Society for Georgia Archaeology Spring Meeting
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Henry County Chamber of Commerce
8:30am Registration
9:00am Welcome: SGA President Catherine Long
9:15am Hernando de Soto Slept Here? Evaluating Evidence of Early
16th-Century Spanish-Indian Contact in South-Central Georgia Dennis Blanton, Fernbank Museum of Natural History
10:05am Archival Research of the Hollywood Mound Site Collection
Adam King and Keith Stephenson, South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology—Savannah River Archaeological Research Program
10:25am Coffee Break
10:45am A Preliminary Report on 9HL554 the “Duckett Site” William H. Phillips, University of West Georgia
11:00am The Challenges of a Civil War Battlefield Tom Gresham, Southeastern Archeological Services; Heather Mustonen, Georgia Department of Transportation; Dan Elliott, LAMAR Institute; and Mark Pollard, Georgia Historical Artifacts and Research Group
11:30am SGA Business Meeting
12–1:15pm Lunch
1:30pm Resaca Battlefield and the Myth of the “Hunted Out” Site
Chris Espenshade, New South Associates
1:50pm Lessons Learned in Survey Techniques at Camp Lawton, Kevin Chapman, Georgia Southern University
2:10pm Chattahoochee River Line, Scott Butler, Brockington and Associates
2:30pm Break
2:45pm On the Trail of Sherman and Johnston: Managing and Research
Civil War Sites on National Forest Land in Northwest Georgia,
James R. Wettstaed, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests; Daniel T. Elliott LAMAR Institute; and P. T. Ashlock, Jr., LAMAR Institute
3:15pm Garrett Silliman, Edwards-Pitman Environmental
3:30pm “A Fierce and Obstinate Engagement:” Surveying the Atlanta
Campaign in Northwest Georgia, Jonathan C. Harton, MA History Student North Georgia College and State University
Announcement of Winners of the Silent Auction
Presentation Abstracts
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Hernando de Soto Slept Here? Evaluating Early Evidence of 16th-Century Spanish-Indian Contact in South-Central Georgia
Dennis Blanton, Fernbank Museum of Natural History
A large assemblage of early 16th-century European artifacts recovered from a Native community near the Ocmulgee River in south-central Georgia challenges conventional wisdom about where early Spanish exploration occurred in the Southeast. One plausible source of the material is the entrada of Hernando de Soto. Additional lines of evidence support the argument that the site was a place of direct Spanish-Indian encounter, and very possibly a temporary entrada encampment. Implications of the findings for the Soto route across the region will be discussed. In addition, details regarding the indigenous community will be offered, including description of a large council house structure.
Archival Research of the Hollywood Mound Site Collection
Adam King and Keith Stephenson, South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology—Savannah River Archaeological Research Program
Hollywood (9RI1) is a double-mound Mississippian period site located 12.75 miles below the Fall Line near Augusta. It was investigated by Henry Reynolds of the Bureau of American Ethnology in 1889-1890. Reynolds’ Mound B excavations revealed an impressive collection of elaborate, non-local materials that along with local pottery was incorporated into mortuary deposits. Those objects figured prominently in the definition of a widespread set of art styles and ritual themes collectively called the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (SECC). In recent years, the exact dating of those deposits has become part of a larger debate over the dating of so-called SECC goods. Our radiocarbon chronology for the Hollywood site indicates a date range from A.D. 1250 to 1350. This places the appearance of those goods at a time when Mississippian chiefdoms were just forming in the middle Savannah River valley. We suspect those SECC goods and the beliefs that accompanied them formed part of the impetus for the formation of a distinctive version of Mississippian society most clearly reflected in the archaeological record during the Mississippian period in the middle Savannah River valley. The blending of both foreign and local practice and belief can be seen in the arrangement of people, objects, and archaeological features within Mound B at Hollywood.
A Preliminary Report on 9HL554, the “Duckett Site”
William H. Phillips, University of West Georgia
This report is a preliminary overview of 9HL554, the “Duckett Site.” Ceramic evidence found thus far strongly suggests inhabitation during the Middle and Late Woodland sub-periods with the presence of Cartersville Simple Stamp and Swift Creek. In regards to field work and its results, the report’s scope will be narrowed to a specific portion of the site that has shown the most artifact density. Methods and research used up to this point will also be presented. Following this will be a discussion of the site’s uses as an outreach opportunity with public groups and Anthropology students from other universities, ending with the site’s larger scope and future research considerations.
The Challenges of a Civil War Battlefield
Tom Gresham, Southeastern Archeological Services; Heather Mustonen, Georgia Department of Transportation; Dan Elliott, LAMAR Institute; and Mark Pollard, Georgia Historical Artifacts and Research Group
This paper examines some of the challenges of archaeologically investigating The Battles of Lovejoy Station, a large, complex battlefield in suburban Atlanta. Archaeological investigations of the area, covering thousands of acres along Jonesboro-McDonough Road in Henry and Clayton counties, south of Atlanta, have been undertaken as a result of the proposed widening of the road by the Georgia Department of Transportation. Historic background research by Dan Elliott and a large scale metal detector survey led by Mark Pollard have supplemented two phases of survey and site testing. The challenges discussed in this paper include: delineation and evaluation of a resource boundary including numerous engagements, integration and interpretation of metal detector survey results and other archaeological data, and the interpretation and evaluation of a narrow linear corridor through this resource type.
Resaca Battlefield and the Myth of the “Hunted Out” Site
Chris Espenshade, New South Associates
The 2008 archaeological investigations of a proposed access road and visitor center at the Resaca Battlefield provided a detailed examination of a portion of the battlefield. The study included the intensive metal-detector survey of 37 acres of the floodplain and terraces of Camp Hill Creek. This portion of the battlefield of the Civil War Battle of Resaca has been intensively relic hunted for many years. Nonetheless, our survey was successful in recovering 126 battle-related artifacts. The GIS analysis of the recovered items provides new insights into the nature of the battle on this section of the battlefield.
Lessons Learned in Survey Techniques at Camp Lawton
Kevin Chapman, Georgia Southern University
Camp Lawton provided a unique arena to use various survey techniques on an ephemeral military site of intermediate occupation duration which had seen little disturbance since the Civil War. Traditional shovel testing survey strategies were used and compared with a survey conducted using metal detecting in a controlled, systematic, and scientific way. The metal detection survey was conducted in such way as to maximize information acquisition and minimize damage to the site. The results of the surveys demonstrate the strengths of the techniques, but also highlight their respective weaknesses.
Chattahoochee River Line
Scott Butler, Brockington and Associates
In 2010, Brockington completed archaeological survey, documentation, and GIS analysis within the Chattahoochee Line Battlefield in Cobb County. Demonstrations against the Chattahoochee River Line (July 5-10, 1864) were part of the 1864 Atlanta Campaign. In June 1864, the Chattahoochee River was the last significant natural obstacle between the approaching Federal armies and Atlanta. General Francis A. Shoup presented his commander with an idea for construction of a river defensive line using enslaved labor. As planned, Shoup’s defenses were a series of uniquely designed timber and earthen redoubts that would deter any assaulting Union force. General Sherman later described these as “the strongest field fortifications I ever saw.”
On the Trail of Sherman and Johnston: Managing and Researching Civil War Sites on National Forest Land in Northwest Georgia
James R. Wettstaed (Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests); Daniel T. Elliott (LAMAR Institute); and P. T. Ashlock, Jr. (LAMAR Institute)
In 1864, Union forces advanced from Chattanooga to Atlanta, passing through what is now the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests. Sites associated with the Civil War battles of 1864 are present on National Forest land, but have never been documented using modern techniques. In order to better manage these sites and assist in the development of management plans, archaeologists and 11 volunteers directed by the LAMAR Institute spent a week metal detecting at a battlefield and encampment, and a preliminary assessment of the results of these investigations will be presented.
“A Fierce and Obstinate Engagement:” Surveying the Atlanta Campaign in Northwest Georgia
Jonathan C. Harton, M.A. History Student: North Georgia College and State University
The hills and valleys surrounding the town of Dalton, Georgia contain numerous sites associated with the wartime operations of 1863 and 1864. In February 2011, the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests conducted a Passport in Time project to pursue documentary and archaeological examinations of previously unstudied Civil War sites on Forest Service land in Northwest Georgia. The sites correspond to the opening of the Atlanta Campaign through the Battle of Dug Gap Mountain and the movements leading the Battle of Resaca. The nature of the sites and their artifacts provide opportunities to examine the Battle of Dug Gap from the soldier’s perspective, how inter-disciplinary research works for military archaeology, and how to protect and infuse these lesser known events with new life for scholars and the general public.
