and ethical treatment of human remains.  He received his B.A. in Anthropology from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, his M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology with a focus in physical anthropology and mortuary archaeology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.  He is a Registered Professional Archaeologist (RPA) with over 34 years devoted to studying cemeteries, and author or co-author of over 110 technical reports and professional publications.  His research interests currently focus on folk cemeteries with an emphasis on upland and African-American rural burial traditions.

         Dr. Matt Matternes using a probe to determine locations and dimensions of unmarked graves in a cemetery.

Posted online on Tuesday, May 8th, 2018