Battles of Lovejoy Revisited

Archaeological field research documenting the various Civil War engagements near Lovejoy, Georgia will resume in December, 2009. The research is spearheaded by the Georgia Department of Transportation and Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc., Athens, Georgia. This effort will focus on a proposed highway corridor for improving traffic on Jonesboro Road. Preliminary survey work revealed that this path crosses many Civil War battlefield resources.Battles took place along this strip of land in August, September and November, 1864. The upcoming research will serve to better document these resources and to recover data from the highway corridor. This should prove to be an enlightening retelling of the final days in the struggle for control of Atlanta, and the very beginnings of Major General William Tecumseh Sherman’s March to the Sea campaign.

Gunflints in Georgia and Adjacent Parts

Presentation at SEAC Mobile, 2009, by Daniel T. Elliott, The LAMAR Institute.

This study focused on aspects of gunflints, where gunflints are viewed as indirect indicators of weapons arsenals. By comparing weaponry over a variety of sites in one specific geographic region, some interesting patterns appear.

In an earlier 1992 study of gunflints in the southeastern U.S., I premised the gunflint analysis on Thomas Hamilton’s seminal research. Hamilton stated that the width of the gunflint, or that measurement perpendicular to the gun barrel, was quite specific to the type of weapon with which it was used. The gunflint could be no wider than that allowed by the gun hardware, and, although these weapons were hand-made, by the eighteenth century, some degree of standardization in sizes had been achieved. Hamilton presents these width ranges:

Pistols, or small trade guns– flints 34 mm

I surmised that if these size gradations are valid divisions, then a gunflint assemblage grouped by gunflint width should reflect the types of weapons that were present. I proceeded to search the literature and gather my own measurements for gunflints from a wide assortment of archaeological sites. Today’s presentation is an expansion of the 1992 study. This study also attempts to use gunflint widths and associated weaponry as indicators of site chronology, geography, function, and ethnicity. I will discuss gunflints recovered from sites in Georgia, USA, straying slightly to include four sites immediately across the state line on the eastern and western borders.

Obtaining statistically valid sample sizes of gunflints is important. The present analysis examines 691 flints from 21 sites. Nearly one-half (45%) of these flints came from one site– Fort Frederica. To recover a sizeable sample of flints generally requires extensive fieldwork. Several of the sites in this study were extensively excavated, yet the sample of flints is meager. Other parts of the data set are based on surface collections gathered under less optimal scientific conditions. The dataset includes Indian towns, Euro-American towns, fortifications, farmsteads, and one plantation. Cherokee village sites are not represented in this study. This is not because they are not important but is a result of the lack of available gunflint data.

The three sites in South Carolina, Fort Moore (1715-1766), Savano Town (1680-1719), and New Windsor (1737-1840), are located along the Savannah River. The earliest occupation was Savano Town, a Native American settlement. Fort Moore, a British military garrison established around 1715 is the next addition. Savano Town and Fort Moore predate the 1733 establishment of Georgia. New Windsor town was a community settled in the late 1730s by Swiss and other German speakers.

The next three sites included in this study share a common thread. Each contained early Georgia Ranger forts. These sites are Sansavilla Bluff (1734-1790), Fort Argyle (1734-1758), and Fort Mount Pleasant (1719-1758).

A note about Mount Pleasant -It was a Yuchi Indian town approximately 15 miles upstream on the Savannah River upstream from Ebenezer and Savannah. It was settled by Yuchi following the Yamasee War around 1720. By the 1740s the Yuchi had largely abandoned the site and it was used as a base for British traders and later as a military garrison lasting until 1758 when it was completely abandoned. The area where the gunflints were excavated contains all three components, and it was not possible to completely isolate them. Thus, this sample is dated between 1720 and 1758.

Fort St. Andrews (1736-1742) was a short-lived British Army fort on Cumberland Island. Until 2005 archaeologists and historians had declared, incorrectly, that Fort St. Andrews gone. Recent excavations and surface collections provide preliminary gunflint data for this military outpost.

Fort Frederica (1736-1783) on St. Simons Island provides the largest sample of gunflints from a single site in this study. It was an important British town and military garrison on the southern frontier of Georgia. Fort Frederica was a fortified town.

Archaeological excavations were undertaken at Frederica in the 1940s and continued sporadically until the early 1980s. Despite the extent of these excavations, few detailed excavation reports were generated by this work and fewer still were published.

The Frederica sample consisted of 308 gunflints that were housed in three locations. The largest collection was at the Southeastern Archaeological Center, Tallahassee, Florida. Another collection was from archaeologist Joel Shiner’s Trench, which was a trench that was dug immediately east of Frederica and was used to stash “deaccessioned” artifacts from Frederica’s excavations in the 1960s. Shiner’s trench, which stands as a shining example of how not to curate artifact collections, has been the subject of recent remedial study by the Glynn County School System and the National Park Service. Other collections from Frederica, such as those used in a gunflint study by Thomas Hamilton and Thomas Emery, and other collections at the Florida Museum of History were not examined in the present study.

New Ebenezer (1736-1820) was a town on the Savannah River about 40 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. It was populated by German speaking Lutherans. The town has domestic as well as military areas, but excavations thus far have focused predominantly on the domestic area. Many of the gunflints from New Ebenezer came from a cellar associated with a blacksmith, locksmith, and gunflint manufacturer and are tightly dated from the period 1750 through 1753. Others date to the American Revolution when Americans and British jockeyed for control of the town.

Fort Morris (1776-1782) was a Continental Army fort on the Sunbury River. It was situated immediately south of the town of Sunbury. It was attacked by Loyalists on January 9, 1779, who captured and then occupied the fort. The one-day bombardment left a mess, which included gunflints and other weaponry.

Fort Hawkins (1809-1821) was a U.S. Army fort and Federal Indian trade factory on the Ocmulgee River in central Georgia. Through its gates passed most of the military stores for the southern region. The fort was never attacked and it served as a headquarters complex. The soldiers at Fort Hawkins were regular Army, riflemen, and artillerymen.

Native American sites in western Georgia and Eastern Alabama seem to share common gunflint characteristics. The largest sample comes from Okfuskenena (Burnt Village) (ca. 1717-1793) on the Chattahoochee River. This town was burned in 1793, effectively providing a solid end date for its gunflint assemblage. Further downstream is Yuchi Town (1719-1835) in Russell County, Alabama, the “Mother Town” of the Yuchi. Upatoi Town (ca. 1790-1825) was an upland settlement consisting of dozens of scattered farmsteads. Excavations at the Lower Creek town of Upatoi in the central Chattahoochee River watershed yielded modest gunflint assemblages from four sites.

One plantation was included in this study. The North End of Ossabaw Island contains a cleverly named plantation, known as North End Plantation (1760-1840). Extensive excavations in the enslaved quarter provide us with a modest gunflint collection. Gunflint data from excavated plantations in Georgia was generally lacking but the Ossabaw example provides a glimpse of select enslaved African-American weaponry on a barrier island plantation. The slaves of Ossabaw owned tradeguns and carbines.

Size. Does size matter? In a word, yes. Width is particularly key. The weapon hardware dictates how wide a gunflint can be. Of course, one can insert a smaller flint than a weapon can accommodate, but that likely leads to a higher misfire rate. And misfires can be deadly, especially in human combat (or if one is facing a wounded bear).

The average gunflint width from the present sample was 28.4 mm. Again, Frederica had the highest average width (31 mm). At the other end of the spectrum are the Native American Upatoi sites with widths of 21.2-21.8 mm. In the mid-range are various sites like Mt. Pleasant, Ebenezer, and Okfuskenena.

Do gunflint assemblages, when width measurements are taken, reflect the weapons arsenal on a site? The answer is probably. Is there an absolute correspondence between gunflint width parameters and weapon type? The answer is probably not. More gunflint measurements are needed from a variety of military and domestic sites may enable archaeologists to identify statistically significant trends. Some of these trends are suggested by this study.

Pistol flints were the least common weapon flint, comprising 6 percent of the composite gunflint assemblages. The Upatoi sites had the highest relative percentage of pistol flints (43.8%). These sites contain no carbine or musket flints. Fort Hawkins followed a lagging second with 28 percent pistol flints. Fort Argyle had the third highest percentage of pistol flints (27.6%). Fort Frederica had only 1 percent pistol flints. Nine sites in the study had no pistol flints, which attest to their rarity.

Tradegun flints dominated the composite gunflint assemblage with 40.1 percent, although this lead was followed closely by carbine flints. Frederica had the lowest frequency of tradegun flints (22%). Sites with more than 40 percent tradegun flints included Fort Argyle, Fort Hawkins, Fort Moore, Fort Mt. Pleasant, Okfusenena, New Ebenezer, New Windsor, Ossabaw, Savano Town, and Upatoi Town. Clearly, aboriginal sites and Ranger forts were dominated by tradegun flints.

Carbine flints comprised 36.7 percent of the composite gunflint assemblage. Sites with more than 40 percent carbine flints included Sansavilla Bluff, Ft. St. Andrews, Fort Morris, and Fort Frederica. The Savannah River sites were below average with New Ebenezer at 27.3 percent and Mount Pleasant at 23.5 percent.

Musket flints made up 17.3 percent of the composite gunflint assemblage. Sites with more than 10 percent musket flints included Fort Frederica, Fort Morris and Fort St. Andrews. Fort Frederica had the most and the highest relative percentage of musket flints with 32.1 percent. Fort Hawkins, Fort Moore, Sansavilla Bluff, Upatoi, and Yuchi Town were among the sites that had no musket flints.

The high frequency of musket flints to other types at Frederica is a good indicator of the significant British Army force that was in residence. The absence of musket flints at Fort Argyle, a site that was exclusively military, may reflect the different weapons that were used by a Ranger troop. While muskets may have been suitable for traditional British warfare tactics when armies were pitted against armies on an open plain, the wooded conditions and guerrilla tactics of the frontier may have rendered muskets at a disadvantage with smaller, more maneuverable weapons.

Is there a simple explanation for these width variations? Nothing is simple. Let us examine the variations in gunflint width in the Georgia data for four criteria: time, space, site function, and ethnicity.

Time
The Georgia gunflints exhibit significant differences when viewed over time. The study sites were placed into two categories—Early, or Revolutionary War or earlier, and Late, or post-Revolutionary War. Muskets decrease over time. Pistols increase over time. Or, gunflints tend to get smaller over time.

The use of gunflints spans a period of more than 150 years, so this artifact class offers opportunities to study diachronic change. Gunflint technology changed over time. Flintlock technology replaced matchlocks by the end of the 17th century. Spalls were replaced by blades by the 1780s. Percussion cap technology leads to the end of flintlocks by the mid 1800s. While some flintlocks were still in use by Georgians in the Civil War, most were phased out by the 1840s.

Space
The Georgia gunflints exhibit significant differences when viewed geographically. The data were grouped into two categories-coastal and interior sites. Muskets were more common along the Georgia coast than in the interior. Tradeguns were more common in the interior.

Distance from raw material sources and production sites influences gunflint types. Expense in acquisition plays a role in presence/absence, and value placed on “exotic” flints. Access to ship ballast, which often included European flint cobbles, led to gunflint knapping workshops at several coastal, or near coastal sites. Native Americans applied their bifacial technology to the challenge of securing flints by making gunflints from North American chert, as evidenced at Mount Pleasant. In some situations, where no flints were available, olive green bottle glass was modified to serve this purpose. Glass gunflints, which are another paper topic in their own right, were recorded on both Euro-American and Native American sites in Georgia.

Site Function
The Georgia gunflints exhibit significant differences when grouped by site function. The sites were grouped into military or domestic sites. Military sites contain a higher percentage of muskets. Domestic sites have more pistols. Social factors determine weapons availability, which in turn is reflected by the gunflints discarded. Sites with military garrisons have prescribed arsenals. Some sites, such as Fort Argyle, may have had special weapons, such as carbines, because they were better suited for traveling through thick woods. Civilians likely had more consumer choices than soldiers.

Ethnicity
The Georgia gunflints exhibit significant differences when grouped by gross ethnic categories. Euro-American and Native American gunflint groups were compared. Euro-American sites have more muskets. Native American sites have more pistols. Presumably Euro-Americans had more choices in weaponry than did Native Americans. Native Americans’ arsenals were affected by trader’s inventories and enemy conquest.

Other factors, such as differential discard, catastrophic dispersal, mortuary practices, or intentional caching may contribute to the gunflint patterning. The context of the gunflint assemblages is important to their interpretation. Surface collections are useful, but carefully excavated data is preferred. Large samples are required for statistical validity and this usually translates to large excavations. Sometimes even large excavations result in low gunflint yields.

Gunflints are a paradox. They are a chipped stone tool, harkening back to the European Neolithic, quarried and knapped by skilled specialists. They are also vestiges of an early military industrial complex, state of the art military technology in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Trained as a prehistorian, I was lured to study gunflints because they represent an artifact that spans two worlds. As stone tools their attributes can be measured and their distributions in relation to quarry sources can be mapped. Because they are made from stone they are amenable to sourcing techniques and allow the archaeologist to measure their spatial distributions relative to a specific source. As consumer goods and products of a military complex, they offer clues about access to goods in various geographic regions and among divergent social groups. Gunflints, or the flint used to make a spark in flintlock weaponry, are ubiquitous on eighteenth century sites. Whether European colonial or Native American, they represent a common denominator for comparison of material culture between ethnically diverse groups.

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http://danelliott.wordpress.com/wp-admin/media.php?action=edit&attachment_id=340

Artillery Cache Discovered at Lovejoy

Mark Pollard, Henry County Historian and the guiding light for the Nash Farm Battlefield Park, unearthed a cache of 42 unfired artillery shells from the Civil War era on October 9, 2009. The find was first discovered by a landowner in a residential neighborhood, who exposed one artillery shell while digging a water line in his hard with a ditch witch. The landowner contacted Pollard, who recovered the remaining 41 shells. Pollard notes that this house is in the approximate position of an artillery battery of the U.S. 15th Army Corps, who were engaged in the September, 1864 Battle of Lovejoy. The cache, shown below, is currently being defused and cleaned for ultimate display in the Nash Farm museum.

Photo Courtesy of Mark Pollard.

I gots Procyon lotor in my Belly!

Yesterday I attended the 74th Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival in Morgan City, Louisiana.

http://www.shrimp-petrofest.org/

One food booth had the tempting offer of “Cajun Fried Coon”. How could I resist. It came on a stick, as do all main courses in south Louisiana outside of New Orleans. Attached to the stick was a raccoon leg, mostly skinned, and deep fried, complete with fried furry paw and a handsome set of tiny toenails. It was a little overcooked, and did not taste at all like chicken. I seemed to be the only one eating this particular entree.

Way too many raccoons! And much better for the environment than eating Manatees! [hard to get them on a stick anyway!]

Walmart and Archaeological Sites, A Pattern?

I THINK I SEE A PATTERN HERE. Add to the list the Wilderness Civil War battlefield in Virginia and a Cherokee Village near Canton in Georgia. How many can you find in this picture?

Alabama city plows hill beneath 1,000-year-old Indian site to get fill dirt for a store – 7/21/2009 4:59:25 AM | Newser

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Mexicans Battle Wal-Mart Desecration of Ancient Aztec City of Teotihuacan

October 22, 2004

Ancient City of Teotihuacan a Modern Battleground Between Conservationists,
Wal-Mart

by Susana Hayward

SAN JUAN TEOTIHUACAN, Mexico – A Wal-Mart store rising near the
2,000-year-old pyramids of the Teotihuacan Empire has ignited the wrath of Mexican conservationists and nationalists, who say the U.S. retailer is destroying their culture at the foot of one of Mexico’s greatest treasures.

Since news broke last May of Wal-Mart’s plan to construct a
71,902-square-foot store near the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon 30 miles northeast of Mexico City, the entranceway of the primordial city has turned into a carnival of demonstrators, most protesting the plans, though some welcoming the 180 jobs the store will bring.

Demonstrators wearing long feathered headdresses, bright indigenous
costumes and loincloths dance around fires spewing incense and implore
“gods” and the government to halt construction. Signs charge “Yankee
Imperialism,” “Foreign Invasion, Get Out!” and “We’ll be here until
victory.”

An Aztec descendant spews incense into a fire during a protest against the construction of a Wal-Mart subsidiary in Teotihuacan, Mexico. (KRT
Photo/Janet Schwartz)

The store, with 236 parking spots, is to open any day, but protests are
snowballing and its future is uncertain.

On Wednesday, protesters blocked the entrance of Mexico’s National
Institute for Archaeology and History in Mexico City because it gave
Wal-Mart its permit. They remained there Thursday, preventing employees from reporting for work.

On Tuesday, Gerardo Fernandez, a national director of Mexico’s Democratic Revolutionary Party, filed charges with the federal attorney general’s office to block the store. He charged that Wal-Mart damaged archaeological relics during construction, a crime subject to imprisonment, and accused government officials of illegally fast-tracking the project.

Last week, 63 prestigious artists and intellectuals, in a letter published
in Mexican newspapers, asked President Vicente Fox to stop the structure. They see it as a battle pitting Mexico’s heritage against encroaching U.S. influence. Wal-Mart is already Mexico’s largest retailer, with 664 stores in 66 cities, with sales of $12 billion.

“The struggle for Teotihuacan is a war of symbols,” they wrote. “The symbol of ancient Mexico against the symbol of transnational commerce; genetically modified corn against the Feathered Serpent (the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, Kukulcan in Mayan) and Mexico’s traditional foods; the Day of the Dead against Halloween; skeletons against jack-o-lanterns.”

Mysteriously abandoned around 700 A.D., Teotihuacan was called “the place where the gods were created” by the Aztecs, who re-encountered the city in 1300. The ethnicity of the builders is unknown.

“Don’t small towns have the right to have access to the same level of
quality goods that Mexicans have in larger cities?” Wal-Mart said in a
statement late Wednesday. “Today, residents of Teotihuacan have to travel 15 miles to get to the closest department store.”

Opponents see Wal-Mart’s modern capitalism as an assault on native culture.

“Wal-Mart’s aim is to destroy our identity, replace our symbols with the
dollar sign,” said Jaime Lagunez, 44, a molecular biologist. “The
construction at Teotihuacan was made by the people who built their homes and temples with dignity.”

Emanuel D’Herrera, who coordinates the Civic Front coalition, which has
stopped other controversial projects, recently sued numerous government agencies for granting “an illegal” building permit.

Wal-Mart’s subsidiary, Bodegas Aurrera, won its permit to build by arguing that the store’s site lies outside the area that the United Nations’ chief cultural agency, UNESCO, declared in 1987 was a World Heritage Site. The National Institute for Archaeology and History said excavations in 1984 confirmed that there was nothing of archaeological value in the area. Fox and local municipal officials reviewed the permits and endorsed them.

The permits required that inspectors from the archaeology institute be on site during construction. They also set a number of restrictions on
everything from construction materials to the color of exterior paint. The store’s height was limited to avoid obstructing the view of the nearby domes of the 1548 Church of St. John the Baptist.

On Aug. 25, archaeology institute inspectors found a 3-foot-square altar 1 foot under Wal-Mart’s parking lot. The altar was excavated and conserved on-site, but it touched off new claims that the store was destroying archaeological treasures. Nevertheless, UNESCO gave the structure its blessing this week, as did the Paris-based International Council on Monuments and Sites, a group that advises UNESCO.

Noting the endorsements, Wal-Mart said: “We will continue investing,
generating jobs and economic development to strengthen our vision, which is to contribute to improve the quality of life for Mexican families.”

From the top of the 200-foot-tall Pyramid of the Sun, visited by tens of
thousands of people annually, Wal-Mart is barely visible. On the ground, the construction site is humming as workers rush to install lighting, air conditioning, refrigerators – and shrubbery, intended to conceal the 30-foot-tall, ochre-colored building.

“I make good money here at Wal-Mart and live well,” guard Jose Garcia said.

Martin Becerra, 50, who’s worked on the store’s construction and will work full time at the store when it opens, said he had a “great job, with better pay than in other places. We want to buy so many new things we haven’t seen before.”

Teotihuacan and Wal-Mart, centuries and cultures apart, share one thing in common: Both blossomed from trade.

Teotihuacan, which flourished between 250 and 600 A.D., controlled an
intricate network of commercial routes that stretched north, west and south, reaching a thousand miles to the Classic Maya civilization of southeastern Mexico and Guatemala.

Tens of thousands were employed there in crafts. Some estimates say there were 100,000 traders. Among goods exchanged were valuable gray and green obsidian used in knives, instruments, mirrors and jewelry, and bartered for faraway sea salt, shells, Quetzal feathers, jade and chocolate.

No one knows why the civilization eventually failed, though no one doubts its sophistication; Teotihuacan’s streets were aligned with the planets and stars.

In contrast, the modern town around it has a haphazard feel, and grazing sheep still stroll through it.

Mario Hernandez, 53, the owner of a small shop that sells sodas and chips, said most people welcomed Wal-Mart. He said he wasn’t concerned about the retailer’s reputation for putting smaller stores out of business or the alleged threat to archaeological treasures.

“We are far enough from the archaeological site,” he said. “We respect our roots, but we don’t want to stop progress.”

Knight Ridder Newspapers correspondent Janet Schwartz contributed to this report.

© Copyright 2004 Knight-Ridder

Desecration of Hawaiian Gravesite

A state historic preservation agency recommends that $210,000 in fines be
levied against an archaeological firm and others for tampering with human
remains at the construction site of the Ke’eaumoku Street Wal-Mart complex.

Among the infractions cited in an agency report were “writing on a child’s skull with indelible red ink, taping a child’s teeth to an index card, using duct tape and modeling clay to hold remains together, and writing the words ‘Handbag Louis Vuitton’ on a paper sack that contained a human hand.”

The recommendation is part of a report filed by the State Historic Preservation Division to the Board of Land and Natural Resources, and comes on the heels of an investigation by state attorneys. The board will consider the recommendation at its Nov. 18 meeting.

Besides unauthorized examination and tampering of the iwi, or bones, the report also accuses Aki Sinoto Consulting, the archaeological firm, and others of failing to notify the proper authorities about the inadvertent find of human remains in a timely fashion, moving human remains without permission and failing to examine human skeletal remains in a respectful manner.

Messages left at Sinoto’s home and cell phones were not returned.

According to the report, the remains examined in 2003 and 2004 were presumed to be “Native Hawaiians, juvenile remains, including the remains of infants, and remains for which requests for examination had been specifically denied by the state.”

Besides the Sinoto firm and principal archaeologist Aki Sinoto, others cited within the 21 counts were Sinoto employees L.J. Moana Lee and Paul Titchenal, the firm of International Archaeological Research Institute Inc., and two of its employees, J. Stephen Athens and Rona Ikehara-Quebral.

Besides the fines, the report recommends that the Sinoto firm’s permit to conduct archaeological activities in the state be revoked for the remainder of the year.

Ikehara-Quebral, lead osteologist for the International Archaeological Research Institute, which had been hired as a subcontractor by Sinoto, said she would reserve comment on the specifics of the allegations until she could thoroughly review Historic Preservation’s report.

“A quick review reveals it’s full of inaccuracies,” Ikehara-Quebral said. “And the State Historic Preservation Division, DLNR, continues to misrepresent our work to the public.”

She added: “We were instructed by SHPD to inventory every set of human remains from the Wal-Mart site, separate commingled burial remains into individuals and to determine their ethnicity, as required by law, which we did using standards of the profession. We always handled the remains in a respectful manner.”

Melanie Chinen, SHPD administrator, said the recommendation was based in large part on a report given to her by the state attorney general’s office.

Chinen said the $210,000 in fines recommended by her office is the maximum amount allowed under the law.

“There was total disregard for the laws, for the rules, for our warnings that unnecessary handling and examination is considered desecration by many Native Hawaiians,” Chinen said. “We’re talking about human beings.”

Partly in reaction to the Wal-Mart case, Chinen said, state lawmakers last session passed legislation increasing the maximum fine for violating burial laws and rules from $10,000 a day to $25,000 daily.

Regina Keana’aina, whose family was recognized by the O’ahu Island Burial Council as a lineal descendant to iwi in the area, opposes the fines.

“The archaeologists were doing the right thing,” she said. “They did not desecrate any of our iwi kupuna at the Wal-Mart site.”

Keana’aina, who helped Sinoto and the other archaeologists on a voluntary basis, said some of the personnel at Historic Preservation are unqualified to deal with finds. “I think the state needs to be hiring more qualified people to be running Historic Preservation.”

But Paulette Kaleikini, whose family was one of several designated cultural descendants to bones on the site, said she was pleased with Historic Preservation’s recommendation.

“It’s very disturbing what they did, how they desecrated the iwi,” Kaleikini said. “They shouldn’t be let off the hook so easily.”

Kaleikini said both Wal-Mart and contractor Dick Pacific Construction, which hired Sinoto, also should bear some responsibility for what happened to the bones.

A lawsuit filed by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. on behalf of Kaleikini’s family and the nonprofit Hui Malama I Na Kupuna ‘O Hawai’i Nei named Wal-Mart, the city and the state as responsible for the mishandling of the iwi.

Wal-Mart, however, was dismissed by a Circuit Court judge from that suit. The claim against the state was settled while a judgment in favor of the city is expected to be appealed.

Moses Haia, an attorney with the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., said proper action by the city planning officials and Historic Preservation also could have prevented the desecration.

“This could have been avoided,” Haia said.

At least 61 sets of remains have been found on the site. After taking possession of the remains, state officials initially were prepared to rebury them on the site in February. That date was postponed indefinitely after state attorneys began their investigation.

The remains continue to be housed in a trailer on the Wal-Mart site that is secured 24 hours a day. Chinen said when they are reburied could depend on what the Land Board chooses to do with her division’s report, and whether one of the sides will appeal that decision.

Honolulu Advertiser

Submitted by Tony Castanha

November 2008

It was 40 years ago today…

Where was I? I was in a giant field at the Bert Adams Boy Scout Camp in Newton County, Georgia, sitting in the grass with about 400 other scouts. A very long extension cord had been extended into the field and a color television was mounted on a metal scaffold. The sound and visual quality was less than optimal, but we sort of knew we were watching history. It was in the evening and the cicadas drowned out the voices of the astronauts.  Don’t ask me what I was doing the day before or after that. Long live NASA.

Revolutionary progress | SavannahNow.com

Archaeologists Excavated at Fort Prevost/Wayne in Emmett Park. Photo by John Harrington, Savannah Morning News.

Revolutionary progress | SavannahNow.com

 

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CLICK ABOVE TO READ HERE ABOUT NEW GRANT AWARD FOR CHS AND RITA!!

Hurricane Katrina, Los Isleños and Me

In my spare time I have been working to fix all the problems in New Orleans and surrounding areas, which were caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Of course, I have help. Yesterday I cooked my brains digging on two 50 x 50 centimeter test squares and watching a Bobcat dig a building footing at L0s Isleños, Louisiana.  This modest dig is the first exploration of the early settlement of L0s Islenos, which began after 1780. It was one of several settlements in Spanish Louisiana populated by former residents of the Canary Islands. The area selected for the settlement was known as Terre aux Boeuf. The area today is in Saint Bernard, Saint Bernard Parish, Louisiana.

Historical Marker

The place where our crew was working yesterday is at the Los Isleños cultural center, which was hard hit by the storm and flooded with more than 4 feet of floodwaters.  A large live oak tree toppled and crushed the museum building, which was later demolished (that demolition took place before I got there). now a new building is being constructed on the same building footprint.  At another area of the property a large “food court” is being built, which promises to be the mother of all concession stands. The architects seem intent to insure that this food court is able to withstand a Category 6 Hurricane and floodwaters of Noah-esque proportions.  It is being built on top of a previously unknown building that appears to date to the 1830s-1860s (my rough estimate). We are still researching to determine who lived there. It may be the home of a Canary Island descendant, or possible one of a few enslaved people who served that family.

This a dynamic, unfolding story and if I tell too much more, my boss may beat me on the head. Photos and updates to follow some day.

Prior to last month, I knew very little about the Canary Islanders in Spanish colonial Louisiana, and I still am a newbie on the subject. Here is a link to the cultural center’s webpage:  http://www.losislenos.org/

Haunted Houses of Talbot

My friend Tracy bought a new home, which is actually an old home. Now the fun begins!

Sewage plant skeptics blast EPD study

Sewage plant skeptics blast EPD study

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Georgia in the War of 1812: An Archaeological Perspective

Georgia in the War of 1812: An Archaeological Perspective

Do you know what happens in 3 years? It’s the bicentennial of the War of 1812; America’s other war with England!

On Saturday, May 30 at 2pm Fort Morris State Historic Site will host Daniel T. Elliott, President of the LAMAR Institute, who will discuss events & archaeology pertaining to Georgia in the War of 1812. Places discussed will be Sunbury, Ft Defiance, St Marys, Point Peter, Savannah, Ft Hawkins & various Lower Creek settlements. There will be Q&A time and artifact identification. Reservations are recommended. Please call 912-884-5999 or email fortmorris@coastalnow.net or john.reed@dnr.state.ga.us for more information or to reserve your seat now.

Fort Morris is located seven miles east of I-95, exit #76. Follow the brown Liberty Trail signs. Admission is $4.00 for adults, $3.50 for seniors (62 & above), $2.75 for youth (6-18), children 5 and under are free. For those who do not know, Fort Morris is the name of the fort for the American Revolution, but was re-named Fort Defiance for the War of 1812.

Hope to see you Saturday, and please spread the word.

Latest news about Fort Morris, from May 29, The Coastal Courier:

Cuts to hit Fort Morris hard

Historic site to be cut to three days a week

Re-enactors fire a cannon at Fort Morris at one of its many historic re-enactments.

Photo by Joe Parker Jr.

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Other cuts

Other DNR reorganization tactics include:
• Reducing services and access at five state parks.
• Reducing operational days and/or pursuing community support at 12 state historic sites.
• Eliminating 12 percent of the workforce and implementing furloughs.
• Increasing fees for accommodations, recreational activities, interpretive programs and parking.
• Pursuing alternative operation of lodges and golf courses.
• Limiting swimming pool operations.

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By Lauren Hunsberger
Staff writer
lhunsberger@coastalcourier.com
// <![CDATA[// Updated: May 29, 2009 12:04 p.m.

The Department of Natural Resources has named Fort Morris Historic Site in Sunbury to a list of state sites that will be forced to reduce hours and services because of a recent 39 percent reduction in state funds and a 24 percent projected loss of revenue.
There were 11 other historic sites and five state parks scheduled for reductions. The cutbacks will affect several of the sites’ different branches.
“My position has been eliminated as of June 15,” said John Reed, a ranger at Fort Morris for more than a year and a half. “Starting July 1, our site will only be open Thursday, Friday and Saturday.”
This is a shortened week for the site, which is currently open to the public Wednesday through Sunday and on Tuesday to private parties. Reed thinks the park will keep the same hours, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., but he said that’s not certain.
According to the DNR’s historic preservation division, Fort Morris was registered as a historical site because of its significance in the Revolutionary War history. It experienced the heaviest action in 1776, 1779 and 1812. The site also has been used for many archaeological and re-enactment purposes.
Although he said he knew about DNR employees possibly being asked to take furloughs, he was surprised by the news.
“We were completely blind-sided to be honest,” Reed said.
Representatives from DNR said it was hard to find places to make cuts.
“These decisions were heart-wrenching but were made using a business case analysis,” said DNR Commissioner Chris Clark. “We are exploring every avenue to manage budget reductions and revenue shortfalls, to properly care for our state parks and historic sites, and to minimize the impact on Georgia citizens and communities.”
Members of the DNR have said they will work with outside local parties interested in volunteering or donating time or money to alleviate some of the cutbacks.
“Outsourcing agreements will be used only if they maintain affordable and high-quality services that are more cost-effective than our own operations,” said State Parks and Historic Sites Director Becky Kelley.  “If outsourcing agreements are not possible, if our efforts do not reduce our dependence on state appropriations, or if state revenues continue to decline, further cuts and potential closures of lodges and golf courses are possible.”
Other state groups recently have begun to offer support to the parks.
Andy Fleming, with Friends of Georgia State Parks, said the group is committing resources and energy to finding local sources to make up for the cutbacks.
“We’re encouraging our friend’s chapters [which are in each Georgia county, including Liberty] to see if they can work with park managers to forestall the changes,” Fleming said. “With this new challenge, we have to figure out a way a to fill in the gaps with volunteers. Everyone is hurting.”
For now, Reed said he is unaware of how long the changes will last or if they are permanent, but said he’s not holding his breath.
“It looks like it’s going to be this way for a very long time,” he said.

Slant Six–an Athens band of Archaeologists

The Slant Six (aka Slant 6 or Slant VI) was formed in the Summer of 1981 in a tiny green tin house on the Commerce Highway, several miles north of Athens, Georgia. This house was a converted garage and was then rented by one archaeologist named Elliott.  The landlady was a elderly beautician and former local pornographic film actress of little acclaim. The Reagan-era had quickly trickled down upon the small community of archaeologists and during this period, one archaeologist named Spencer and another named Griffin came to stay in the green metal house for a few weeks. One evening one archaeologist named Schoettmer dropped by for a few cold ones and before the night was done, the band was solidified. Why the name Slant 6 you ask? The name Slant 6 was not chosen because three members of the band drove Dodge-Plymouth products with the enduring Slant-6 engine, just as R.E.M. was not named for Rapid Eye Movement–yeah right! The original Slant Six musical revue is not to be confused with numerous late-comers and copy bands. Below is a summary of the legacy of this quintessential archaeology band.

Although the band was formed in 1981, the roots of the band extend back to early June 1977 in Greensboro, Georgia. There, in a former boarding house, 35 University of Georgia Fieldschool students established their home. For those of who that do not remember, 1977 was avery hot year in central Georgia. The 100+ degree temperatures and lack of any cooling forced them onto the expansive front porch for most of their waking hours, when not in the field. Later-to-be Slant VI frontman, Elliott, was given the job of “House Mother” to this herd of archaeology wannabes. Elliott had the only guitar in the house, and soon provided entertainment on the porch. Many songs later performed by the Slant VI began on this porch or other parts of rural Greene County, Georgia.

The Original Band, July, 1981 Lead guitar, harmonica, electric saw, cheap metal detector, and vocals: Daniel Thornton Elliott, Esquire Rhythm guitar and vocals: Jean Spencer Lead vocals: Ronald “Eggplant” Schoettmer Rockem’ Sockem’ Robot guitar, amplified beer can, and token hippie: Michael “Chief” Griffin Haunted Illinois Mental Hospital Saxophone and Manager: R. Jerald Ledbetter (in absentia) Performances: Nightly, August 1981, Twila Motel, Leachville, Arkansas Tunes from this Phase of the Band’s Existence included: Pencil-necked Geek Mastodon Stomp Ice Cream Social Leapin’ Into Leachville The Bible.

The Band, October to December, 1981 Ditto: Elliott, Spencer, Schoettmer, and Griffin Bass guitar: Mark Williams Accordion: Chad Braley Manager: Cynthia Leigh Williams Performances: Halloween, 1981, Constantine Comolli Mansion, Elberton, Georgia December, 1981, Coffee Club, Athens, Georgia Tunes from this Phase of the Band’s Existence included: Ramona Double Fisted Sister Twister Plymouth Rock Immaculate Misconception

The Band, April 1982 Ditto: Elliott, Spencer, Schoettmer, and Griffin Occasional Lead Guitars: Bones and High Gear Performances: House on a Hillside above a Cave and Sinkhole and Next Door to the former Grand Dragon of the KKK, Erin, Tennessee Tunes from this Phase of the Band’s Existence included: I Need a Sedative Arctic Circle Jerk Mike the Trilobite I’ve Got a Speech Problem Jumper Cables Pine Sol Biscuits Watsnu Pussycat? or Wayward Paleoindians Do Tom Jones, I am a Mass Murderer.

The Band, 1983 and 1984 Ditto: Elliott, Spencer, Schoettmer, Williams, and Braley Drums: W. Dean Wood 2nd Lead guitar: Gary Shapiro Production Engineer: Jim Hawkins Manager: Cynthia Leigh Williams (1983) Performances: Summer 1983 and 1984, Uptown Lounge, Athens, Georgia Tunes from this Phase of the Band’s Existence included: We are the Beef People Drive Me Crazy French and Indian Dip Highway 15 Woodstork, Palm of My Hand, Hey Buddy!

The Band, 1987 Ditto: Elliott, Spencer, Schoettmer, Williams, Braley, Wood, and Shapiro Mandolin: Jim Errante Clarinet: William Marquardt Master of Ceremonies: Vincent Macek Performances: Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Charleston, South Carolina Tunes from this Phase of the Band’s Existence included: Flippa’ The Band, 1990 Ditto: Elliott, Spencer, Schoettmer, Williams, Braley and Wood Mandolin: Jim Errante Clarinet: William Marquardt Master of Ceremonies: Vincent Macek Performances: Society for American Archaeology, International Ballroom, Atlanta, Georgia Tunes from this Phase of the Band’s Existence included: Third of a Fifth Pitiful covers of old favorites, including Mudcat and Key to the Highway

The Band, 1999 Ditto: Elliott, Williams, Braley, and Wood Keyboards: Chris LeBlanc 2nd Lead guitar: Scot Keith 2nd Bass guitar: William Zimmerman, IV. Performances: Society for Georgia Archaeology Reception, Columbus, Georgia Tunes from this Phase of the Band’s Existence included: The Bart Simpson on a Stick March.

The Band, 2000 Ditto: Elliott, Schoettmer, Williams, Braley, and Wood 2nd Lead guitar: Matt Wood 2nd Bass guitar: William Zimmerman, IV Performances: Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Georgia Music Hall of Fame, Macon, Georgia. This was a lackluster-era in the band’s history.

SELECTED LYRICS

Stoned on the Rock
Words and music by Daniel T. Elliott and Paul Arthur Webb, Siloam, Georgia 1977.

Key of G

Jesus gave me papers,
He gave me his roach clip,
He even gave me matches,
He said, “here, take a hit!”
I took a toke for Jesus,
And now I’m stoned on life,
I’m stoned on the rock of Jesus Christ,

Oh Lord I’m Stoned on the Rock,
Stoned on the Rock,
Stoned on the Rock of Jesus Christ,
Of Jesus Christ,
Oh Well I’m Stoned on the Rock,
Oh Yes I’m Stoned on the Rock,
Stoned on the Rock of Jesus Christ.

The cop he pulled me over,
He said, “You sure looked stoned!”
I said, “It’s just a headache,
won’t you please take me home?”
A voice rang out from Heaven,
“The Kid is Stoned on Pot!”
He’s Stoned on the Rock of Jesus Christ,
Of Jesus Christ.

[REPEAT CHORUS]

Now Christ has a great personality,
Lord knows he sure can cook,
Anyway you look at it,
He’s O.K. in my book,
Every time I’m horny,
He sets me up with twat,
And everytime I wanna get stoned,
He lets me smoke his pot and now I’m,

[REPEAT CHORUS]

Burned Beyond Recognition

Words and music by Daniel T. Elliott, Granite Village, Nova Scotia, January, 1982.

Key of G

I went to the welding shop today,
To see my little girl,
I wanted to see what she had to say,
My mind was in a swirl,
I asked her if she’d been cheatin on me,
I had a good idea that she might be,
But she turned around with her welding torch,
The first thing you know,
My body was scorched,

And I’ve been burned, fried,
Battered up, roasted and broasted,
Your love set me on fire,
Til like a piece of bread I was toasted.

Yes I’ve been burned, fired,
Heated to the point of ignition,
Your love set me on fire,
Til I was burned beyond recognition.

**

Ramona

Words and Music by Daniel T. Elliott, Ronald Schoettmer, and Jean Spencer, Elberton, Georgia, 1981

Ramona changed her mind,

Ramona changed her mind,

We thought she was dead,

But she only changed her head,

You know Ramona changed her mind.

Ramona works all day,

Ramona works all night,

Working so hard she nearly lost it all,

You know Ramona changed her mind.

Ramona changed her mind,

Ramona changed her mind,

We thought she was dead,

But she only changed her head,

You know Ramona changed her mind.

Follow link below for video of instrumental (slightly retarded) version of Ramona:

OR:

Ramona (Instrumental)_The Slant Six
Uploaded by dantelliott. – Explore more music videos.

Now then, a little background information about the song, Ramona:

Ramona was a large doll. We found her in a dump in Elbert County mixed with debris from a cemetery, including faded plastic flowers and rotted green styrofoam. The debris was piled on an earlier dump of cut granite fragments. Elberton prides itself as granite capitol of the world. I prefer the title, “tombstone capitol of the world”. So, obviously we couldn’t just leave Ramona lying there, so we took her back to our archaeology fieldhouse, the Constantine Comoli mansion in Elberton. She simply loved her new home. We were curious and inspected her for any diagnostic information, for which we were immediately rewarded. Let me first describe her to you. Ramona stood about 2 feet tall, she wore a pink fluffy dress and a simple faux pearl necklace, she had red hair and her face was green. The green was acquired from decades of repose in a graveyard. On her upper chest was written in red ink, “Dec. 25, 1957″. Curiouser and curiouser she became. She made herself comfortable in our den bookcase. Now on a separate reconnaissance trip several days later, Dean and I were riding out a rural dirt road in Elbert County when we spied something odd in the middle of the road. It was a goat skull, well aged and apparently drug into the road by a neighborhood dog. The skull was impressive with its large twisted horns and it immediately went into our vehicle and we returned to the field house.

Now I should mention that Ron, our lead singer, was visiting us and Ron and I discussed making a photoessay with Ramona Comoli as the subject. One thing led to another, we purchased a jar of peanut butter and with camera and Ramona in hand, we headed for the abandoned granite quarry on the west side of town (the one seen in the movie, Breaking Away). Our intent was to smear peanut butter over Ramona and film the thousands of stunted bream, who called the quarry pond home, as they feasted on Ramona. What we did not anticipate, however, was the laziness and timidity of these fish. They were hungry, for sure, but they waited for the chunks of peanut butter to drift down. They were apparently afraid of Ramona, maybe it was the green face.

Dejected and dissapointed, we returned home with a soggy Ramona. We returned to a raging fire in the fireplace and we set Ramona by the fire to dry. Ron removed her head and we discovered it filled with wet cotton. While the contents of her head were drying, Ron held up the headless body and paired it with the body-less goat head, and thus, Ramon had changed her mind.<a href="

Ramona (Instrumental)_The Slant Six
Uploaded by dantelliott. – Explore more music videos.

“>

Translations of Two Letters from Ebenezer to the SPCK, 1739

Translations of Two Letters from Ebenezer to the SPCK, 1739

A Translation of a Letter out of High Dutch, from the Saltzburgers at Ebenezer to their Benefactors in Europe.

WE, whose Names are underwritten, the Saltzburgers and all the Members of the Communion of Ebenezer in Georgia in America, present our mos t humble and most dutiful Respects, and good Wishes to all our kind Benefactors and Benefactresses in England and Germany, of all Ranks and Conditions whatsoever. To the Praise of Almighty God we often call to remembrance all the spiritual and temporal Kind- nesses and Favours which we have received from many Thousands of true Protestant Christians, since our going out from Saltzburg our native Place, and sojourning in Protestant Countries ; and therefore we think it our bounden Duty, as long as we live, humbly to implore our gracious Lord, in the Name of Jesus Christ, through the Assistance of the Holy Ghost, who has inclined their Hearts to Charity and good Will towards us, that He would be pleased according to his great Mercy to reward all their Works of Love with abundant Blessings in the Life that now is, and in that which is to come. The wonderful and all-wise Providence having open’d a Way for us to go to Georgia, a new Colony, begun in good measure for the Refuge and Support of persecuted and distressed Protestants ; and we, after a previous due Consideration of the Will of God, having gone thither with a full Inclination and Chearfulness of Mind: The Love and Benevolence- of our ever honoured Benefactors towards us despised People has not been altered in the least, but we have had the comfortable Experience of it ‘ in many Instances, as well at our Departure from ‘ Europe as also ever since at Ebenezer ; the Place, where, by God’s Assistance and Blessing, we have taken up our Abode. Before we left Germany we were provided with necessary Protestant Books, and such as we still wanted have been sent after us in such plenty, that we cannot sufficiently praise the ‘ Lord for those Blessings. Upon our Arrival in ‘ this Country, wherein we were quite Strangers, we found the want of Linnen and other Necessaries for the cloathing of our Bodies ; but God Almighty has beyond our Expectation so graciously order’d it, that from Year to Year, by the kind Contributions of several Benefactors, a good Stock thereof has been sent to us, which has filled our Hearts with Praise and Thanksgiving : And tho’ an uncultivated Country, in a new Climate, together with a Way of Living quite different from what we were accustomed to before, could not but occasion various ‘ Diseases and Distempers, as did likewise the Want of Shoes and other Necessities among our Poor ; yet the merciful God has inclined the Hearts of our worthy Benefactors, to make Remittances from time c to time for these Purposes into the Hands of our Ministers, and more particularly we have been sufficiently provided with excellent Medicines, which have often had their desired Effect. Besides the liberal Charities in Money given to the Third Transport, as also to some of the Second, who came from Lindau to Ebenezer, and since that, to the seven new Colonists ; the All-sufficient God has likewise continually blessed us with such Supplies, that we 1 have been able both to erect and support an Orphan- ‘ House or Hospital among us ; which has been very ‘ much to the spiritual and temporal Advantage of’ the whole Congregation ; and will continue to be so, if, as we wish and pray, the Fountain of God’s Mercy mall still flow upon us. We cannot also but esteem it to be a very acceptable Benefit, and worthy of our most sincere Thanks, that so many good and pious Persons in Europe go on to promote our Welfare with their earnest Prayers, Intercessions, good Wishes, Counsels and Christian Exhortations-, but above all we acknowledge, with the deepest Sense of Gratitude, that the Lord, according to his loving Kindness, has largely provided us with his holy Word and Sacraments, together with all things necessary for this Life, particularly with a plentiful Harvest last Year; as also that He has disposed the Honourable the Trustees of Georgia, and the Society for Promoting Cbristian Knowledge, together with other Benefactors in England, to favour and assist us in a singular and extraordinary Manner; for which the Name of the Giver of every good and perfect Gift be for ever praised by us and all our Posterity. In order, therefore, to shew our most worthy Benefactors the real Sense we have of the charitable Gifts and Kindnesses we have receiv’d from them, we think ourselves bound both in Duty and Gratitude to write this Letter in order to be published, wishing from the bottom of our Hearts, that the God of eternal Truth, the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth, (who is pleased with Sacrifices of Mercy) may abundantly reward all their Charities bestowed upon us, and so bless this their Seed that they may reap a plentiful Harvest of eternal Joy and Happiness in the Life to come, for our Lord and Saviour will not forget his gracious Promise : Matt. xxv. 34. 36. Then shall the King say unto them on his right band, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World: for I was an hungry , and ye gave me Meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I was ‘ a Stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, and ye cloathed me, &c. but will fulfil it to the eternal Satisfaction and Comfort of all such as are not weary in well doing : As long as we live we shall not cease, by the ; Assistance of the Holy Spirit, humbly to implore, in our publick and private Prayers, our heavenly Father, that he would encompass them with his Favour as with a Shield ; and make good to them and their Children all his precious Promises, more; especially that in Psalm xli. I. 3. Blessed is be that considereth the Poor, the Lord will deliver him in the time of Trouble: the Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, and be shall be blessed upon the Earth ; and thou wilt not deliver him unto the Will of his Enemies, the Lord will strengthen him upon the Bed of Languishing; thou wilt make all his Bed in his Sickness. And as we do further humbly conceive, that it will not be unacceptable to such our Friends and Benefactors to be acquainted with our present Circumstances in this new Part of the World; we beg leave to inform them, to the Praise of the living God, who has done all Things well, that we at Ebenezer live in the happy and comfortable Enjoyment of a pure, and plentiful Instruction in the holy Gospel ; of many temporal Blessings ; of all Christian Liberty; of external Tranquility, and good Success in our Undertakings, and also in brotherly Love and Charity to one another: the Sense of which Mercies, even whilst it convinces us of our great Unworthiness, does at the same time make us wish, out of Love to our Brethren and Countrymen in Germany, that they also might be Partakers with us of these Blessings. Our new erected Town, Ebenezer, is situated so very conveniently on the River Savannah, as to be far enough removed from the noise of the World and worldly minded Men. The Land granted for our Plantations is very good, and has even this Year given us a full Proof of its Fertility, and what it is able, by the Blessing of God, to produce. Our Cattle increases; the keeping of Herdsmen to look after them is made easy to us, by their being for the most part maintained by Charity Money sent over from Europe to our Ministers. As to the blessed Effects of the Ministry of our loving Teachers, and what the most gracious God is pleased to do by them for our Souls, Eternity will make appear. The Eyes of many amongst us have been opened in this Wilderness, so that Ebenezer has been to several the Place of their spiritual Birth. Our Place of Divine Worship has been hitherto in a Hut, which in Winter and rainy Seasons is very inconvenient ; nor have we any Place for the Education of our Children ; but we trust God will also therein hear our Prayers, and by the charitable Contributions of well disposed Christians, enable us to build a Church and ‘ School-House. We have already signified these our Wants to some of our Friends in Europe; and may God Almighty so stir up the Hearts of some who « abound in the Blessings of this Life, that they may c give out of their Abundance, what will be sufficient towards railing so necessary and useful Edifices. We conclude this our Letter with commending you, our ever renowned Benefactors, to the everlasting Love of God the Father, to the tender Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the comfortable Fellowship of the Holy Ghost, now and for evermore; and at the same time assuring you of our constant and earnest Prayers for your true Happiness and Welfare, we remain, with the profoundest Respects,

Your most bumble, (and for so many spiritual and temporal Benefits, in Love and Gratitude) Most obliged Servants,

The Inhabitants of Ebenezer.

Ebenezer in Georgia, 26th Octob. 1739.

****

A Translation of a Letter out of High Dutch from the Minister of the Saltzburgers at Ebenezer.

Dear and Honoured Benefactors and Friends in Christ our Lord,

We think it our Duty to accompany this Letter of our Congregation with a few Lines, as being, by your Will and Pleasure, intitled to a Share in the many Favours you have bestowed upon them; and, consequently, being obliged to unite with them in Praises and Thanksgivings to God for his Mercies, as well as in humble Intercessions for your Welfare and Happiness. We can assuredly testily of our Saltzburgers, that they have received all the Benefactions sent and distributed to them, with the greatest Humility and Thankfulness, express’d in the most obliging and respectful Terms -, and have made use of them agreeably to the Intent of the Givers, to the Glory of God, and the Relief of their own Necessities. As often as they join with us in Prayer (as we do not only every Day at Evening Prayer, but several times a Week besides, either in our own Houses of theirs when we go to visit them) the Benefactions received are always mentioned with Praise to God, and Wishes for his Blessing on all their Benefactors. They beg of God Almighty to give them Grace to apply all such Benefactions to the End? they are sent for, and that they may be led by this his Goodness towards them to Repentance and Holiness of Life. Altho it is too common for many to spend what is bestowed on them even in Charity in an irregular and sinful Manner, yet we cannot say. this of any one of our Saltzburgers; nay we should ourselves even on any Suspicion of this kind-, have rather kept back the Benefactions designed for such Persons till their Amendment should appear, than to allow a wrong Use of them; in doing which we hope that we act nothing contrary to the Will and Intention of our Benefactors. We can therefore assure all our Patrons and Friends upon our best Knowledge and Conscience, and we hope to their great Satisfaction, that they have not sown the Seed of their Charities upon a barren, but in a fertile Ground at Ebenezer, where it will blossom and bring forth Fruits unto everlasting Life: And since according to the Testimony of the Holy Spirit, this is the Portion of the Righteous, that it mall be well with them, and that they mall eat the Fruit of their Doings; we never mall cease to make our hearty Supplications before our most faithful and merciful Father in Heaven, that He may fulfil on them this and all his other precious Promises; that in return for what they h.ive given so liberally to the poor Saltzburgers, or rather lent unto the Lord, they may receive a thousand fold, through the Merit and Mediation of Jesus Christ. Part of the Charities in Money and other Gifts has been, according to the Pleasure of the Benefactors, a great help to both of us Ministers, in the first settling our Families; for which we humbly ‘ praise the Lord, and return them our most grateful Acknowledgments. The Lord grant unto them, that they may find Mercy of the Lord in ‘ that Day ; and as they have refreshed us so often, they may together with their worthy Families be refreshed in the Presence of the Lord for ever, yea that Goodness and Mercy may follow them all ‘ the Days of their Life.

These, dearest Benefactors, are the hearty Wishes and daily Prayers of Your very obliged humble Servants,

John Martin Boltzius, Minister of the Saltzburgers at Ebenezer. ISRAEL CHRISTIAN GRONAU, Catechist and Assistant to the Congregation of Saltzburgers at Ebenezer.

Ebenezer in Georgia, 26th Octob. 1739.

Source: Thomas, John 1740 No. IV. A Translation of a Letter out of High Dutch, from the Saltzburgers at Ebenezer to their Benefactors in Europe. [and] No. V. A Translation of a Letter out of High Dutch] from the Minister of the Saltzburgers at Ebenezer. A Sermon Preach’d in the Parish-Church of Christ-Church, London; On Thursday May the 8th, 1740…To Which is Annexed, An Account of the Origin and Designs of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, Pp 51-57. M. Downing, London, England.

Extract from SPCK Annual Report for 1773

Some Account of the Saltzburghers Settled at Ebenezer, Georgia, 1773.

The Reverend Mr Triebner, in a Letter dated, June 1774, after expressing his Sense of the Divine Mercy, had favoured him with so good a State of Health for the two last Years that he had been very seldom interrupted in discharging his Duty, acquaints the Society that the Word of God had made a good Impression on the Minds of many, among whom were some who had before shown an Aversion to Religion; several secure and profane Persons having, through Sickness and other Afflictions, been brought to ah earnest Reflection on the State of their Souls, and convinced of the Necessity of Repentance, and Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

He thanks the Society for all Favours, particularly for the kind Present which they had made him of £20, to enable him to engage a proper Person to undertake the Care of the School; but informs them that, notwithstanding all his Endeavours, it had not been in his Power to procure one. A worthy Man, qualified to teach English and German, was not to be found among his People, and he was fearful of entrusting the Children to a Stranger, with whose Principles and Conduct he was not sufficiently acquainted. He had therefore continued to teach them himself, and, if it pleased God to strengthen him, would proceed in the Work as much as the other Duties of the Congregation would permit. He laments however that the poor Circum(lances of the Generality of the Parents, who need the Assistance of their Children, particularly in Summer, together with the Want of a faithful Master, who could be employed the whole Day, will not allow of the School’s being kept in. the Afternoon as well as Morning.

In the Spring of the Year 1773 eighteen young Persons, who had undergone a five Months Preparation, were admitted the first Time to the Lord’s Supper, having previously renewed their Baptismal Covenant in the Presence of the Congregation; and thirteen were admitted in the fame manner on Easter-Monday last. Notwithstanding the dissolute Manners which prevail among the Youth of the Province, Mr Triebner has the Pleasure to declare that those of his Congregation mow for the most part a sincere Disposition to attend Publick Worship, and to learn, good Principles.

In the last Year he baptized 36 Infants, some of whom were of English Parentage, together with 4 Negro ones, buried 22 Persons, and married 17 Couple. From 35 to 40 Children at Ebenezer, 32 at Bethany, and 20 at Zion were instructed in the Principles of Religion, Reading, Writing* and Arithmetic.

Source:

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge

1774      Some Account of the Saltzburghers Settled at Ebenezer, Georgia, 1773. An Account of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. J. and W. Oliver, London, England.

Fondest Goodbyes to Mrs. Roark

ROARK, Ethel ETHEL ELEANOR HAUSER ROARK was born December 13, 1910, in Jefferson County Georgia, the fourth of seven children of Carl Lewis and Ethel Harlow Hauser. She was a champion speller and won several competitions at the local and regional levels. After graduating from Louisville Academy in 1928 she assisted her father in the Louisville telegraph office. In 1931 she married Earl Woodliff Roark of Flowery Branch, Ga., at that time a lineman with Ga. Power Co. They began housekeeping in Lewisburg, Pa. that same year when Earl began his career with the Federal Prison System. After taking the train to Detroit to buy their first new Model A Ford, they moved to Ft. Bragg, N.C., where Earl was a junior officer at the prison camp there. In 1935 they moved to Atlanta, where Earl continued to work at the Federal Penitentiary until 1956. Ethel and Earl had four children while living in Atlanta, and in 1949 moved to their new home in Conley. Ethel was active in all of her childrens’ activities, first at Milton Ave. School and Roosevelt High and later at Bouldercrest Elementary and SW DeKalb High. She was an energetic participant in WSCS (UMW) at Cedar Grove United Methodist Church, Home Demonstration Club, and Campfire Girls. In 1952 she became primary caregiver to her mother while continuing to serve as an expert seamstress, chauffeur, gardener, homemaker, mother and wife — a supermom by her generation’s standards. Everyone who knew her was familiar with her superior culinary skills. Ethel’s sweet demeanor and caring spirit will be sorely missed by all of her family and friends. She was a patient, generous and loving mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, great-grandmother and aunt. She is preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Earl (1900-90), and a grandson, Chuck Watters, Jr. (1964-89). Surviving are two daughters, Alice Roark and Janie R. Watters of Clermont, Ga. two sons, John H. Roark and wife, Peggy of Buford and Robert E. Roark and wife Shirla of Stockbridge; a sister-in-law, Angie Hauser of Thomson; six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and a host of nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. Funeral services will be at 11:00a.m. at Stockbridge United Methodist Church Thursday, October 30th. Visitation with the family will be Wednesday, Oct. 29th from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Horis A. Ward, Fairview Chapel, Stockbridge. In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorial gifts be made to Presbyterian Village, 2000 East-West Connector, Austell, Ga. 30106; to Buford Presbyterian Church or to Stockbridge United Methodist.

A Plea for Help!

State funding for archaeology in Georgia is currently on the chopping block. Nonetheless, the LAMAR Institute is a proud supporter of the 2009 Georgia Archaeology Month festivities. Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue signs the proclamation for these events on April 2, 2009.

April 2, 2009

Can you find the plea for help in this picture? Look closely.

Answer:

Above the Ear

Me and Martin

June 15, 1964

Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

http://opa.yale.edu/opa/images/pr/2008pr/martinLutherKing-02.jpg

Martin Luther King, Jr.,  “received his honorary doctorate on June 15, 1964, along with Averell Harriman, Philip Jessup, Sargent Shriver Jr. ‘38, ‘41LLB, Alfred Lunt, and Lynn Fontanne. It was a beautiful and peaceful day. The text of King’s citation ran: As your eloquence has kindled the nation’s sense of outrage, so your steadfast refusal to countenance violence in resistance to injustice has heightened our sense of national shame. When outrage and shame together shall one day have vindicated the promise of legal, social, and economic opportunity for all citizens, the gratitude of peoples everywhere and of generations of Americans yet unborn will echo our admiration as we proudly confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Laws. It was on this day, also, that Brewster broke with academic tradition by advising the honorees, not that they had earned “the rights and privileges” of the Yale degree, but that they had earned its “rights and responsibilities.” King received the Nobel Peace Prize later in 1964.”—Yale Alumni Magazine

Superfluous Wordy Verbose

“Superfluous wordy verbose”

These lyrics were penned and set to music in October 1981 at our fieldhouse in Elberton, Georgia. It is probably our shortest Slant 6 song. I wrote the song with help from Cindy Williams, our manager. Tonight I read where the average blog post on WordPress is 250 words, so I thought I would write an average blog post. And I wanted to test to see if I am either superfluous, wordy or verbose. As I am want to do. If I may say so myself. My wife things I tend to pontificate to the point of boredom on occasion. But what I say has content and it is difficult to express content in a few words. Unless our sentences are zipped, compressed. Like TV commericials, John Burns says they are not louder, merely compressed. Maybe we need a new language of zip. Zipese. He speaks only zippy, must not be from Georgia. Of course, when one is trying to do something consciously, it is more difficult and uncool. It is better if it flows from the force within, automatic. If there is a magical number of words needed for a person to express a thought, and if that number is 250, then perhaps 250 should be added to the lexicon of numerologists. Maybe dice should be modified to have 250 sides so that gamblers can holler, lucky 250! lucky 250! Or not. Have I written 250 words yet, better go check the word count feature in Word.

Peppers in DuPont Circle

Rats!! 251 words

Woman of Few Words

Burnt Village

am_0166

Click above for Huscher’s report.

Guten Tag Bubba: Germans in the Colonial South

Guten Tag Bubba: Germans in the Colonial South

Daniel T. Elliott and Rita Folse Elliott

SHA 2000, Quebec

Abstract

“As American as hot dogs and apple pie”…could have easily have become “as American as bratwurst and strudel”. During the colonial period numerous German settlements populated the Carolinas and more than one-third of Georgia consisted of German immigrants. Where were these settlements and how did they affect the American south? This paper presents an overview of these settlements while examining some of the more germane results of archaeological excavations among them. It highlights the site of New Ebenezer, in colonial Georgia, to provide a more specific view of German life in one such settlement. How did the British government, other colonists, and German settlers define colonial German culture in southern America? When and how did the parameters of German culture change? Is “Germaness” reflected in the material culture recovered archaeologically and can the process of German acculturation or non-acculturation be isolated in the archaeological record?

Guten Tag Bubba: Germans in the Colonial South

Annual Meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology

January 2000, Quebec

Daniel T. Elliott and Rita Folse Elliott

Southern Research Historic Preservation Consultants, Inc.

Columbus, Georgia

Written Draft Version

King George I was a German, as was George II and George III. The ethnicity of England’s 18^th century monarchs is often overlooked, yet it undoubtedly played a role in stocking the American colonies. Historians estimate that at least 65,000, and perhaps as many as 100,000 Germans immigrated to colonial America (Moltman 1982:9). The most well-known example of such German settlement is the Pennsylvania Dutch, although German Lutheranism was firmly established in Georgia eight years prior to Pennsylvania’s Lutheran beginnings (Bernheim 1872:ix). The Southeastern colonies, especially Georgia and the Carolinas could boast as much as one-half of their populations as German. Political boundaries in Europe in the 18^th century were dynamic and contained no specific country called “Germany”; so who were these Germans? The British government defined ethnicity according to language spoken. Immigrants from Alsac, Austria, Bohemia, Herrnhut, Hungary, Moravia, the Palatinate region (that is the area of Heidelberg by the Rhine River), Salzburg, Saxony, Swabia, Switzerland, Wurttemberg, and Wurzburg, were lumped into the category “German” because they spoke the German language. This commonality was cosmetic on one level, however, as the language was divided into High and Low German, and contained Bavarian, Silesian, Rhenish-Franconian, and many other dialects. When the German Lutheran minister Johann Boltzius met his new German congregation prior to their trans-Atlantic voyage to Georgia, he could not understand their dialect, nor they his, even though all were “German”. So where did these British-defined German immigrants to the colonial Southeast settle and how did they: define themselves; interact with each other; acculturate; and thrive or perish? How did they affect southern culture and what markers of ethnicity did they leave in the archaeological record?

Colonial German settlement in America began in earnest in 1709 and ended in 1783, and included areas of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and what is now North and South Carolina. This paper will focus on the Germans who settled pre-Revolutionary War Georgia and the Carolinas. Towns settled by German immigrants were established for one or more of the following reasons: as a haven from religious persecution; as a place of economic opportunity to provide trades, land, farms, and freedom from enormous European tax burdens; as a place of civil freedoms; as a buffer from Spanish and Native American aggression towards already established settlements; and as a place to produce raw materials for the British empire. From a German perspective, the freedoms were highlighted in a recruiting statement made by Johannes Tobler who told Germans contemplating emigration to America, “People are free and everyone, so to speak, a little king, a fact which cannot be changed…” (Tobler 1740).

The areas of settlement in much of Georgia and the Carolinas offered to German colonists were often inferior to areas provided for English settlement. This is obvious in Georgia trustee’s policy of reserving settlement along the prime lands of the Savannah River for the English, rather than Germans. Also, the English were first into much of the central South Carolina region and were able to choose the choicest properties. Later influx of Germans, however, resulted in decreased English settlement. This decrease was not due to any ethnic hostilities, but rather to the fact that later areas of settlement lacked the natural resources that the English deemed necessary for habitation. The Germans could not be so particular.

From the establishment of New Bern, North Carolina in 1709 to the beginnings of the later Moravian towns in the 1770s, nearly two dozen predominantly German settlements were located in colonial Georgia and the Carolinas. Some settlements encountered a swift demise, or were not populated by a German majority. The earliest documented settlement was in 1674, when a small group of Deutsch Lutherans established the settlement of Jamestown on James Island, South Carolina. It was unsuccessful and was abandoned within a few years. Germans came into Charleston after 1708 and successfully settled that city, in addition to English, Irish, and other ethnic immigrants. Many other settlements consisted of greater percentages of German colonists and became successfully established in the Carolinas and Georgia.

A total of 1,500 Swiss and Palatinate Germans established the town of New Berne on the North Carolina coast in 1709. There, Swiss Baron Christopher de Graffenreid purchased 10,000 acres and established the settlement at the confluence of the Neuse and Trent rivers. The Tuscarora War of 1711 resulted in Indian attacks and at least 60 German deaths in New Berne (Bernheim 1872:72). The New Berne settlement survived the war by remaining neutral and in 1714 its residents successfully petitioned for more land. Although New Berne represents the single largest influx of German settlement, the settlers quickly dispersed and most German aspects of the town, other than its name, are gone. One faction of this settlement splintered and established a town in interior Virginia.

In 1732 the town of Purysburg was established in South Carolina, across the Savannah River from where New Ebenezer would be located four years later. This large, planned town contained 450 lots, of which only 200 at most were ever occupied. Germans constituted one quarter of the 500 Purysburgers, with Swiss and French making up the remainder (Meriwether 1940:35). The urban architect of Purysburg, Jean Pierre Pury, died within a few years of the town’s founding. Purysburg suffered for lack of leadership, although the town persisted as an urban center into the early 19^th century.

In 1734 a group of persecuted Lutheran pietists who were expelled from Salzburg by the Catholic princes journeyed to the colony of Georgia where they settled the town of Ebenezer, on a tributary of the Savannah River. After two grueling years at an ill-suited location that did not allow access to river transportation, and the deaths of one-third of the original Salzburger settlers from dysentery, typhus, and other illnesses, the colonial trustees allowed the survivors to relocate to a bluff on the Savannah River a few miles away. It took the Salzburgers two years to convince the Georgia Trustees and James Oglethorpe to disregard their stated ethnic policies reserving the Savannah River for English settlers (Jones 1969:6). New Ebenezer was peopled with several more transports of Germans consisting predominantly of non-Salzburgers. By the 1760s Ebenezer was a thriving township of 800-1,000 Germans and townspeople helped establish the satellite communities of Abercorn, Bethany, Halifax, Goshen, New Gottingen, and Zion. Religious and political infighting and alternating occupations of British and American forces during the Revolutionary War permanently crippled the town of New Ebenezer.

In 1735 the Lutheran settlement of Orangeburg was established on a tributary of the Edisto River, adjacent to the town of Amelia in South Carolina. This tributary lacked navigability due to its narrowness and many obstacles. Thus, Orangeburg settlers suffered the same riverine transportation problems as did colonists at Ebenezer. In spite of this major hurdle, by 1753 Orangeburg was reportedly as densely occupied as Saxe-Gotha, and inhabited mostly by Germans (Tobler 1753). An estimated 800 settlers resided in the township by 1759 (Meriwether 1940:46). The present-day town of Orangeburg, which has shifted from the original site, exhibits no obvious signs of its German beginnings.

In 1735 the Moravians, led by August Spangenberg, established a foreign mission in coastal Georgia at the Irene settlement on Pipemaker’s Creek. Their goal was to proselytize to the Native Americans. The increasing threat of Spanish attack in the Savannah area and Savannah’s citizens efforts to bolster the town’s defenses led to friction with the Moravians, who were avowed pacifists. After five years the dozen families living there grew tired of local attempts to force them into military defense of the colony, and they “…saw no other prospect…but to forsake their flourishing little settlement and emigrate for the North” [that is, Pennsylvania] (Henry 1859:103).

In 1737 New Windsor was established in South Carolina, southeast of Augusta, Georgia, on the Savannah River. The township was settled predominantly by Swiss Germans, and it maintained a steady total population of around 300 people between 1738 and 1760 (Meriwether 1940:67). This population also included a number of Indian traders who influenced the local economy.

The township of Saxe-Gotha was established in 1737. An observer named Riemensperger reported back to Germans in Europe that “no township as yet is reported its equal for good land…[It] is only 125 miles from Charleston and on the Great Santee River, and people can go from here at will with heavily laden boats to trade by water when enough boatmen come here to settle and establish themselves…The trail here is cut through the forest wide enough so that people can travel by land in wagons back and forth to Charles Town” (Riemensperger 1740). Riemensperger’s recruiting was a success and between 1744-50 a large influx of settlers arrived, mostly from the Rhine area. Documents indicate that the Saxe-Gotha congregation consisted of about 280 people in 1750 (Bernheim 1872:142). In 1759-60 the Cherokee War affected townspeople and later the American Revolution destroyed the town’s church (Bernheim 1872:147.)

Between one-half to two-thirds of Germans immigrating to the colonies did so through indentured servitude. This practice was encouraged by tracts being circulated across Europe. Riemensperger, for example, returned to Europe from the Carolinas in 1740 with testimonials signed by German colonists. Riemensperger’s tract encouraged emigration by explaining indentured servitude in this fashion: “Also it is well known that in Germany and Switzerland there are poor, unemployed hardworking people who would delight themselves in this gift of land [that is, the 50 acre headright], but who cannot afford the expense of the passage across the sea. Arrangements are such that laborers and tradespeople of all sorts and kinds who scarcely know how to make a living in Germany or Switzerland can live in plenty here [in what is now South Carolina] and in a short time make themselves well-to-do” (Riemensperger 1740). Such marketing of the colonies by Riemensperger and others was successful. Recruits who survived the voyage and their five to seven years of indentured servitude were free to establish a household on their own.

One example of this is the Georgia coastal town of Vernonburg, settled by Swiss-German indentured servants who had worked off their five-year indenture. At Vernonburg such “redemptioners” were given land and some tools by British colonial trustees to facilitate their independence. Established in 1742, Vernonburg was also a planned settlement that later evolved into a primarily ethnic British village.

Fort Frederica was a major British outpost located on Georgia’s St. Simon’s Island. One lesser known section of the settlement was called the “German Village” and was home to a small contingent of about 70 Germans. These Germans built most of the houses in Frederica. By 1747, however, all but two families had left Fort Frederica after the fort’s military regiment was removed. Presumably, the German Village was abandoned at the same time.

By 1750 German colonists, including Lutherans and Reformed Germans, were emigrating from Pennsylvania in a steady trickle via the Shenandoah River valley, to settle in the southeast. In 1753 the Moravians established themselves in an area of the Yadkin River valley called “Wachovia” or “Wachau” near present-day Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They established the town of Bethabara that year and then constructed Bethany and Salem nearby in the ensuing 13 years. The Moravians established three additional settlement in Wachovia between 1769-1772 (Bernheim 1872:159). All of these pacifist communities suffered during the American Revolution, but the Moravian element remains vibrant in this region today.

Londonderry was a settlement of several hundred Palatines that was established in the South Carolina Piedmont, near the French town of New Bordeaux, northeast of Augusta, Georgia. The town did not prosper and it is one of the least known German settlements.

How did these Germans, dispersed across the colonial frontier, define themselves in this foreign land? Apparently there were two major criteria that colonial Germans used to define themselves. The first was geography, or the location of their motherland. Émigrés came from Austria, Bohemia, Herrnhut, Hungary, Moravia, the Palatinate, Salzburg, Saxony, Wurttemberg, and Wurzberg. The majority of Germans to America immigrated from the area that is now southern Germany. The second, and perhaps most important way colonial Germans defined themselves was by their religious theology. Some of the principal divisions were: Lutheran, Reformed (such as Calvinists and Presbyterian), Moravian, Episcopal, and Anabaptists (Mennonites and Amish). Among these were further divisions according to nuances of orthodoxy. For example, among the Lutherans were a pietist sect represented in its strictest form by Pastor Johann Boltzius and the New Ebenezer settlers. Germans of various denominations, or even among their own denominations, did not always condone each other’s habits. For instance the Lutheran pietists at New Ebenezer viewed the Moravians, who were the model for Lutheranism, as “disruptive innovators” because of the Moravian’s religious practices and communal living (Jones 1969:4). In spite of differences of opinion among various religious sects, there seems to have been a generally prevalent, over-riding attitude of ethnic cooperation. Johan Tobler wrote back to his countrymen in Switzerland that, “…there are Germans everywhere who are glad to advise and help new arrivals until they get on their feet (Tobler 1753)

In spite of the isolation of the frontier and the lack of communication technology that we so heavily depend upon today, the colonial Germans were surprisingly adept at inter- and intra-colonial and global communication. This network involved many of the major “movers and shakers” of the period, in Europe and America. The principal facilitators of missionary communication were European Institutions, including the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge; the Society for Promulgating the Gospel, the Moravian home church in Herrnhut, and the Francke Institute. For example, the Francke Institute in Halle (in the former East German Republic), encouraged their Lutheran missionaries to write long and frequent letters about the condition of their settlement. In turn G. A. Francke, aided by Samuel Urlsperger, who was the head of Evangelical Lutheran missions in Augsburg, read, edited, and published these accounts in Europe and/or redistributed them to their other missions in colonial America and around the world. This redistribution served multiple purposes: it allowed the leaders of the outlying missions to discover news on a local, regional, and global level; it allowed them to draw moral support from other missions; it helped raise financial support from benefactors in Europe and other areas; it allowed missionary leaders to petition for specific needs such as medicine, funds, and minsters; it kept Institute leaders current on mission status; and it enabled them to send advice and encouragement in return letters.

German missionaries took the task of communication seriously. Ebenezer’s Pastor Boltzuis wrote letters directly to General Oglethorpe and other trustees of Georgia, to Samuel Urlsperger, to the SPCK, who helped sponsor the settlers, and to other influential Europeans (Loewald et al 1957:219). Boltzius also maintained a diary at New Ebenezer throughout his life, sending entries back to the Francke Institute. These entries constitute 18 published volumes today, and offer a wealth of data to historical archaeologists about everything from who sinned to how much rain fell on a particular day. Frederica’s pastor Driessler also wrote letters to the Francke Institute, many a thousand lines long (Jones 1996:7). Driessler and Boltzius often wrote each other directly, as did Boltzius and Johannes Tobler of New Windsor. Written correspondence was also encouraged among the Moravians, whose missionaries kept detailed accounts of their work in the new World. The Moravian leaders Count Zinzendorf and August Gottlieb Spangenberg, who traveled between headquarters in Herrnhut, Europe and in Pennsylvania received communiques from the North Carolina missions and sent replies in return. The North Carolina Moravian records, written well into the nineteenth century, are published in a multi-volume series (Fries 1905, 1968).

German colonists were acculturated on one level but maintained their identity on another. Acculturation was rapid in practices dependent on survival, such as food and shelter, and much slower in matters such as religion and language. Numerous contemporary testimonials, accounts, and letters reveal that the New World was constantly compared to the old in terms of environment, botanical and animal specimens, weather, and geography. The limited and irregular shipment of supplies to the far-flung German settlements across the southern frontier, however, demanded that the settlers learn to use the natural resources available, no matter how foreign those resources might look or taste. Frederica’s Lutheran pastor Driessler wrote of brewing “small beer”, made by boiling a handful of roasted Indian corn in an iron pot with water, wood, sassafras, and molasses. English beer was too expensive and “as sour as vinegar” and the price of wine was “prohibitive” (Jones 1996:20). Driessler reported, “For lack of tea we have fetched cassina leaves in the forest…[for] cassina tea. My family has brewed Indian corn like coffee… (Jones 1996:21). But in true stoic, pietist Lutheran tradition Driessler admits that while, “Both [the tea and corn coffee] taste very bad, to be sure, yet we praise the Lord for not letting it harm us” (Jones 1996:21). Driessler reports that both, “The Germans and Englishmen eat raccoons and opossum meat like the Indians, but I can’t eat any of it because they look frightful like wild cats or half apes…” (Jones 1996:21). Frederica’s Germans also ate fish (though they were reportedly not as good as German fish), smoked mullet, raw oysters drizzled with orange juice, palmetto stalks, and sweet potatoes. They planted cabbage, greens, herbs, turnips, and watermelons, in addition to apple, orange and peach trees. The New Ebenezer Germans taught those at Frederica to “…boil Indian corn in water and afterwards put the dough on the fire” to make a bread (Jones 1996:21-22). Frequently the Frederica Germans survived on nothing but rice boiled in water with bear oil or lard, while awaiting word of provisions from England (Jones 1996:23).

In some ways, acculturation was encouraged by Germans. Johannes Tobler’s treatise encouraged other Germans not to “shy away from living among the English; they are, most of them, industrious people and good neighbors” (Tobler 1753). Interestingly, Tobler encouraged German settlement among the English rather than living among some Germans. Tobler told European Germans, “Whoever wants to come to America should not go to Pennsylvania. This place is good, to be sure, but it is a cold, wintry land so that the rivers [one and a half miles] wide freeze…Moreover, this province is as densely settled as Germany, and the land is expensive to buy…”(Tobler 1753). Obviously the intemperate weather and the price of land was viewed as a much larger problem than living among the English. The fact that Pennsylvania was heavily settled by Moravians also may have influenced the advice given by the Reformed Calvinist, Tobler. The relationship between the English and Germans could be seen in religion, as well. The Germans and English often shared minister. New Windsor lacked a minster, and made use of Reverend Zublin (or Zubly), who preached in both English and German to accommodate everyone in the area. Zublin’s father-in-law Tobler reported, “…many English people come here on Sunday, so that my living room…can hardly contain them” (Tobler 1753). Likewise, Orangeburg’s church record book was completed in German and English by two pastors, both named Giesendanner (Bernheim 1872:100-102).

The questions of acculturation and ethnicity are just two of the many fascinating subjects regarding German colonial sites in the southeast. Unfortunately, archaeology has been conducted on very few of these sites. This is one cause of the difficulty in determining German ethnic markers in the archaeological record. The only sites examined by archaeologists to date include: some of the Wachovia settlements in North Carolina; Dutch Fork, New Windsor, Purysburg, and Saxe-Gotha, South Carolina; and Irene, Old and New Ebenezer, Vernonburg, and Bethany, Georgia. Even this list is deceptive, as investigations conducted on some of the sites have been extremely limited in scope and often having consisted only of preliminary survey or reconnaissance data. The most intensive level investigations have been conducted at the following settlements: the Moravians at Wachovia’s Bethabara and Salem; the Swiss at New Windsor; the Lutheran Salzburgers at New Ebenezer; and the Swiss and Palatines at Vernonburg.

One marker of German ethnicity in the archaeological record may be found in ceramics. Jean Pierre Pury’s promotional treatise reported that in 1731, “There is not one potter in all the Province [of what is now South Carolina], and no earthenware but what comes from England, nor glass of any kind; so that a pot-house and a good glass house would succeed perfectly well, not only for Carolina but for all the other colonies in America” (Pury 1731). Pury’s wish was soon granted. A locally made coarse earthenware has been excavated at New Ebenezer from contexts as early as the 1740s. This pottery consists of a buff colored paste and either has no exterior treatment, or has a slip which is most often a yellow or yellowish green. Vessel forms include large cream pans, saucers, and jars. The New Ebenezer potter, George Gnann, was probably responsible for making some of the later vessels, but the maker of the earlier ware has not been identified. Archaeologists have recovered significant amounts of this drab coarse earthenware pottery from within a 10 mile radius of New Ebenezer but it is less common beyond that. Morphologically, the Ebenezer coarse earthenware resembles the Moravian slipware that was being manufactured in North Carolina during this period. The latter tended to be much more colorful and ornate than the plain, austere wares influenced by the pietistic Lutherans. Vessel forms were similar in some cases, however, such as the cream pans and plates.

Another potential marker of German ethnicity may involve architecture. The Moravians in Bethabara, North Carolina initially constructed hastily built log cabins. The following year, in 1754, they constructed the sleeping hall, a clapboard structure which was converted into a barn within a few years. They erected the dwelling house for strangers, or non-Moravian visitors, that same year built of log construction with a gabled end-chimney and a gabled roof (Idol et al 1996:2). Moravian drawings and diary accounts offer conflicting information as to what variation of the Alpine-Alemannic architecture was used at Bethabara. Diary accounts support a hewn-beamed and chinked structure. Drawings indicate that the structure would have had solid plank walls held at the corners by grooves in the corner posts (Idol et al 1996:3). Moravian architecture in North Carolina is marked by extensive use of stone in cellar construction, an attribute not seen in any of the German settlements in the coastal plain where stone is scarce. Orangeburg Germans also used wood and clay construction in the building of their original church, which fell into ruins by the 1770s (Bernheim 1872:124). In comparison, limited excavation at New Ebenezer has uncovered architectural elements that suggest in-ground posts structures with mud and stick chimneys (Smith 1986; Elliott 1990). The only surviving colonial house in Ebenezer, a 1750s timber frame and clapboard construction with sills resting on wooden piers. This house, however, has been relocated several times, so the foundation construction is altered. The house site excavated at New Windsor indicates post-in-ground architecture and limited use of brick (Crass et al 1997). A scarcity of brick is also a hallmark of New Ebenezer, except in the case of their main brick church, which was completed in 1769.

German ethnicity may be found in the reed stemmed, molded tobacco pipes made by the Moravians in the Wachovia settlements. These pipes are most commonly associated with potter Gottfried Aust, who was Bethabara’s potter from 1755. Similar pipes have been recovered from other German settlements in Pennsylvannia (Walker 1975:107). Only one example was excavated from New Ebenezer. While Moravian pottery also was popular with non-Germans, it may be that these specific pipes can still serve as ethnic German markers. This would be especially true if they are found to have been more popular among Germans than other groups.

A fourth indicator of German ethnicity may possibly involve medicines. Contemporary and modern historians have admitted that the Moravians were “ahead of their time in pharmacology and were quick to have their own apothecary and medicinal herb garden” (Moravian Museum at Bethlehem 1999). The colonists at New Ebenezer also had “…quite well prepared medicines from England and Halle”. In addition to these, they experimented with various herbs and medicines which they used among themselves and sold to other settlements. Their interest in remedies was apparent when Pastor Boltzius’ remarked that he wished an old Indian woman had waited to show him the plant of the root she brought him to cure his wife. Boltzius goes on to say that “Undoubtedly there are many such plants in these woods. My desire to collect some of these for our and our friends’ benefit is quite great” (Tresp 1963:23). The affinity towards understanding and producing medicines held by the Moravians and the New Ebenezer colonists may have been associated with their German background. Such proclivities may serve as ethnic markers, located in the archaeological record in the form of medicine bottles, pharmaceutical preparation aids such as mortars and pestles or other equipment, and ethnobotanical remains.

Obviously, German ethnic markers in the southeastern archaeological record are scant, at best. This is due to the lack of archaeological investigation on such sites and the rapid rate of acculturation during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Acculturation appears to have happened swiftly by the late 18^th century, based on several indicators. The 1790 census records 2,300 people in South Carolina and 7,400 people in North Carolina claiming German nationality (U.S. Population Census 1790). (Statistics are unavailable for Georgia.) These totals reflect less than one percent of South Carolina’s population and just under two percent of the total population in North Carolina. Such low percentages (compared to approximately 50 percent during the second quarter of the 18^th century) suggest that second and third generation German immigrants no longer called themselves German.

Language is another indicator of acculturation. Before 1800 the inhabitants of the Dutch Fork area of South Carolina spoke German, but by 1824 none of the school children were able to converse in that language (Mayer 1982:6). By 1825 the congregation of New Ebenezer was worshiping in English (Jones 1967:98). This appears to have been a natural evolution, since English had been taught regularly to the school children of New Ebenezer during the 18^th century. The older generation of many communities was not as quick to abandon its heritage. As late as 1891, a German Dutch Fork resident reported that gatherings of old ladies brought out the “mother tongue” in earnest.

The elderly German residents maintained their ethnicity through their clothing, as well. Historical accounts describe old German men in the Dutch fork area who, “..tottered about the yard in their tight knee breeches giving quite a bow-legged appearance to their nether limbs; and while displaying bright silver buckles on their shoes and broad brimmed hats…would revel in an overflow of German, -singing songs and telling anecdotes..” (Mayer 1982:6-7).

Having suggested that ceramics, architecture, tobacco pipes, and medicine paraphernalia may be markers of German ethnicity in the archaeological record, we must confess now that we are grasping at straws! Many factors conspire against identifying such ethnic markers. The lack of extensive archaeological investigation on German colonial sites is one over-riding factor. Another is the very fact that most of the Germans strove for rapid acculturation in the colonies, as indicated by primary historical documents. A third, and very strong factor against locating ethnicity on these sites is the nature of the sites themselves. At New Ebenezer, Germans owned both a house in town and a 50 acre farmstead outside of town. Excavations on the town lots and farmsteads–often on ones owned by the same people–reveal two drastically different material culture patterns (Elliott and Elliott 1992). One might assume incorrectly that the local pottery of the farmstead and lack of fancy tablewares was a product of German ethnicity, rather than a truer reflection of geography and site function. Likewise, intra-site patterning on these sites does not necessarily reflect ethnicity, as the British authorities dictated the layout of towns such as New Ebenezer and Vernonburg, even stating where on each lot the residence was to be built. German settlement of colonial sites involved a complex interplay of economic, geographic, political, military, and trade factors. As a result, no one “smoking gun” of German ethnicity exists, to date. We have not given up, however, and feel that when these factors are considered along with a much more intensive level of archaeological excavation on these sites, a clearer picture of German ethnicity will begin to emerge.

References Cited

Bernheim, G.D.

1872 History of the German Settlements and the Lutheran Church in North and South Carolina. The Lutheran Book Store, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Crass, David C., Tammy Forehand, Bruce Penner, Chris Gillam

1997 Excavations at New Windsor Township, South Carolina. Savannah River Archaeological Research Heritage Series 3. Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia.

Elliott, Daniel T., and Rita F. Elliott

1990 Seasons in the Sun: 1989 and 1990 Excavations at New Ebenezer. LAMAR Institute, Watkinsville, Georgia.

1992 “City House, Country House: A Comparison of Salzburger Material Culture in Colonial Georgia”. Annual meeting of the Society of Historical Archaeology, Kingston, Jamaica.

Elliott, Rita Folse and Daniel T. Elliott

1994 Vernonburg Village, An Archaeological Study. LAMAR Institute, Watkinsville, Georgia. Prepared for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Atlanta, Georgia.

Fries, Adelaide L.

1905 The Moravians in Georgia, 1735-1740. Edwards and Broughton, Raleigh, North Carolina.

1968 Records of the Moravians in North Carolina (ed., reprinted). State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Henry, James

1859 Sketches of Moravian Life and Character. J.B. Lippincott, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Idol, Bruce S., and Stephen T. Trage, and Roger W. Kirchen

1996 Report on Excavation at the Bethabara 1754 Sleeping Hall Site, Forsyth County, North Carolina. Wake Forest University Laboratories, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Jones, George F.

1967 “Colonial Georgia’s Second Language”, reprinted from The Georgia Review, Vol. XXI, No. 1, Spring 1967, The Georgia Salzburger Society, Rincon, Georgia.

1969 “The Secret Diary of Pastor Johann Martin Boltzius”, The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Vol. LIII, No. 1, March, Savannah.

1992 The Georgia Dutch; From the Rhine and Danube to the Savannah, 1733-1783. University of Georgia Press, Athens.

1996 The Germans of Frederica. The National Park Service. Fort Frederica Association, St. Simons Island, Georgia.

Loewald, Klaus G., Beverly Starika, and Paul S. Taylor

1957 “Johann Martin Bolzius Answers a Questionnaire on Carolina and Georgia” in The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. XIV, No. 2, Williamsburg, Virginia.

Mayer, O.B.

1982 The Dutch Fork. (Reprint) Dutch Fork Press, Columbia, South Carolina.

Meriwether, Robert L.

1940 The Expansion of South Carolina, 1729-1765. Southern Publishers Inc., Kingsport, Tennessee.

Moltmann, Günter (ed)

1982 “300 Years of German Emigration to North America” pp. 8-15 in Germans to America: 300 Years of Immigration 1683-1983. Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations, Stuttgart, Federal Republic of Germany.

Moravian Museum of Bethlehem

1999 “Historic Sites”. 21 Oct. 1999, <http://www.moravianmuseum.org/histori.htm>.

Pury, Jean Pierre

1731 “A Description of the Province of South Carolina”. 29 Oct. 1999 <http://www.netside.com/~genealogy/purry.htm>.

Reiemensperger, Hans Jacob

1740 True and Fully Dependable Good News From the English Royal Province Carolina. 29 Oct. 1999 <http://www.netside.com/~genealogy/remsb.htm>.

Smith, Marvin T., compiler

1986 Archaeological Testing of Sixteen Sites in the Fort Howard Development Tract. Garrow and Associates, Atlanta. Submitted to Law Environmental, Kennesaw, Georgia.

Tobler, Johann

1753 “A Description of Carolina.” Alter und vervbesserter Schreib-Calender. 29 Oct. 1999 <http://www.netside.com/~genealogy/toblr.htm>.

Tresp, Lothar

1963 “Pastor Bolzius Reports”pp.20-23 in The American-German Review, April-May, Vol. XXIX, No 4, National Carl Schurz Association, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

U.S. Population Census

1790 State Level Census Data. Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. Historical Demographic, Economic, and Social Data: U.S., 1790-1970. Anne Arbor, Michigan. 9 September 1999 <http://www.fisher.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/censusbin/census/cen.pl.>

Walker, Iain C.

1975 “The American Stub-stemmed Clay Tobacco-Pipe: A Survey of Its Origins, Manufacture, and Distribution” pp.97-128 in The Conference on Historic Site Archaeology Papers 1974, Vol. 9, The Institute of Archeology and Anthropology, Columbia, South Carolina.

Maxeys Dump: An Archaeological Wonderland

In Late 1977, I took a solo drive in my hand-me-down Ford on an overcast Sunday evening from Greensboro to Maxeys, Georgia. Nature called and I stopped to listen along the dirt and gravel road at a kudzu jungle in thick piney woods. After listening to the message, I realized I was without any sort of cleaning apparatus. Through the dead kudzu, I spied a glint of white, only a few yards distant. Waddling to the spot, I finished my job–so much relieved. Then, my eyes told my brain what I had done. I had cleaned myself with the newly pressed sleeve of a 19th century man’s dress shirt. It started to drizzle as I glanced around at the pile of trash from whence I had procured the much needed rag. It was a dump-truck load of stuff, rising some 4 feet above the plain. Jars, books, clothes, jagged broken glass, plates, hats, and bric a brac galore. It continued to drizzle and darkness descended. I opened my trunk and filled it to the brim. I made a final glance around and realized that I had only scratched the surface of this veritable goldmine. Driving away, I vowed to return.

I made my way speedily back to the fieldhouse next to the funeral home, where I was the house mother, and I began unloading boxes from my trunk into the dining room. My fellow archaeologists, dumpster diving buddies, and curiosity collectors gazed in amazement. Where from this find, they inquired. Eyes were wide as I distributed my newfound wealth. Tomorrow, I will take you tomorrow.

The next afternoon, tired from a day of digging, we piled into Paul’s baby blue econoline van and drove back to the dump. Crunching glass and giggles, we filled the van to capacity with all sorts of tattered and slighly damp treasures. There were books and letters and tiny shiny things. A woven coverlet fragment for Leslie, gifts for the whole fieldhouse family. Joel grabbed stacks of letters and threw them in his duffle bag. Paul and I did the same. It was a sensation. And we made a few more trips in the days following as the pile dwindled and the mildew set in.

Months later, Jerald and Lisa returned to the dump on another pilgrimage, only to find another fresh pile. Dresses and hats from bygone days, enough loot to fill Jerald and Lisa’s haunted house on Wildcat Creek. It became the stuff of legends.

Decades passed, then I learned from Lisa, that the old Durham place, the source of the dumped material, had been robbed, around the time of my initial discovery in 1777. Was this the dump for the stolen items that could not be easily fenced?

The Maxeys’ Dump was a most exciting find. It was a living archaeological site that several presently active archaeologists were immersed in. We observed the deposition, the plunder, and the decay. Or at least part of the decay, as I have not returned to visit the site in over 25 years….

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Relevant References

Calhoun, Charles H., Sr., 1965. “Dr. Lindsey Durham, A Brief Biography.” and “The Durham Doctors, Biographical Sketches.” Privately published booklet, 53 pp.

Gay, M., 1892. Life in Dixie During the War, edited by J.H. Segars, Reprinted by Mercer University Press, Macon [See pages 303-304 for Durham discussion].

Lavender, Billy, compiler, 2005. A Pioneer Church in the Oconee Territory. A Historical Synopsis of Antioch Christian Chjurch. I-Universe. 436 pp. ISBN: 9780595797257

http://www.iuniverse.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000082716

Crowfield Update

Crowfield and Broomhall were two 18th century Goose Creek rice plantations in Berkeley County, South Carolina. In 1987 Garrow & Associates, Inc., under my direction, conducted archaeological survey of both plantations for Westvaco. The work was underfunded and fast paced. Concurrent work at Broomhall, directed by Steven Byrne was never fully documented. After I completed the survey report, we were contracted to prepare a National Register of Historic Places nomination for Crowfield Plantation. This document was completed and submitted to Westvaco, who promptly filed it away and it was not submitted. That ended the Garrow & associates chapter of Crowfield and Broomhall research. Major portions of these two important and unique 18th century treasures were subsequently trashed by the development project.

The mantle was taken up by several other researchers, including: Robert S. Webb Associates,  the Chicora Foundation, and Dargan Associates (landscape architects). Several more studies ensued. I summarized the work done in a short LAMAR Institute report, which is available online at the LAMAR Institute’s webpage:

http://shapiro.anthro.uga.edu/Lamar/PDFfiles/Publication%2099.pdf

The reports by Robert S. Webb Associates were produced in very limited quantity, despite their substance and signficiant findings. The Chicora reports on Crowfield and Broomhall plantations are OUT OF PRINT, except for one short study of the gardens at Crowfield, which I have uploaded here as a .pdf file and it is also available at this website:

crowfieldlandscape_chicora102

crowfieldlandscape_chicora1021

The other reports by Chicora Foundation are available through Interlibrary Loan.

Ms. Barbara Orsolits, M.H.P. , whom I met in early 2008, created this webpage about Crowfield, as part of a larger study of historical landscape archaeology in the South Carolina low country:

http://www.historiclandscape.org/Crowfield%20Overview.htm

Advances on the Internet have provided easy access to additional information on Crowfield, Broomhall, and the Goose Creek plantations. For example, Leiding’s 1921 Historic Houses of South Carolina is available from Books.google.com as a .pdf. It includes a discussion of Crowfield.

historic_houses_of_south_carolina

And this information about Crowfield is from an 1845 publication (Southern and Western Magazine and Review, by William Gilmore Simms, pages 283-284):

N. B. A few errors, attributable to hurried preparation for the press, occurred chiefly in the notes to our first number. In note on page 210, paragraph 7, line 1st., for “Isaac Marion, his brother, settled in Georgetown, at least as early as 1742,” read “Isaac Marion, the General’s eldest brother, married and settled in Georgetown, at least as early as 1742.” In note on p. 217, line 2d., for “Mrs. Sarah Cutler, of New-York,” read “Mrs. Sarah Cutler, of Massachusetts.” In note on p. 215, par. 2d. line, in relation to the present ownership of Crowfield, for “but now the property of Mrs. Middleton Smith,” read “but now the property of Henry A. Middleton, Esq ” We were led into this error by confounding Crowfield with Bloomfield, the adjoining plantation of Mrs. Middleton Smith. In line 34 of same note, for “Dr. Geddings’ map of Crowfield,” read “Dr. Geddings’ map of ‘The Elms.’” Crowfield was originally the property of the Hon. Arthui Middleton,* who conveyed it Nov., 11,1729, to Wm. Middleton, who, it is said, had a country-seat of the same name in England. During the revolutionary war, he sold it to Rawlins Lowndes, Provost Marshal under the colonial government, and President of the State of South-Carolina after the Declaration of Independence. After six years’ possession, Rawlins Lowndes, and Sarah, his wife, on the 16th March, 1784, conveyed it to John Middleton, whose heirs sold it to the present proprietor. It is said to be a place of great beauty, presenting numerous remains of the great labour and lavish expenditure of money, which the wealthy colonial planter bestowed on his villa or country-seat, when the law of primogeniture gave us a landed aristocracy and kind of hereditary nobility. It is no longer in cultivation ; but it is well worth the visit of the antiquarian, and of all who delight to recal the memories of the past,—and especially the grandeur and magnificence of colonial times. R. Y.

* We find on record an indenture of lease and release, dated November 10 and 11,,1729, between the Hon. Arthur Middleton, of Berkley county, and William Middleton, of the same county, by which deed the former conveyed to the latter two tracts of land in the Parish of St. James’, Goose Creek—the one containing one thousand four hundred and forty acres, (Crowfield,) bounded north and northwest on lands of Matthew Beard and Andrew Allen, south on lands of Benjamin Marion, west on lands of Mr. De La Plain, deceased, east and south-east on lands of Thomas Moore and Benjamin Gibbs: the other containing 103 acres in said parish, bounded north-west on land of Mr. De La Plain, deceased, northeast and south-east on land of John Gibbs, and south on land of Francis Guerrin. The Will of Arthur Middleton, of Berkley county, is dated June 7,1734, and proved Dec. 7, 1737, before William Bull, Governor. It mentions his wife Sarah, and his sons William, Henry and Thomas,—and devises, inter alia., half of his lot No. 199, in Charlestown, to his son William, to be divided lengthways, and the other half to his son Henry; and his brick tenement and part of his lot, bought from Andrew Allen, to his wife. The witnesses to the Will were Tim Mellichamp, Jane Mellichamp and Thomas Corbett.

 

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Interest in the history of the Broomhall plantation continues, as noted in a recent Charleston Post and Courier news story:

Site of former Broom Hall plantation commemorated

Staff report, Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C.

Friday, December 19, 2008

 

Crowfield Plantation Community Service Association manager Missey Lewis (left) stands with Goose Creek Mayor Michael Heitzler in front of the new historical marker outside the Bloomfield subdivision.

The land that became Broom Hall was granted to Edward Middleton in 1678 and later conveyed to Benjamin and Jane Gibbs. When Benjamin died, the land was left to Jane, who later married Peter Taylor, who developed the estate until the mid-18th century. The property was later owned by the Smith family and their descendants, who rented sections to freedmen after the Civil War. The West Virginia Pulp and Paper Co. used the land to harvest pine trees in the 20th century with the property finally being developed residentially after 1980.

A historical marker noting the site of the former Broom Hall plantation was erected in Crowfield Plantation.

The marker can be seen in the small park off Westview Boulevard near the Bloomfield neighborhood.

“The Crowfield Plantation Community Service Association is proud to share in this great endeavor with (Goose Creek) Mayor (Michael) Heitzler in educating and recognizing the historical value of our great city,” association manager Missey Lewis said.

http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/dec/19/site_former_broom_hall_plantation_commem65512/

 And a 1994 article from the New York Times:

A Historical Colonial Garden Is Recovered From the Rough

On a recent misty morning here in the Carolina low country, golfers teeing off at the 14th hole of the Crowfield Golf and Country Club were mindful that their golf balls could stray into an archeological dig.http://crowfieldhoa.com/cpcsa-historical.html

A team of garden archeologists, wielding root clippers, trowels, and whisk brooms between the 14th and 17th fairways, was investigating what has come to light as the earliest picturesque, or natural, landscape garden in America. Twelve miles north of Charleston, the 23-acre garden was created at Crowfield Plantation by William Middleton in 1730. The land, including the golf course, is owned by the Westvaco Corporation, the paper packaging and chemical company.

“Crowfield is clearly the oldest ornamental landscape garden we know of in this country,” said Jonathan H. Poston of the Historic Charleston Foundation, “and though now a ruin, its above-ground features are relatively intact.”

Crowfield’s extensive ponds and canals predate by 10 years the famous green, stepped terraces and butterfly lakes of Middleton Place, the nearby garden that belonged to William Middleton’s younger brother, Henry. William Middleton eventually inherited the family’s property in England and returned there in 1754.

Thereafter, Crowfield was sold to a succession of mostly absentee landlords. Crowfield’s survival, even overgrown, was partly due in this century to its inaccessibility along back logging roads cloaked by 2,850 acres of swampy timberland that Westvaco bought in 1930.

Westvaco eventually decided to build a planned community for an estimated 15,000 people around Crowfield. For the future homeowners to qualify for Federal Housing Administration financing, Westvaco was required in 1986 by the National Historic Preservation Act to make an archaeological survey of the site.

Westvaco then proposed saving 15 acres of the historic garden as the centerpiece of the golf course. Several holes on the course, which opened in December 1990, act as a natural buffer between the community and the garden. (This arrangement may be a trend; the Desert de Reiz, a 1770’s garden outside Paris, has also been preserved within a new golf course.)

The existence of a 1730 American garden in this style shows that the wealthy English in the Charleston area were in the mainstream of the British fashion in gardens, and without the time lag usually associated with colonial culture. And the style of that day was turning toward the natural over the formal and developed into the English-style landscape. (The earliest documented formal colonial garden is at Bacon’s Castle in Virginia, dating to 1680.)

Although it is not known who designed Crowfield, English landscape designers were advertising in Charleston newspapers at that time, and colonists had access to books like Stephen Switzer’s 1718 “Ichnographia Rustica” and John James’s 1712 “Theory and Practice of Gardening.”

William Middleton was 19 years old in 1729 when his father gave him the 1,500-acre plantation that was named for Crowfield Hall, the family’s English seat in Suffolk. The Middletons, who were prominent in colonial government, were part of the Charleston community that had originally been sugar planters in Barbados in the 17th century. Born in the American colony, William cultivated the rice that was called Carolina gold because of the high rate of return that made the low country planters so wealthy.

In May 1743, on a visit to Crowfield, Eliza Lucas, a young colonist who pursued an interest in local agriculture, described the garden at its height in a letter to a London friend. She wrote of the plantings, the perspectives, and the “large fish ponds properly disposed which form a fine prospect of water from the house.” This letter, the only reliable documentation of the way the garden appeared at the time, has been crucial to the restoration project.

Massive oaks draped in Spanish moss still line the old avenue to the ruins of the plantation house. The moon pond at the entrance, 200 feet in diameter, lies just before the house. The house was abandoned in the early 1800’s, and it has succumbed over the years to fire and earthquake, as well as vandalism to its handsome Flemish-bond brick work.

Some old magnolia trees are positioned behind the house near the section of the bowling green that has survived the golf course; in all, about eight acres of the original gardens were lost to development, the archaeologists’ report said. And in the middle of the wilderness area, which may have had symmetrical plantings, a 15-foot-high hill, or viewing mount, indicates that the garden’s features like the ponds and the terraces were meant to be surveyed from above. All of these features are more visible now, after Hurricane Hugo felled many trees in September 1989.

The “fish ponds” that terminate the view are more precisely a central rectangular lake, framed on three sides by long canals. “There are few, if any other, gardens in America with authentic mounts or canals,” said Rudy J. Favretti, a consultant on historic landscapes from Storrs, Conn. It is conceivable that the ornamental lake and canals were also part of a system to irrigate the rice fields.

In particular, Crowfield’s plan, which included a Roman temple, resembles such English landscapes of the late 1720’s as the water garden at Studley Royal in Yorkshire or the bowling green and serpentine walks at Claremont in Surrey.

In the most recent stage of garden archeology, conducted in April by Michael Trinkley of the Chicora Foundation, a non-profit heritage preservation organization, Westvaco acted with the advice of its consultants, Hugh and Mary Palmer Dargen, Charleston landscape architects who specialize in historic preservation.

Although the archeologists uncovered two brick foundations of garden structures, perhaps summer houses, and such artifacts commensurate with wealth as fragments of Chinese porcelain and glass goblets, the real work, as Mr. Trinkely saw it, “was to try to determine pathways and to study soil stains and topographical features that will guide in the garden’s rehabilitation and restoration.”

During this dig, the team analyzed earth berms that elevated the garden and separated it from the cultivated fields. Team members were also able to determine areas where shallow top soil indicated grassy areas rather than deeply rooted flower beds.

Current plans call for the garden to be turned over to the homeowners’ association when the houses encircling the golf course are completed. But Charles Duell, a Middleton descendant and president of Middleton Place Foundation, said he hoped that Westvaco would “donate a conservation easement on the property” to a consortium of preservation groups. This group could then control further archeological research and restoration. So far, the site has been open only to researchers.

Although Crowfield is now only a beautiful ruin with classic water features, it is evidence of how the first settlers transported high style to the New World. “It is the Mona Lisa of early American landscapes,” Mr. Poston Said.

The New York Times, Thursday, June 23, 1994

 

Don’t Mess with my Tutu Village

The Tutu Archaeological Village Site: A Case Study in Human Adaptation

Book by Elizabeth Righter, editor; Routledge, 2002. 379 pgs. Price around $260 US.

The first prehistoric village ever excavated in the Virgin Islands was located in Tutu, St. Thomas. Archaeologists conducted excavations in the early 1990s prior to the construction of a K-Mart store. Rita Elliott and me (Daniel Thornton Elliott, esquire) were part of the crew for about two weeks.  Elizabeth Righter assembled a fine book detailing the excavation and its findings. Unfortunately we cannot afford the book. For a preview, visit:  http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108350512

And this work at Tutu resulted in spin-off research, including this one:

http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-04052004-100841/unrestricted/SRRThesis.pdf

Two views of Tutu:

Ossabaw Crematorium

Burial Site Sheds Light on Prehistoric Indian Culture

Atlanta, Ga. (12/17/2008)

The recent excavation of a prehistoric American Indian burial site on Ossabaw Island revealed cremated remains, an unexpected find that offers a glimpse into ancient Indian culture along Georgia’s coast.

State archaeologist David Crass of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said prehistoric cremations were rare, particularly during the early time in which preliminary evidence suggests this one occurred, possibly 1000 B.C. to A.D. 350.  [Elliott's comment:  actually, C-14 dating results, which were obtained shortly after this press release was written place the age of this pit in the Mississippian period, well after the Woodland period estimated age.]  The remains also mark the first cremation uncovered on Ossabaw, a state-owned Heritage Preserve about 20 miles south of Savannah.

“This interment broadens our knowledge about … the kinds of belief (involving) death within the Woodland Period,” Crass said. “This is not something we have seen before on Ossabaw Island. Similar cremations on St. Catherine’s Island may point to this practice being more widespread than we have believed up to now.”

Crass said during this time American Indians in Georgia moved to the coast in the winter for shellfish, then inland in the spring for deer hunting and into uplands in the fall for gathering nuts. “This site may have been a winter season camp,” he said.

Erosion from natural causes exposed the burial on an Ossabaw bluff earlier this year. Scientists from the DNR Office of the State Archaeologist, the non-profit Lamar Institute and the Georgia Council on American Indian Concerns worked under the council’s direction to excavate the roughly 6- by 6-foot pit. As required by state law, Crass informed the council about the situation and organized the excavation at the group’s request.

The work on Georgia’s third-largest barrier island revealed a cremation pit that had been lined with wood and oyster shells. The body had been placed on top of the wood and the contents of the pit burned. The human remains recovered were primarily from extremities, indicating that the deceased had been disinterred after cremation, possibly to be reburied elsewhere.

The charcoal will be submitted for carbon 14 dating, but preliminary analysis of the pottery recovered from the pit suggests the cremation may date to the Refuge-Deptford Phases in the Woodland Period, c.a. 1000 B.C. to A.D. 350. A ground-penetrating radar survey showed many prehistoric American Indian features in the general area, Crass said. The bluff apparently had long been a focal point of prehistoric Indian life.

After analysis, the remains will be reinterred in a secure location under the auspices of the Council on American Indian Concerns. Crass expects the carbon 14 dating results and details on the radar survey by early next year.

Human history runs deep on Ossabaw. Shell mounds and other artifacts here date to 2000 B.C. More than 230 archaeological sites have been recorded. Spanish records indicate the island probably had an early Guale Indian village, according to The New Georgia Encyclopedia. But long before the first European contact on Ossabaw, possibly through the Spanish in 1568, small pox and other diseases unwittingly introduced by the Spanish in Mexico and South America had swept north, devastating populations of native Americans.

Crass said it’s not known what Indians were on the island when the cremation pit was used. But because of its discovery thousands of years later, more will be learned.

Access to Ossabaw is limited to approved research projects and hunts managed by the DNR’s Georgia Wildlife Resources Division. Details at www.georgiawildlife.com. Information on visiting the island for research and educational purposes is also available from The Ossabaw Island Foundation’s Jim Bitler, jim@ossabawisland.org.

The Wildlife Resources Division works to protect, conserve, manage and improve Georgia’s wildlife and freshwater fishery resources. The division’s mission also includes managing and conserving protected wildlife and plants, administering and conducting the mandatory hunter safety program, regulating the possession and sale of wild animals, and administering and enforcing the Georgia Boat Safety Act.

The Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia DNR serves as Georgia’s state historic preservation office. The Historic Preservation Division’s mission is to promote the preservation and use of historic places for a better Georgia. Programs include archaeology protection and education, environmental review, grants, historic resource surveys, tax incentives, the National Register of Historic Places, community planning and technical assistance. For more information, call (404) 656-2840 or visit www.gashpo.org.

###

Photo available from Helen Talley-McRae (helen.talley-mcrae@dnr.state.ga.us) or Rick Lavender (rick.lavender@gadnr.org). Caption information: DNR staff archaeologist Jenn Bedell and Council on American Indian Concerns archaeologist Tom Gresham examine artifacts from the cremation excavation on Ossabaw. (Credit: Ga. DNR)

DNR RSS news feeds: www.gadnr.org.

Click here for Russ Bynum’s (AP) newstory on our recent excavation on Ossabaw Island, which contains more recent date information:

http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/national/story/4169815/

Savannah’s Colonial Park Cemetery & GPR

On October 15 and 16, we (Coastal Heritage Society and LAMAR Institute archaeologists and volunteers–the Morris family from Ogden, Utah, conducted a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey of a portion of the Colonial Park cemetery in Savannah. We examined the southeastern corner in search of a British Revolutionary War fortification ditch. We also mapped in many unmarked human graves and crypts. The results will be published very soon. A good time was had by all. A few pictures of the project follow.

RAMAC X3M monitor display

The work was tedious but fruitful.

GPR Survey of Colonial Park Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia.

GPR Survey begins.

GPR Survey in Progress, Colonial Park Cemetery, Savannah.

Stay tuned for the answer…

H & H

Long live the H & H Restaurant, Macon, Georgia!

Drink More Tea!

Rest in Piece, Mamma Hill.

http://mamalouise.com/menu

Superdan Does Saipan!

Bodacious Ballerina at Banzai Bluff

Rita and I conducted a Ground Penetrating Radar demonstration class in Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands last week. A good time was had by all! Eighteen people attended the class, including representatives of the CNMI Historic Preservation Office, other CNMI agencies, utilities, and a private consulting firm. Special thanks to Roy Sablan, Jr. and his staff for making our stay very pleasant. We enjoyed meeting and sharing with everyone. Highlights included field surveys at three historic site locations on the island: a suspected Carolinian cemetery, the old Japanese Jail, and the old Japanese Hospital. In addition, we took our GPR equipment to Kalabera Cave on Saturday (our day off!) and did a survey of two areas. We were assisted by archaeologists Marilyn Swift, Randy Harper, and Mike Fleming, all of whom (Swift and Harper Archaeological Resource Consultants) are currently involved in an Environmental Assessment of the cave and its surroundings.

This represents the first research/educational effort by the LAMAR Institute in the Pacific arena. A few photos of the project are shown below.

GPR Class Group Photo, Old Japanese Jail, Saipan, September, 2008.

GPR Survey in Kalabera CaveGPR Survey in Kalabera Cave.

Class in Session

Prevost and Elliott at Sheldon Church

Sheldon Church Ruins, October 10, 2006

Graffiti on Sheldon Church Wall, 1826

October 10, 2006–Beaufort County, South Carolina

Sir Christopher Prevost and Daniel Elliott escorted their ladies to Sheldon Church on this fine day. A few images of this outing are shown below.

Lady Dolores Prevost and Sir Christopher Prevost

Pillars of Doom

Bonaventure Cemetery GPR Demonstration 2007

Betsy Shirk, Michael Shirk & Rita Folse Elliott

GPR Capability

The LAMAR Institute, Inc.

P.O. Box 2992

Savannah, Georgia 31402

Introduction

The LAMAR Institute is a 501(c) (3) organization whose mission is to conduct archaeological and historical research and educate the public about archaeology and history. The focus of the organization is on the Southeastern U.S. In 2001, the organization added Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey to its list of offered archaeological services. GPR survey is useful for creating 3-D subsurface maps of various cultural features, such as cemeteries and human graves, cellars, fortification ditches, and buried debris fields.

Field Methods

The LAMAR Institute GPR Team uses a RAMAC X3M Ground Penetrating Radar system (developed by Mala GeoScience). Shielded 500 MHz and 800 MHz antennae are used. Areas are typically surveyed with parallel radargrams spaced at 50 cm intervals. The GroundVision software program is used for data collection. Once it is collected, GPR field data is post-processed using Easy3D and GPR-Slice software. The field survey is accomplished by a two-person team.

Laboratory Analysis and Reporting

The GPR survey includes post-processing of the data and completion of a GPR Survey report. A series of GPR plan maps and side (profile views) are generated and included in the report. These maps will be annotated to areas of interest, which will be addressed in the report narrative. Examples of The LAMAR Institute’s GPR Survey reports are found on our website at http://lamarinstitute.org/reports.htm. Relevant GPR project reports found on this website include Report Numbers 61, 64, 73, 76, 88, and 102.

Staff and Corporate Qualifications

Mr. Daniel T. Elliott serves as top GPR specialist at the LAMAR Institute. Mr. Elliott has more than 32 years experience in professional archaeology in Georgia. He has served as Principal Investigator on dozens of archaeological projects in the Southeastern U.S. both large and small. He is recognized as a professional field archaeologist by the Register of Professional Archaeologists (RPA) and is a member in good standing (and past President of) the Georgia Council of Professional Archaeologists (GCPA). Mr. Elliott received his M.A. degree in 1980 in Anthropology from the University of Georgia and has since been employed by federal, state, and private corporations as an archaeologist. He currently serves as President of The LAMAR Institute, which is a non-profit organization in Georgia whose mission is to conduct archaeological research and promote education about archaeology and history in the Southeastern U.S. Mr. Elliott is trained and has more than seven years experience in the use of Ground Penetrating Radar on archaeological sites in Georgia and South Carolina.

Mr. Elliott has participated in GPR field training exercises in Denver, Colorado, Alexandria, Louisiana, Fort Frederica National Monument, Glynn County, Georgia and Athens,Georgia. These include classes taught by Dr. Larry Conyers and Dr. Dean Goodman. Both of these gentlemen are distinguished experts in the field of GPR survey and analysis, particularly in its application to archaeological sites. Mr. Elliott also has extensive experience in documenting and delineating historic and prehistoric sites in the Southeastern U.S. by using more traditional research methods.

A list of the LAMAR Institute’s past GPR projects include:

Georgia

• New Ebenezer and Jerusalem Cemetery, Effingham County
• Horton House and DuBignon Cemetery, Jekyll Island, Glynn County
• Sunbury, Sunbury Cemetery, and Fort Morris, Liberty County
• Hope VI Development, Waldburg Street Site, Savannah, Chatham County,
• Sansavilla Bluff, Wayne County
• Woodbine Mound and historic cemetery, Camden County
• North End Plantation, Ossabaw Island, Chatham County
• Jones Cemetery, Greenwood Plantation, Thomas County
• Bethel-Gould Cemetery, Chatham County
• Gwinnett-Bosomworth Plantation, Liberty County
• Fort St. Andrews, Camden County
• Bullshead Bluff Cemetery, Camden County
• St. Simons Village, Glynn County
• Fort Hawkins, Bibb County
• Nash Farm Battlefield, Henry County
• Genesis Point Plantation, 4 Aboriginal Sites, Bryan County
• Drudi Tract, Tybee Island, Chatham County
• Railroad Ward, Savannah, Chatham County
• Savannah Revolutionary War Battlefield, Chatham County

South Carolina

• Beaufort National Cemetery Expansion, Beaufort County
• Coosaw Island Community Center, Beaufort County
• Theus Plantation, Beaufort County

Pricing

The LAMAR Institute has a competitive pricing schedule for their GPR Survey work. The amount of area that can be covered on a weekly or daily basis is contingent on the ground conditions. Generally, survey can be accomplished at a rate of 1,600 square meters per day, or about two acre per week.

Daniel Thornton Elliott, Curriculum Vitae

Education

B.A., Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1976

M.A., Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens, 1980

Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Survey Training Course, Cultural Resources GIS, National Park Service, Horseshoe Bend, Alabama, 2001

Ground Penetrating Radar Training Course, Mala GeoScience USA, Charleston, SC, 2002

GPR Training Course, Larry Conyers, Denver University, Denver, CO, 2003

ArcGIS Training Course, ESRI, Charlotte, NC, 2004

GPR-Slice Training Course, v. 4.0 & v.5.0, Dean Goodman & USFS, Alexandria, LA, 2004 & 2005 & 2008

Professional Experience

1987-Present Research Archaeologist, LAMAR Institute, Inc., Savannah, GA.

1995-2004 Senior Archaeologist, Southern Research, Ellerslie, GA.

1998-1999 Archaeologist, Elderhostel Programs, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA.

1994-1995 Archaeologist, Diachronic Research Foundation, Columbia, S.C.

1992-1994 Senior Archaeologist, Garrow & Associates, Inc., Athens, GA.

1993 Archaeologist, French Huguenot Project, Francis Marion National Forest, S.C., Yale University.

1991 Archaeologist, Tutu Archaeological Project. St. Thomas, U. S. Virgin Islands.

1990 Archaeologist, Hurricane Hugo Archaeological Recordation Project, Government of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas and St. Croix, U. S. Virgin Islands.

1990 Archaeologist, Law Environmental, Inc., Kennesaw, GA.

1989 Archaeologist, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, N.C.

1988-1992 Archaeologist, Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc., Athens, GA.

1988-1994 Archaeologist, New South Associates, Inc., Stone Mountain, GA.

1988-1990 Archaeologist, Brockington and Associates, Inc., Atlanta, GA.

1987 Crew member, Petersburg Underwater Survey Project, Clark Hill Reservoir, GA. East Carolina University, Department of Maritime History and Underwater Research, Greenville, North Carolina.

1986 Volunteer, Lake Phelps Canoe Recordation Project, East Carolina University, Department of Maritime History and Underwater Research, Greenville, N.C.

1986 Volunteer, Underwater Field School, East Carolina University, Department of Maritime History and Underwater Research, Greenville, N.C. and the Bermuda Maritime Museum

1984-1988 Archaeologist, Garrow & Associates, Inc., Atlanta, GA.

1982-1984 Archaeologist, Sumter & Francis Marion National Forests, U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Greenwood, S.C.

1982 Archaeologist, Soil Systems, Inc., Marietta, GA.

1982 Archaeologist, Memphis State University, Department of Anthropology, Memphis, TN.

1981 Archaeologist, Gilbert Commonwealth Associates, Inc., Jackson, MI.

1981 Archaeologist, Southeastern Wildlife Services, Inc., Athens, GA.

1981 Archaeologist, Soil Systems, Inc., Topeka, KS.

1980-1981 Archaeologist, Southeastern Wildlife Services, Inc., Athens, GA.

1980 Archaeologist, Guy Weaver personal services contract with the TVA, Hartsville, TN.

1980 Archaeologist, University of Florida, Department of Anthropology, Gainesville, FL.

1977-1979 Archaeology Research Technician, University of Georgia, Department of Anthropology, Athens, GA.

Ground Penetrating Radar Experience

2002-GPR Survey, New Ebenezer, Effingham County, GA.

2002-GPR Survey, Fort Morris, Liberty County, GA.

2002-GPR Survey, Horton House and Plantation, Jekyll Island, GA.

2003-GPR Survey, Waldburg Street Site, Hope VI Development, Savannah, GA.

2004-GPR Survey, Sunbury, Liberty County, GA.

2004-GPR Survey, Sansavilla Bluff, Wayne County, GA.

2004-GPR Survey, Woodbine Mound and historic cemetery, Woodbine, GA.

2004-GPR Survey, Beaufort National Cemetery and Proposed Expansion Area, Beaufort, S.C.

2005-GPR Survey, North End Plantation, Ossabaw Island, GA.

2005-GPR Survey, Jones Cemetery, Greenwood Plantation, Thomasville, GA.

2005-GPR Survey, Bull Plantation, Coosaw Community Center, Coosaw Island, Beaufort County, S.C.

2006-GPR Survey, Gould-Bethel Cemetery, Chatham County, GA.

2006-GPR Survey, St. Simons Island Village, Glynn County, GA.

2006-GPR Survey, Fort Hawkins, Macon, GA.

2006-GPR Survey, Railroad Ward, Savannah, GA

2006-GPR Survey, Bosomworth-Gwinnett Plantation, St. Catherines Island, GA

2006-GPR Survey, Chocolate Plantation, Sapelo Island, GA

2006-GPR Survey, Tannery, Old Clinton, Jones County, GA

2006-GPR Survey, Fort St. Andrews, Cumberland Island, GA

2006-GPR Survey, Bullhead Bluff Cemetery, Camden County, GA

2006-GPR Survey, Beaulieu Plantation, Chatham County, GA

2007-GPR Survey, Nash Farm Battlefield, Lovejoy, GA

2007-GPR Survey, Fort Jackson National Historic Site, Savannah, GA

2008-GPR Survey, Theus Plantation, Beaufort County, SC

2008-GPR Survey, Savannah Revolutionary War Battlefield, Savannah, GA

Selected Publications

2002 Ground Penetrating Radar Survey at the Horton House Site. Rocquemore Radar Research, Box Springs, Georgia. Submitted to Southern Research, Ellerslie, Georgia.

2003 Archaeological Investigations at Fort Morris State Historic Site, Liberty County, Georgia. Southern Research, Ellerslie, Georgia.

Elliott, Daniel T., and K. E. Sassaman

1995 Archaic Period Archaeology of the Georgia Coastal Plain and Coastal Zone. Georgia Archaeological Research Design Papers Nos. 7 and 8. University of Georgia, Athens.

Elliott, Rita F., and D. T. Elliott

2000 Guten Tag Bubba: Germans in the Colonial South. In Colonial Adaptations to the New World: A View from Georgia and the Carolinas, edited by J. Joseph, III, and M. Zierden. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Mark Williams, and Daniel T. Elliott, editors

1998 A World Engraved, Archaeology of the Swift Creek Culture. University of Alabama Press, University, Alabama.

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Fort St. Andrews and Fort St. Simons

The LAMAR Institute archaeologists participated in the first scientific studies of two British colonial forts on two of Georgia’s barrier islands–Fort St. Andrews on Cumberland Island and Fort St. Simons on St. Simons Island. Both of these studies are documented in LAMAR Institute Publication Series reports, which are available online in .pdf format at the links below:

Fort St. Andrews (part of a larger study conducted for the National Park Service by Carolyn Rock),

publication93_standrews

Fort St. Simons (a joint effort by the LAMAR Institute and the Archaeological Services Unit, HPD, Georgia DNR),

publication103_stsimons

Block E

Archaeological Study at Freetown, Grand Bahama Island

In September, 2007, the LAMAR Institute dispatched a team (Dan and Rita Elliott) to Grand Bahama Island to conduct archaeological work on the Freetown Cemetery and Freetown settlement. This project was divided into two phases. The primary goal was to “ground truth” the results from an earlier Ground Penetrating Radar survey of the Freetown cemetery and its surroundings that was conducted in July, 2007 by Dean Goodman and Kent Schneider.  This phase consisted of creating a detailed topographic map of the site and all above-ground cultural features and excavation of nine 2 m by 1 m test units on a variety of features and non-feature areas.  The second phase of the project was a brief reconnaissance of the Freetown settlement, which is an abandoned settlement located west of the cemetery. This village, which is thought to date to the 1830s and lasting into the 1960s, consists of a series of ruins and archaeological deposits now vegetated in jungle. The LAMAR Institute technical report on these investigations is available in .pdf format by clicking below:

publication125_freetown

Tombstone

Freetown Cemetery

Rio Guanajibo and LaGrange Gut

Daniel T. Elliott:
The LAMAR Institute, Inc.
Archaeological Survey of Two Watersheds: Rio Guanajibo, Puerto Rico and LaGrange Gut, St. Croix, U.S.V.I.

This poster highlights archaeological surveys of two watersheds in the Caribbean, Rio Guanajibo and LaGrange Gut, which were undertaken by the author. The Rio Guanajibo survey was conducted in 1986 by Garrow & Associates. This survey examined more than 4,000 acres in southwestern Puerto Rico. The study area extended from the headwaters of the Rio Rosaria to the Caribbean Sea at Mayaguez. Both studies, funded by the Jacksonville USACE, discovered undocumented aboriginal chert quarries and other notable sites. Historic towns in the Rio Guanajibo included San German– the second oldest city in Puerto Rico and Cabo Rojo. This was the first systematic study of this watershed since Rouse’s 1952 survey. The LaGrange Gut survey, conducted in 1992 by Southeastern Archaeological Services, examined a portion of southwestern St. Croix, U.S.V.I. While smaller in extent, LaGrange Gut included the historic town of Frederiksted and an early Moravian settlement.

Click below for a Powerpoint image summarizing these two projects:

archaeological-survey-of-two-watersheds

LaGrange Plantation, St. Croix, USVI

Robbing from Point Peter to Pay Paul

An Update on the Future of Point Peter and Vicinity

Point Peter

Point Peter is located at the mouth of Point Peter Creek and the St. Mary’s River at the southeastern tip of Georgia, USA. This forlorn place was once the scene of great hustle and bustle, when the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy established it as a base of operations. In the 1790s, this spot was located at the international border of the U.S. and Spanish-held East Florida. The young U.S. Navy berthed many of their coastal gunboats at Point Peter. The U.S. Army established Fort Point Peter, which was by all accounts a most miserable duty station. The fort was attacked and burned by the British forces under Admiral Cockburn in January, 1815. This battle, which took place after peace was declared between the U.S. and Great Britain, was one of the few battles fought on Georgia soil in the War of 1812.

Point Peter was largely forgotten about 10 years ago. I began researching the place as part of a broader study of Georgia’s pre-Civil War period military fortifications. In the middle of my research, however, the proposed development of the area was announced by Land Resources. I hurried the completion of my manuscript on Point Peter and the other early forts along the St. Marys River in Georgia. That report is posted online (.pdf format) for free public download at the LAMAR Institute’s website. I sent a few dozen copies of that report to interested parties, or parties who should have been interested, and a flurry of bureaucratic events then followed. The end result is that the firm of Brockington & Associates was retained by Land Resources to survey and excavate portions of the Point Peter tract. I was not involved in that part of the story and I have not seen any reports of their work yet. I look forward to reading their version. The National Park Service has an exhibit in St. Marys that includes the Point Peter story. I went there to see it yesterday (August 6, 2008) with my niece from Thibadoux, Louisiana, but it was closed when it was supposed to be open. Waaah!!

To read my report, follow this link:

http://shapiro.anthro.uga.edu/Lamar/PDFfiles/Publication%2062.pdf

or click here:

publication-62

To learn about the NPS exhibit in St. Marys, follow these links:

http://www.thehistoryworkshop.com/portfolio/point.html

http://www.thehistoryworkshop.com/portfolio/pointed.html

To learn more about the natural resources threatened by the proposed marinas, follow this link:

http://www.southernenvironment.org/cases/cumberland_harbour/factsheet.pdf

The story of Point Peter is deeply intertwined with that of Fort Hawkins, Georgia, which was another major U.S. Army post in the period before, during and after the War of 1812. But Fort Hawkins is another story covered elsewhere in this blog and at various locations online.

The story of Point Peter is an active one, as the newspaper article below demonstrates.

From the Atlanta-Journal Constitution:

Lawsuit could have far-reaching effect on Ga. coast
Development near Cumberland Island raises question of state’s responsibility on marinas, community docks

By STACY SHELTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/19/08 The Georgia Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in a case that could determine development along the state’s 100-mile coastline for generations.

The question the court is expected to answer is whether the 1970 Coastal Marshlands Protection Act requires the state to regulate the way land is developed behind marinas, community docks and bridges. This is the first time the state’s highest court will rule on the state law many environmentalists laud as Georgia’s most visionary environmental protection.

Center for a Sustainable Coast vs. Coastal Marshlands Protection Committee pits Georgia and an Atlanta developer against several environmental groups. The state and the developer, Atlantan J. Robert Ward, argued that the state’s power does not extend beyond the proposed marinas and community docks at Cumberland Harbour, a 1,085-house residential resort near the town of St. Marys.

The community, under construction on a peninsula surrounded mostly by tidal marshes, is in sight of the Cumberland Island National Seashore. Lots are being sold for $150,000 to $750,000. Forty houses have been built and 925 sites have been sold, the developer said.

Michael Landrum of Alpharetta, an early buyer in 2002, has been waiting to build on his lot until the case is resolved. He expected the marinas and docks to be under construction by now.

“We wouldn’t have wanted to buy into a place that was going to let development destroy the natural beauty,” Landrum said.

The lawsuit challenges a state permit issued to the developer in March 2005 that would allow more than 800 boats of all sizes in wet slips and dry dock storage in two marinas. It would be the largest marina complex on the Georgia coast, with 3.2 miles of docks, board walks and slips.

Environmentalists argue the state is obligated to protect the marshes from polluted runoff created by the houses, streets and other development around marinas and docks. They want the state to require the developer to prohibit any structures near the marsh and to filter, clean and reduce storm water runoff discharged into the marsh.

At stake, they say, are Georgia’s 382,000 acres of tidal marshes. The protective ribbon of sinewy gray-green grass outlining estuaries and tidal rivers is the nursery for crab, shrimp and some fish species.

The court has until the end of November to rule.

On Monday, the justices did not indicate how they might decide.

In their court filing, the environmentalists likened the state-owned marshlands to a state park and said the state “must balance the use of state-owned marshes for private benefit against the public’s interest in its property.”

An attorney for Ward, the developer who owns Point Peter LLP and Orlando-based Land Resource, argued he is already doing more than state and local laws require by leaving a 35-foot natural buffer between the marsh and construction instead of 25 feet. The development also has several storm-water ponds for collection.

Also, to protect the marshes, only 92 of a possible 300 private docks will be built, said the developer.

Will Hurst, spokesman for Land Resource, said it’s in the developer’s interest to protect the marsh. “That’s what we’re selling access to. . . vast marshes overlooking Cumberland Island,” he said.

A Proposed Search for the U.S. Gunboats at Home Port Point Peter

Click here:

http://warof1812ingeorgia.com/Page6.html

for information on:

The St Marys Gunboat Project
Phases 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
The Search for U.S. Navy Gunboats No. 161 & No. 164

A Historical Initiative Sponsored By:
Navy League of the United States,
Greater Golden Isles Council & Camden Kingsbay Council
:

Fort Frederica Teacher’s Workshop 2008

Yesterday marked the end of another successful Teacher’s Workshop at Fort Frederica National Monument and the Glynn County School’s Oglethorpe Point Elementary on St. Simons Island, Georgia.  The workshop was run by the two Ellens (Ellen Provenzano, Oglethorpe Point, and Ellen Strojan, NPS). Lecturers included myself, David C. Crass, Rita Folse Elliott,  Nicholas Honerkamp, Ellen Provenzano, Denise Spear, and Ellen Strojan. About 18 teachers from Glynn County participated. Most were 4th Grade teachers who will participate in the ongoing archaeology curriculum at Fort Frederica and Oglethorpe Point school.

Roland A. Steiner, Archaeologist, Folklorist

Pipe from Etowah Site

Roland A. Steiner

Roland A. Steiner was born about 1840 and died in January 1906. During his life he collected more than 100,000 Native American relics from archaeological sites in Georgia. Since 1980, I have been researching this man and his crazy antics.

Roland Steiner collected artifacts from the surface, as well as from excavations, at numerous sites in Georgia. He visited Etowah Mounds after a strong freshet and he collected hundreds or thousands of items. The link below will show you a plate from a 1902 Smithsonian Institution report that highlighted a few of the ceramic figurines in his collection. A portion of these are at the Smithsonian Institution:

1902bae20thannreptsteinerfigurines

His obituary in the Macon Daily Telegraph:

1906obituarymaconpaper

Below is information on Roland Steiner and his collection from the Etowah site. The letters are draft versions of my transcriptions of those letters to and from Roland Steiner with specific references to Etowah Mounds. They are taken from the Smithsonian Accession microfilm reels at MSC, or the Dept. of Anthropology, or at from the Smithsonian Archives, The Castle. The Accession referenced in the letter is indicated in brackets at the beginning of each. The transcriptions are incomplete, because the handwriting is hard to read. Each letter is separated by ****. The source for each letter is the Accession Microfilm unless otherwise noted. Special thanks to Jim Krakker at the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History for his help in locating these documents.

ROLAND GOES TO ETOWAH. A collection of correspondence.

Transcribed by Daniel T. Elliott, copyright 2008.

[28826; 37115]

Grovetown Ga Jan 3rd 94

Thomas Wilson Esq

Washington City, D. C.

My Dear Sir

Yours of the 23rd recd You are right in your conjecture about the two areas. they came from the pueblos of New Mexico In regard to the quarrry material thought best to send it on- as interesting matter. In the collection of beads, is a specimen of co-l–li found in Burke Co Ga. I send on my catalogue, tho I fear you will not be able to make much headway with it without my presence. When you want me to come in, write me & I will come. Would prefer to come about middle of February. You will find in the collection a pendant of lead & a piece of crude lead. both were found in the Etowah mounds. My catalogue will give locations of all interesting specimens. All the fine terra-cotta pipes, come from the Etowah mounds, & all the finest specimens of stone pipes I would like to be with you when the collection is placed, as I am familiar with every object in the collection. Note a stone anvil shaped [drawing] found at the Etowah Mounds. Ink brown in color & the indentation can be seen an broken surface. A small black pendant, very thin & long in the outline of an animal on either side. I will come in when you wish, & give each its history.

Yrs very Truly

R. Steiner

The pearl beads in small tan box were dug up with largest plate at Etowah Mound.

I forgot to call your attention to the unbroken burial urn with the cremated bones, beads & c in it. When found in Burke Co Ga with the bones & et in it . The whe* was found in Columbia Co Ga. You will also find in lots to themselves, many unique specimens of arrow points, scrapers & many objects, whose use one can only conjecture. I tried to arrange them in such a way as to be kept separate. I have secured, & will bring on with me a double stem hole pipe. It is the first specimen I have met with. I wish you would note the character of the arrow &spear points the fine quality of chipping. Please send me a few envelopes- as I may have ocassion to write you at intervals. I have more postage stamps sent by Mr. Goode

*****

Smithsonian Institution

United States National Museum

Memorandum

Mr. True:

The enclosed letter from Dr. Steiner relates to his valuable collection comprising the remainder of the contents of the Etowah Mound, of which we have the rest. It is important we should see it & study it in connection with what we already have

T.W.

(SI Archives, Record Unit 189, Incoming Correspondence)

***

April 7, 1894

Dr. R. Steiner,

Waynesboro, Georgia

Dear Sir:

Professor Thomas Wilson, Curator of Prehistoric Anthropology in the National Museum, has handed me your letter of April 3, in which you kindly express your willingness to place on deposit in the National Museum, the collection of Indian objects in your possession taken from the Etowah Mound.

I need hardly say that we shall be pleased to avail ourselves of your offer, provided that you are satisfied that the objects shall remain on exhibition in the National Museum at least one year from the date of their reception.

Before transmitting them, however, I shall be glad if you will kindly inform me as to what portion of the collection would need to be forwarded by express, so that we can form some idea as to the approximate amount of transportation charges. We shall of course expect to defray all expenses in this connection. If the remainder of the collection is not too bulky, it may perhaps be forwarded by mail, and for this purpose franks are sent to you.

I need not say to you that the specimens should be very carefully packed in order to insure against their breakage in transit.

Thanking you for your courtesy in this matter, I am

Yours respectfully,

F. W. True,

Curator-in-charge

***

[Acc 28826; 37113, 37114, 37115]

Smithsonian Institution

United States National Museum

Memorandum

Dear Mr. Geare:

I know of no reason why the offer of April 7 may not stand good. We have a portion of the Etowah mound & could use the balance for a complete display at the Atlanta Exposition. Indeed the transport of this might be paid out of that apprn I have not read any letter lately from Dr. Steiner. I have met him personally &we have talked over the benefit to come from having a junction of our two collections both from the same mound &which sho^d never have been separated.

Respy Thomas Wilson

****

[Acc. 28826; 37113, 37114, 37115]

Waynesboro Ga Dec 11 94

G Brown Goode Esq

Washington City

Dear Sir,

I today shipped per freight (22) twenty-two boxes & (2) two bbls. You will find the boxes packed in layers, as I intended to separate the specimens, &were trouble in arranging them. I send (4) four boxes by express as they contain very valuable objects. The long box also contains some things from the Etowah Mounds. I will go north after Christmas. If you desire will stop in Washington & assist in giving history of objects. If you wish to write me direct letter to Grovetown Columbia Co. Ga. my future home.

Yrs very Truly

R. Steiner

There are a great number of objects from Etowah Mounds which I will desc[illegible] when I come on. R. S.

In one cask are two ceremonial or burial urns; in one wrapped [illegible] [illegible] prefer are the burned bones, beads &c of the party cremated.

****

[Acc 28826; 37113, 37114, 37115]

Grovetown Columbia Co Ga

Dec 27th 94

F. A. True Esq.

Washington City D.C.

Dear Sir,

I hope the 22 boxes & 2 casks reached your safely & no breakage. In packing in boxes, I tried to separate the specimens, putting them in layers, with, [illegible] & paper between- The cermonial urn, or pot contains the cremated remains found in it. The stone [illegible] the arrows on either side is a very interesting speciment was found in Burke Co. All the black chert spear & arrow points & knives & scrapers were found at the Etowah Mounds. All the white quartz, & slate arrow points &c were found in Columbia Co. Ga. All the terra-cotta pipes were found at Etowah Mounds- all the copper objects were also found at Etowah Mound. If when you are ready to arrange the collection you should wish it, I can come on, & give history of each specimen, & bring my catalog along. I am in a new territory now, & expect to get some good specimens.

Hoping to hear from you upon arrival of boxes & casks. I am Yrs very truly

R. Steiner

****

[Acc 28826]

Grovetown, Ga Feb 7th 95

Thomas Wilson Esq

Washington City D.C.

Dear Sir

Your letter of 3rd with catalogue recd. I expect you have received my catalogue in this as it was mailed &registered. In answer to your inquiry, as to [illegible]* [illegible]* wish DrThomas & Mr. Rogan will say. I did not have the pleasure of meeting those gentlemen. I worked the same mound they did but at the opposite side & base. The largest plate copper [illegible] pearl beads oval mica plates one large shell pendant, 2 strings of shell beads, copper axe with handle affixed, & large copper axe with hole & part of handle, shell drinking cup, & large shell gorget came from base of same mound worked by Dr T & Mr R. The other copper axe came from one end of same mound with the sandstone mortar, some of the larger beads. The stone trumpet also came from same mound with the platform base pipe, grey in color. In fact all the copper objects came from this mound & its immediate vicinity. I was there after the great freshet of 1888, when part of the mound was washed away. that is, its lower base [illegible], & I got all I got at that visit in the mound or its close vicinity. I got many other things afterwards. From these on the place. When you wish me to come on, I will do so with pleasure. I hardly think, even with my catalogue, you would be able to arrange & classify the collection. I must apologize for the catalogue. I neglected it badly. Tho comprehensible to me, I hardly think you can make much out of it. tho the locality of the most interesting specimens is set down accurately.

I can come after the 20th of this month, write when I must come.

What do you think of my collection?

Yrs very Truly

R. Steiner

I got a great many things from the Etowah Mounds. I got them from time to time for over a year after my visit. All the pottery, broken in the casks come from there, & most of the pots, & c.

R.S.

The broken pottery in casks are complete vessels, tho broken I endeavored to put them together. They are from Etowah Mounds.

****

[39097]

Grovetown, Ga., Nov. 8/95

Mr. Wilson,

Washington, D.C.

My dear Mr. Wilson:

In regard to the group of mounds on the Etowah River in Bartow Co., Ga, near Carterville, I have always entertained the opinion that they were erected in memoriam of the dead of the peoples who built them. I am satisfied from personal observation that all the earth within the enclosure of the mounds is artificial and was brought from the surrounding moat and other points. Mr. Tumlin (the owner) assured me that he remembered a road leading from the Etowah River to the largest mound, which impressed me with the idea that the bodies might have been brought down the Etowah River from distant points, landed at the road where they were met by the priests and other officials, and then interred in the mounds or within the enclosure. Another point to be urged in favor of my theory is, that no grooved axe and very few spear- or arrow-heads are found in the enclosure. Hoes for digging out the earth are common, then again the terraces leading up to the largest mound clearly indicate that ceremonies of some kind were usual. The pottery-kiln near the smaller mound suggests that the articles made there were to be interred with the dead. That it is a National Cemetery of a lost people, is beyond doubt. That it was the work of the Indians, is beyond question, but what trive no one can tell. The bones of animals and birds found within the enclosure point to feasts attendent upon the ceremony of burial. The summit of the largest mound would be a suitable point from which to address a multitude and deliver orations upon the lives and virtues of the distinguished dead.

Yours truly,

R. Steiner

****

January 22, 1896

Sir:

I have been requested to ask that the sum of seven thousand dollars be inserted in the Deficiency Bill, for the purchase of the archaeological collection of Doctor Roland Steiner, of Grovetown, Georgia. These collections were sent in 1894 to the National Museum for purposes of study, and they are still in its custody. Their interest and value to science is becoming more highly appreciated the more the collections are being studied. They contain 33, 866 specimens, obtained principally from a locality in Georgia, and the collection is unique in the fact that no locality in America ever explored has yielded even one-tenth as many specimens. It is therefore particularly valuable as illustrating the density of population and the manifold characteristics of the industries of the aborigines. A portion of the collection belongs to the Stone Age; there are also numerous objects of copper, shell, bone and pottery. Part of the collection comes from the celebrated Etowah mound, which is but poorly represented in the National collection, and which is now closed to exploration. A compendium of the catalogue is herewith transmitted.

If this collection were added, it would place in the Museum all the ethnological material from this famous locality, for it would supplement a smaller collection already in our possession.

Believing as I do that the collection would be useful and worth the money, I accordingly respectfully ask that an item of seven thousand dollars be inserted in the Deficiency bill for this purpose, but I wish to say at the same time, that I make the recommendation with considerable hesitation. Unless, indeed, it can be granted without prejudice in the regular appropriations and without danger of reducing the amount to be allowed for regular expenses of the Museum, I greatly prefer that it should not be made.

Yours very respectfully,

S. P. Langley,

Secretary.

The Honorable Joseph G. Cannon, M.C.

Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

[description of the collection appended to letter]

The collection of Dr. Roland Steiner, of Grovetown, Georgia comprises seven accessions and contains 33,866 implements, 157 of them were deposited in the National Museum in 1892; all the rest in 1894, although they were not entered until 1895. A compendium of the collection is as follows:

Acc. 24147. Rude chipped implements, Burke Co., Ga.

Acc. 25321. Rude chipped implements, Burke County, Ga.

Acc. 29048. Arrow and spear-heads, [illegible], perforaters, hatchets, grooved axes, drilled [illegible] objects, stone tube, steatite sinker, [illegible]* pipe with two stem holes. Columbia Co., Ga. [illegible]*objects.

Acc. 29338. Arrow-heads and worked flint found en cache, S.C. in all 66 objects.

Acc. collection from the Etowah Group of Mounds, Bartow Co., Ga.; Arrow- and spear-heads, polished hatchets and grooved axes, discoidal stones, drilled tablets, bird-shaped objects, boat-shaped objects, drilled ceremonial objects (bannerstones, etc.) chisels, stone plates, stone beads and tubes, cone-shaped mullers, carved stone pipes, stone pendants, terra-cotta pipes and figurines, clay vessels, carved shell disks, shell beads and pins, pearl beads, copper hatchets, and ornaments, steatite objects, etc.

Polished hatchets, chisels, and grooved axes, Burke and Columbia Cos., Ga.

Hammer-stones, pitted stones, discoidal stones, grooved axes, ceremonial objects (banner-stones, etc.) leaf-shaped blades, arrow- and spear-heads, scrapers, perforators, mortars, pestles, grinding stones, fragments of pottery, etc., Burke Co., Ga.

Polished hatchets and chisels, grooved axes, stone mullers, discoidal stones, drilled tablets, boat-shaped objects, ceremonial objects, shell beads and pins, carved shell gorget, and bone implement, pottery vessels and human skulls and bones. Floyd Co., Ga.

Rude notched implements, arrow- and spear-heads, mullers, polished hatchets, and a large stone metate. Lincoln Co., Ga.

Grooved axes, polished hatchtes, discoidal stones, stone mortars and pestles, stone sinkers, etc., Fulton, Jefferson, Richmond, and Milton counties, Ga.

Arrow & spear heads, scrapers, perforators, hammerstones, rude notched axes, grooved axes, drilled tablets, bannerstones, discoidal stones, mortars, large earthenware vessels & fragments of steatite vessels. Columbia Co., Ga.

Drilled tablets. Warren Co., Ohio

Grooved Axe Butler Co., Ohio

Mortars, pestles, grooved mauls & axes, notched implements catlinite pipe, war club, bow case &quiver with arrows. Pueblo Zuni, New Mexico.

Bone handle for scrapers

in all 32, 478 objects

Acc. 29546. Worked flakes knives scrapers, arrow and spear heads, rude notched implements, perforators, hammer & pitted stones, steatite vessels, rude chipped hatchets, polished hatchets, & drilled ceremonial objects. Columbia Co., Ga.

in all 992 objects

Acc. 29912 Leaf shaped implements, spearhead, perforator, small stone carving (human figure), disc for gambling, & a turquoise pendant. Columbia Co., Ga.

in all 6 objects.

(Smithsonian Archives Microfilm L111:482-485)

****

[Acc. 31931]

Grovetown, Ga., April 8, 1897.

Dear Mr. Wilson:-

The Kiokee village-site is situated in Columbia County, Ga., on the Kiokee Creek. Early historians locate in this county the Uchees- who were a large and powerful tribe, were conquered by the Cherokees, though they always held to their own tribal customs and spoke their own language. Though belonging to the Muskogee confederacy, they were always a distinct people.

The Kiokee site was upon the Indian trail from the mountains to the sea, and from the extent of land- about 50 acres- must have been a large and populous town. The types of objects found there are from the rudest to the finest, and seems to have been the work of varied peoples. Some of the objects were from a far remove, as specimens of the black flint from the Etowah mounds are found there, perhaps, being upon the trail, travelers exchanged or lost their weapons and utensils there. The objects found are often counterparts of those found on the Evans Place, Burke County, a distance of 37 miles. Triangular flints are almost as abundant as on the Evans Palce. The scrapers are alike, and no polished hatchets are found. To account for the number of rude objects, I believe it is due to this fact, that the Uchees were conquered, and the conquerors introduced their own and better tools and weapons.

[Map]

As will be seen from the map- slate, quartz and soap-stone were in easy reach, the material being easy to work, was utilized for almost any kind of implement. I have heard of no flint quarry, the nearest point being “Old Town,” Jefferson Co.

I sent in box one soap-stone object that shows the beginning of the perforation- done with a hollow reed. I forgot to mention that there is no jasper quarries in this locality.

Yrs very truly

R. Steiner

The boulder with mortars on it, is a round rock, weighing about 5 tons. It was the village mill.

I sent two boxes per express- only one got off, through mistakes of express, the other goes today. Please send a few stamp envelopes.

*****

[Acc. 32670; 37115; Cat. No. 195456-525]

Grovetown, Ga., May 27, 1897.

Mr. Thomas Wilson,

Washington City.

My dear Sir:-

I have about wound up the “Kiokee site”- and I will send on what I have to be added to the collection. I also will send two boxes from the spring site- all rhyolite- I did not attempt to assort them- you will recognize the objects- the boxes are also numbered on the outside spring No. 1 & 2. I will send the boxes by freight that contain the spring and Kiokee specimens. I have one box which I will send by express, as it contains very fine and very odd specimens- particularly one arrow-head, bevelled on the right side, in a tobacco bag. One long flint hair-pin- could not possible have been a borer or perforator, it is similar to the shell hair-pins from Etowah mounds- also two pitted stones, with three pits on back stone. I send by freight everything I got from Kiokee save the box per express, which objects are also from “Kiokee”- I would like to hear from you, paritcularly about last boxes sent per express. I have nothing from you in a long time. Would it be convenient to send out the catalogue again- I would like to look over it again- as it would give me much pleasure these long hot days- I would keep only a couple of weeks, and return. The Kiokee site compares favorably with the Evans Place. I forgot to mention one iron tomahawk- a negro tried to grind the edge, but found it was not made of steel, but iron. It is very old. In the six boxes by freight there are many good specimens, some very similar to those from the Evans Place- the material being like that from the Rocky Creek quarry- Just drop me a line to say you are hul and corl. With kind regards to all,

Yrs very truly,

R. Steiner

In the box per express, there are some odd specimens, unlike any I have hitherto seen.

****

[Acc. 32670; now 37115]

Grovetown, Ga., Aug. 23, 1897.

Mr. E. P. Upham:

Washington City.

My dear Sir:

I have wound up the Kiokee matter. I have gotten all- have some strange ones. After the last plowing, rains set in, and I got a lot of hands to gather all they could find- there are many fine specimens in the lot- not as many as in the last lot. There are some odd-shaped spearpoints bend as is here [drawing], and two chipper hatchets shaped like gouges. There are six boxes in all. In one box is a large mortar and pestle from Etowah Mound, plowed up at the base of large mound. I have not gotten anything esle from there yet; as soon as I do I will send on.

[portion missing]

Kind regards to all.

Yrs very truly,

R. Steiner.

I had all the specimens classified and wrapped separately, so you wont have the trouble of looking them over [portion missing] I send the six boxes by freight.

****

[Acc. 32030; 37115; Cat. No. 196782-800]

Grovetown, Ga., Nov. 22, 1897.

Mr. Thomas Wilson,

Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Wilson-

As I stated in some previous letter to you, that should I come up with any curious or unique specimens, I would send them on. Today I send per express a small box containing some very long steatite grooved axes- I cannot conjecture their use as the cutting edges of two are very thick and do not seem to have seen service- one seems to have been used- also a smaller one with a ball-like handle. A smaller one still seems to have seen much service- Col. C. C. Jones had one similar to the longest of the three, but not so long by 4 or 5 inches.

You will find in the box a discoidal stone of steatite, also some objects, one with handle and 2 with no handle- broken off; also 2 soapstone cones, and one of some slaty material. The object with knob and peculiar body with perforation, I believe to be an implement for twisting thongs- as the oil could be kept in long circular opening and taken up as needed and the implement could be put in fire and the groove heated if necessary.

Also send 3 large crystals of quartz that show use as punches or borers-

I send also by freight a cracker-box containing 3 rough axes- with indistinct grooves- a heart-shaped hammer of sandstone, a large dish with hole through middle [drawing] and a dish with a spout- all very curious and odd. I think at the quarry- all kinds of objects were made for barter. In the series of rough sinkers I sent in last lot, a fact should be noted- that I have never met with them save at this point. After they were taken away they were polished. In Burke County soapstone objects are rarely found. I did not see any at the Etowah mounds, nor were there any in the collection from Rome, Ga.

I wish very much you would drop me a line when you get the axes and other objects and give me your views about them. Just take a minute or two and talk it out to Miss Rosenbusch. I shall answer your last letter in a few days. Kind regards to all.

Yrs very truly,

R. Steiner

This sending was found at a high point on Savannah River about 1/4 of a mile above quarry- and but few could occupy the ground, as the space is small. Pottery was plentiful, but no sinkers- some small paint mortars and the large slab with hole in one end. The length of the axes are: 13 1/4 inches, 12 inches, 11 inches [drawing]

****

United States National Museum

S. P. Langley

Secretary

Chas. D. Walcott

Acting Assistant Secretary

in Charge U. S. National Museum

Washington, D. C. January 19, 1898.

Dr. W. H. Holmes,

Head Curator, Department of Anthropology, U. S. National Museum.

Dear Sir:

Replying to your request for information concerning the number, extent and value of Dr. Roland Steiner’s collection now on deposit in the National Museum, I have the honor to make the following report.

Dr. Steiner has been, for about three years, at intervals, making deposits of aboriginal implements and objects in the National Museum. His collection amounts now to approximately 75,000 objects. They have been gathered by him in eastern Georgia, principally in Columbia and Burke Counties, though there is a very important collection made by himself from the Etowah Mounds in Bartow County. The value of this collection is much increased over the usual collections of similar size or number, from the fact that it has been gathered from specific localities. One collection, from Burke County, comprising from between sixteen and seventeen thousand pieces, has been gathered on what is called “The Old Evans Place,” about twelve miles west of Waynesboro. The area on which these were found is less than forty acres, on the bank of Little Buckhead Creek. There was a spring and two or three small and insignificant mounds. It was evidently a site of ancient occupation continuing for a long period of time, with an extensive population. The objects found are diverse and furnish an extensive series of almost every kind of implement. The combination of these implements, their number and diversity, comprising as they do, all that has ever been found within this restricted area, afford the best monograph of the history of those prehistoric peoples I have ever seen. Extensive quarries of the various materials used are found in the immediate neighborhood and ith these added to the collection, the student is enabled to better understand and trace the history of these peoples, so far as it can be made out from their industry, better than by any other known method. A collection of the same number of objects gathered from different parts of the country, without any known relation to each other, would not be worth one fourth as much.

Another portion of the collection was gathered at another village-site or settlement on Kiokee Creek, and still another at a soapstone quarry and village-site on Burt’s Mountain, Columbia County. the two latter present practically the same advantages as exist with regard to the collection from the Old Evans Place.

Not the least inconsiderable portion of Dr. Steiner’s collection, nor that of least value, is the result of his own excavation at the Etowah Mounds or, as they have been known, the Tumlin Mounds on the plantation of Col. Tumlin, Etowah Creek, Bartow County. These are probably the most renowned mounds of which we know, and have produced the rarest and most curious objects. They were first excavated under the direction of the Bureau of Ethnology, and a considerable collection of implements and objects obtained from them. Their position, form, and the industry they reveal, are of such importance that they are selected by Prof. Thomas as the type for his “History of a Mound,” published in the American Anthropologist, a few years since. The Museum possesses the objects which Prof. Thomas obtained from this group of mounds, and they fill one case in my Division. Dr. Steiner’s excavations into the same mounds produced nearly twice as many objects, some of them the rarest and most valuable, – they are also in the Museum by the side of the others, and fill two cases.

The Etowah mounds are far from being exhausted. They have not been thoroughly excavated or examined. The visited them during the Exposition in Atlanta in company with Dr. Steiner, and I formed the opinion that he could better continue this excavation than any other person. He, I believe, can obtain permission better than any one else I know.

It appears to me of the highest necessity that we should retain the objects from this mound that belong to Dr. Steiner, to the end that they may supplement the collection of Prof. Thomas. I would consider it almost an irreparable loss, one not to be calculated in dollars and cents, if the objects belonging to Dr. Steiner should be taken away and the collection from the Etowah Mound broken up. The purchase of this collection from Dr. Steiner will materially facilitate the complete excavation of the Etowah Mounds and insure to the Museum the possession of their riches in its entirety.

A single word in regard to the price: I understand Dr. Steiner has fixed the price at Seven Thousand Dollars ($7,000.) This makes an average of about ten cents each. The average collection put to sale by auction frequenty brings an average of a dollar from each specimen. The Newbold collection of Bordentown, N. J., of 3,000 implements sold in New York for $3,000. (at auction). While this rate would not hold good for the Steiner collection, you can easily see the possibilities of exceeding the present price asked.

In conclusion, permit me to testify my appreciation of the importance of this collection and the propriety, if not the necessity, of purchasing it. It will be a source of the most profound regret if it should fail. It is of greater value to Science than for display, and the benefits or advantages to be derived from it will become more apparent the more it is studied and understood. I might cite, as an illustration, our poignant regret which increases year by year whenever we remember our failure to procure the great Squier & Davis Collection, although it did not have one-tenth the number of the Steiner collection.

Respectfully submitted,

Thomas Wilson

Curator, Division of Prehistoric Anthropology

_____

Smithsonian Institution

United States National Museum

S. P. Langley

Secretary

Chas. D. Walcott

Acting Assistant Secretary

in Charge U. S. National Museum

Washington, D. C. January 22, 1898.

Memorandum to Mr. Walcott:

With regard to the Steiner collection of antiquities, referred to in the Secretary’s not which I return to you herewith, I have the honor to say that I have examined the collection and find it to be of exceptional value. It consists of a great body of relics representing one of the most important ethnic areas of the Southern States and has this advantage that it is so complete that we are enabled to restore the ancient culture with a completeness not yet made possible in any section of the Country. With the material already on hand from the same district it forms just such a unit as the Museum should have for each of the great American culture areas. I should be exceedingly sorry to miss the opportunity of securing this material and trust that you may find it possible to add it to our collections.

I enclose herewith a somewhat lengthy statement prepared at my request by Doctor Thomas Wilson.

Very respectfully,

W. H. Holmes

Head Curator of Anthropology.

_____

January 25, 1898.

Memorandum to the Secretary:

Regarding the Steiner collection of antiquities, referred to in your note of the 17th. instant, I have the honor to report, after consultation with Mr. Holmes, that it is of exceptional value. It consists of a great body of relics, approximately 75,000 in number, representing one of the most important ethnic areas of the southern states. By its assistance the archaeologist will be enabled to restore the ancient culture with a completeness not yet made possible in any other section of the country. I would add that, with the material already on hand, the Museum would, in the event of the acquisition of this collection, have just such a representation from this region as it should have from each of the great American culture areas. I consider it a very valuable acquisition for the Museum, and hope that the necessary steps may be taken for its purhase.

Very respectfully,

Chas. D. Walcott

Acting Assistant Secretary.

****

[Acc. 37115]

Grovetown Ga. May 31st ‘99

Dear Mr. Upham,

Put on your glasses, take a good chew of tobacco, get in the best of humors, seek quiet in the smoking den, where undisturbed you can digest the following theory as to the Quarry & Village site- In the first place, you are right in supposing that the sites were occupied for a long time, & I expect by many peoples- I think the steatite ws the capitol upon which they subsisted, for it must have been bartared with other peoples- You will find that the Evan’s Place furnished but little steatite. The Etowah Mounds none. You will find that there are many specimens of flint, jasper & other material, that are not native to this section- as ryollite and quartz are the minerals found in this & adjoining counties- Instead of one village site there are many sites in small settlements covering as [illegible] the Evans Place an area of about fifty acres- embracing, [illegible] including the Quarry & extending to the base of Burt Mountain- there are 26 springs in the area, There is also much potstone as you will see from objects sent- My theory about the place is this spot was occupied long after European occupation- & that the Indians left [illegible]* that they dropped the stone implements as soon as they got metal ones- & that when they moved, they carried their pots, pipes & best ornaments with them. I was also [illegible] that the [illegible] aborigines were canibals, as you will find in the boxes of specimens of the shell heaps human bones mingled with other bones- I shall later in thoroughy explore one of the large shell heaps. In the pipes which I will send tomorrow, youwill see one odd white clay pipe- European. Some soapstone pipes & one very old pipe- & one very beautiful serpentine pipe- I shall send you also tomorrow a box of miscellaneous specimens, eery one of which is of interest- there is in this lot the most beautiful lozenge-shaped crystal pt. that has pitch on the edge- you may be able to get it off- I have failed- You can see the clouds in the sky thro it. Also the finest, longest serrated triangular point- & the delicate serrated triangular- I do not think it necessary to call your attention to the others as your attention will be [illegible] by the appearance. I could not arrange [illegible] to pack all [illegible] together- but did the best I could- I will have [illegible] up the site, where I finish send the few boxes by mail- I send you today by freight (7) seven boxes- I shall go to the site on Saturday next, & prepare my map on the spot, giving the location of all the sites- springs- quarry &c &c. When all are with you I want an impression of Dr. Wilson & yourself upon the collection as compared to the Evans Place- Tell Dr. Wilson I think I will quit hunting up new places- if I can.

The ryollite specimens referred to in your letter- that is the knives were found on the village site. The quarry site seems to have been a primitive kind of factory- heavy mauls, hammers, pestles, & crystals, with stones for polishing- instead of pestles. I should have used the wood pick- I send a good illlustration in boxes by freight. The village site or sites is located on a high flat overlooking the Savannah River & Big Kiokee Creek. there is about one hundred acres of low land on River that the Negroes call “old Indian corn lands” The large ryollite objects are found in this bottom.

Village sites, quarry- botttom lands- shell heaps all belonged to one people- at least I think so for the same kind of shells as found in heaps, are found in sites, but not so abundant. I sent by mail a box of mateial, so you would not have to select out of the best specimens. I found four workshops with plenty of quartz chips few, scarcely any of other material- I think the flint & ryollite were put to use- the quartz does not flake. I hope to see you in July & have that promised day off-

Kind regards to all

Yrs. very truly

R. Steiner

****

[Acc. 39077 or 39097]

Grovetown Ga. Dec 6th 99

Dear Mr. Upham

When you open the boxes, I call our attention to a very large sharpening stone shaped [drawing] grooved through its long axis- I think the mystery attending the multi- pitted stones will be solved when I send on [illegible]* long & instead of pits have mortars on each side [drawing]- I have been so busy on the plantation I have not had time to pack & ship- This shipment will wind up the Kiokee, Quarry & village site. Tell Mr. Wilson I don’t know whether I will try & find another place or not, as he told me once “I must quit finding them” I think the Quarry & village site the most interesting spot I ever visited. I have about cleaned it up. I intend to examine the shell heaps thoroughly. I shall in a few days send on per mail the small objects from the Etowah Mounds to be followed by the Shoulderbone Creek objects- I shall send the pots & clay idols in a kerosene cask. Much obliged for the books- I shall drop in upon you in Jan & we will try some steamed oysters.

Kind regards to all

Let me hear from you after you open the boxes-

Yrs very truly

Roland Steiner

****

[Acc. 39097]

“Christmas Night” [12/25/99]

Grovetown, Ga.

My Dear Mr. Upham,

[illegible] in after my Xmas dinner, which I am glad to say was all the physical man could wish- Wish you had been around the bestive board.

Am glad that you have opened the boxes & only wish you had [illegible] me in opinion upon the contents. The pitted stones are the remainder of the “cache”. I wished to know, does the museum want me to send in the remainder of the objects-gotten from the Quarry & village site. What I have will wind up the [illegible] there. as I don’t think much more will be found. I will ship the Shoulderbone Creek & Etowah Mound objects in a few days- I will be on [illegible]you & would like to know if the Museum desires the balance of Quarry and village site objects sent on, [illegible]send before I get off & be there when they are opened.

As to the pottery & arrow heads in the Museum collection I don’t know whether they were from Mexico or not. I can only hold the collection was from Mexico- in all probability you are right, as I expect the old Dr. picked them up around Annapolis & added them to the Mexican collection.

Wishing you a happy & merry New Year, & compliments of the season to all in the office.

Yrs very cordially

R. Steiner

Please ask Mr. Wilson to ask Mr. Holmes whether the Quarry site objects are desired- they would make the site collection complete from fine triangular specimens in lot one over 3 inches long, & perfect. Many clear crystal points.

****

[Acc 6165; 39097]

Grovetown, Ga., Jan. 6, 1900

Dr. W. H. Holmes,

U. S. Museum,

Washington.

My dear Sir:

I shipped to you on yesterday one cask containing one idol vase, one large broken clay idol & one small one, from the Etowah Mounds- one large broken pot & one small perfect one from the Shoulderbone Mounds; one large pot from large Mound at Hollywood, Richmond County, Ga. At same time 2 boxes containing Shoulderbone Creek objects. Today I send per registered mail 2 paper shoe boxes of objects from the Etowah Mounds- so that they would not be mixed by sending with the Shoulderbone Creek objects.

I have finished up the Quarry Site, and I have the specimens here. Is it desirable to have them with the other Quarry objects? Being all from one site, I though perhaps it would be desirable to add them to the others. Would be glad to hear from you on the matter.

Wishing you a happy New Year,

Yours very cordially,

R. Steiner.

****

[Acc. 39097]

Grovetown, Ga. Jan. 6th 1900

My Dear Mr Wilson,

I wish you a very happy New Year & many returns. You told me I would get the transactions of “the Society for the government of [illegible]” I have receive nothing so far. [illegible] a [illegible] of admission to the next meeting. I have sent on the Etowah objects as well as the Shoulderbone Creek ones. which I hope will interest you. Whatever became of the poaper on Allen Stephenson. I have written up lots of material on Negro folk-lore, which I sent Miss [illegible] to type- [illegible] for me, when I come on in Feb. Happy New Year to all.

Yrs [illegible] sincerely

R. Steiner

****

[Acc. 6165; 39097]

Grovetown, Ga. Jan 18th 1900

Dr. W. H. Holmes

U. S. Museum

My Dear Sir:

Some ten days since I sent by registered mail 2 boxes containing specimens from Etowah Mounds. I have no return P. O. receipt as yet. Have they been received, if not let me know so Postmaster at this point can trace them

Yrs very truly

R. Steiner

_____

[Acc 6165; 39097]

Georgia Railroad,

Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co. Lessee

Grovetown Ga.

Jan 17- 1900

Dr. W. H. Holmes

U. S. Nat. Museum

Washington D. C.

Yours received. I have no statement on cask containing specimen from Etowah Mounds & Etc.

Yrs very cordially

Roland Steiner

****

[Acc?]

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM

S. P. LANGLEY

SECRETARY, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

WASHINGTON, D. C., February 24, 1900

My dear Doctor Steiner:

I wrote you yesterday, but it was a mere announcement of my safe return home.

I have been over to see Paul Brockett about sendings of yours and this is about the condition in which I find them: The boxes containing the Etowah Mound objects, the broken grooved axes from Burke Co., the rubbing-stones from Burke Col, the pot from Rome, and the idol jug from Stallings Island, eight small pottery vessels principally from Fulton County, three large urns some of which are burial principally from Columbia Co. and the Ogeechee River- these I found all around on Mr. Upham’s tables and desk and Mrs. Malone is engaged in marking them. It will be apparent, therefore, that they had arrived and been opened before Mr. Upham left. I have to take them just as they appear and can get no information except what appears on the lables. Mr. U. is still in quarantine and will not be out until March 6th.

There have been received since Mr. Upham went home, either eight or ten boxes, I don’t know which, which are stored in the basement unopened. The R. R. reports that there are no boxes there intended for the Museum- that all have been delivered that have been received. I have not yet found any trace of the kerosene cask, but I understand from you that the large burial urns were packed in it. If so, the burial urns has arrived and no accound has been taken of the cask in which they were shipped. I give you the description of enough of these vases so that you will understand what they are and know whether they were contained in this cask or not. No. 171,801, large earthen vase found on the edge of the Ogeechee River below Midville, Ga., containing charred bones shell beads and fragments of pottery. No. 171,802, large vase from burial place in Columbia Col, Ga., on Mr. Bradmany’s place. Another large vase or bowl with ornamented with festoons of little rings, it is 14 or 16 inches wide and 7 or 8 inches high. There are half a dozen other pieces of pottery from Rome, Ga., 2 skulls and 2 femurs, 2 small dishes from a burial place Parachuckla, on the S. E. side of the Savannah River. There may be other things of the same style belonging together, but this will be enough to enable you to identify and say whether it is the contents of the kerosene cask. If it is, then I think you may assume that all the sendings that you have made have arrived. This being true, I will take no further steps in this regard until I hear from you.

I have sent the books and papers by the same mail that contains this, that is, another copy of the Swastika complete, the index and addenda for the copy you now have, and a copy of my Columbus address on the beginnings of the history of Prehistory Anthropology.

This attends, I believe, to all the urgent business with which I was charged except the letter about the Universities, and that I will endeavor to write today.

My trip to Georgia, where I rested so well, has, I think, benefitted me much. I do not find any ill effects of either it or my disease remaining, thanks to the good air and the many pleasant trips I had under your most hospitable direction.

Yours very truly,

Thomas Wilson

****

[Acc 6165, 6169]

July * 1900.

Dr. Roland Steiner,

Grovetown, Georgia.

Dear Sir:

I desire to acknowledge the receipt of two collections of archaeological objects and stone implements from Etowah Mounds and Shoulderbone Creek Mounds, and from an aboriginal village and quarry site, Big Kiokee Creek, Columbia County, Georgia, recently deposited by you in the National Museum.

Yours respectfully,

Richard [illegible]

Assistant Secretary.

(Smithsonian Institution Archives, Microfilm Reel ?:85)

****

Roland Steiner’s Contributions to American Folklore

Braziel Robinson Possessed of Two Spirits. The Journal of American Folklore 13(50):226-228. Jul.-Sep., 1900

“Seeking Jesus” A Religious Rite of Negroes in Georgia. The Journal of American Folklore 14(54):172. Jul. – Sep., 1901.

“Observations on the Practice of Conjuring in Georgia,” Journal of American Folklore 14 (1901): 174-75.

Georgia Archaeology Month 2007–A Review

Click on the link below to see the 2007 Georgia Archaeology Month Poster, Front and Back:

conflict-poster-back-print200720poster200720poster1

<a href=”http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/273200o/2732004840102230757MUamFx”><img src=”http://thumb17.webshots.net/t/63/463/0/4/84/2732004840102230757MUamFx_th.jpg” alt=”ga arch. week 2007-4b”></a>

http://thumb17.webshots.net/t/63/463/0/4/84/2732004840102230757MUamFx_th.jpg

Click on the link below to obtain the Teacher’s guide by Catherine Long that accompanied the 2007 poster:

teachers20packet202007

http://www.thesga.org/Teacher’s%20Packet%202007.pdf

Preview of Coming Attractions!

Take a Peek!

The LAMAR Institute team is currently ironing out the details for several exciting projects. But isn’t there an eye looking at you right now?

From Science Frontiers:

Curious Silver Crosses From A Georgia Mound

In November of 1832, two silver crosses were extracted from an Indian mound in Murray County, Georgia, along with more usual Indian relics. The crosses are exquisitely wrought and were most likely brought to the Americas by the expedition of Hernando de Soto. Some of de Soto’s men, under Adelantado, ventured into what is now Georgia trying, among other things, to Christianize the Indian.

The puzzle of the silver crosses is not in their source but in the crude figures and inscription added to one of them. The cross shown in the figure depicts a horse on one side and an owl on the other. The inscription (too small to be read on the figure) is withing the central ring and states: IYNKICIDU, which makes no sense in any known language.

This minor mystery was first revealed in the 1881 Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution. Charles Fort took note of it in his Book of the Damned, where he pointed out that the letters C. D, and K are turned the wrong way in the inscription and, further, that the crosses, having equal arms, are not conventional crucifixes. (Pontolillo, James; “The Silver Indian Crosses of Murray County, Georgia,” INFO Journal, no. 63, p. 26, June 1991.)

****

The above article refers to an artifact from the collection of Charles Colcock Jones, Jr., who is the subject of the LAMAR Institute’s “Skeleton in the Closet Initiative”.

Digging Augusta Georgia in 1980

Have you read this one?

University of Georgia Laboratory of Archaeology, Report Series Number 22.

Archaeology and Historical Geography of the Savannah River Floodplain Near Augusta, Georgia. By Daniel Elliott and Roy Doyon. 1981. (5.9 MB)

This classic study is available in .pdf format at the address below:

http://shapiro.anthro.uga.edu/Archaeology/PDFs/Lab%20Series%2022.pdf

If Ronald Reagan had not been elected president, the Taylor Hill site described in this report would have been famous! And if John Lennon had not been shot on my birthday, oh well….

Memories of New York Cindy, Chicago Lil, Whipping Post, and shiny revolvers, Olde Towne on Greene Street

I wonder whatever happened to Roy Doyon? Maybe as do a few Viet Cong.

no joy in Lovejoy–CW battlefield to be revisited by NPS

[Elliott's note: The Battle of Lovejoy was listed in the 1993 report, but it was not afforded the significance that it deserved. The NPS plans to revisit the battlefield and reassess its status.]

News from the American Battlefield Protection Program (National Park Service) website:

Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report Update & Resurvey

Congress has called for an update of the 1993 Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields to be undertaken by the American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) of the National Park Service. This update will identify preservation opportunities and reflect changes in conditions and threats for the 384 Civil War battlefields listed in the 1993 report. The final report is intended to not only provide Congress with an update of the 1993 report, but also to provide information for Federal, State, and local agencies, and non-profit organizations to aid in planning for the preservation of Civil War battlefields.

In order to update the report, The ABPP has undertaken a resurvey of the 384 battlefields. The study has been divided into two parts: surveys for each battlefield, and collection of preservation information from organizations administering battlefield lands. The size and scope of the 1993 battlefield Study and Core area boundaries are being reassessed and surviving areas that retain integrity are being identified. The preservation information being gathered for each site includes acreage of protected lands, documentation of existing site interpretation, and cataloguing of preservation activities undertaken since 1993. To date, field surveys have been conducted at 277 battlefields in Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

More on Kettle Creek

Archaeologists seeking to solve Kettle Creek puzzles, asking for local folks’ help
By KIP BURKE news editor, News-Reporter, Washington, Georgia, June 19, 2008. [Original article]

Archaeologist Dan Elliott displays some of the artifacts his teams have found at Kettle Creek during the recent dig.

A group of archaeologists and historians have spent several days recently looking for missing pieces of the Battle of Kettle Creek puzzle, and they think the public can help them with the puzzle, too.

A team of archaeologists, historians, and students braved heat, thick woods, and impassable stands of thistles to explore the land around War Hill on a four-day fieldwork session June 12-17, hoping to locate artifacts from the Revolutionary War battle and, piece by piece, expand their knowledge of the battle.

On a previous visit to War Hill, archaeologist Dan Elliott of the Lamar Institute, Inc., and his teams had used metal detectors to find bullets and other metal objects that might have been left during the 1779 battle. They found some 32 possible battle relics, including round balls of smaller caliber bullets – buck-and ball load for non-military muskets. They also found, and recycled, modern artifacts including 15 pounds of shotgun shells, .22 shells, and beer cans.

“The way those battle relics were distributed on one particular side of the hill gave us a direction to search,” Elliott said Saturday as he examined the day’s first finds. “Based on that distribution, we got access from adjacent landowners so we could come back this week and explore areas we would expect to find the Patriot positions as they attacked the Loyalists.”

They have indeed found more bullets, and a distinctive shoe buckle from that period, part of a brass bell, and other objects. But the real value of the object is in the information that it gives about how it got there. “Each object tells us a little bit of the puzzle,” said Charles B. Baxley, editor and publisher of Southern Campaigns of the Revolution. “Dan Elliott is helping geo-reference with formal archaeology the history that has been passed down.”

Geo-referencing locates exactly the fall of bullets, for example, shot and unshot, to map exactly where the militia soldiers actually were during the battle.

That data will be combined with historical research, looking in library collections, deeds and plats, veterans pension applications and muster lists to form the most accurate history of the battle possible. “We’ll gather up all that archaeology and history can tell us,” Baxley said, “and hope that we have enough to tell the story.”

And neighbors in Wilkes County who have explored the area for years can help document the battle’s history. “We know folks have been out here with metal detectors for 40 years,” Elliott said, “and we’re not looking to prosecute anybody and we sure don’t need another bullet. But what we do need is information. We’d just like to know what you found, and where you found it, best you can recall. That information is what’s important to us, and any information could really be a great deal of help.”

To share information on old Kettle Creek finds, contact the City of Washington’s Main Street Manager David Jenkins in the City Hall Annex, or call 706-678-4654.

[EDITING NOTE:  Elliott, not Elliot]

Kettle Creek: Patriots 1, Loyalists 0

Kettle Creek dig providing new insights into 1779 battle

Mark Pollard, left, and Mike Benton search last month at the 1779 battle site in Wilkes County.
Tricia Spaulding /Staff

A fragment from a Revolutionary War musket ball.
Tricia Spaulding /Staff

Items discovered during archaeological digs at Kettle Creek are tracked with GPS coordinates so that clashes can be reconstructed later.
Tricia Spaulding /Staff

The battle near the Wilkes County town of Washington pitted Loyalists against Patriots.

By Crystal Owens | crystal.owens@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 11:46 PM on Wednesday, July 2, 2008

WASHINGTON – An archaeological dig in Wilkes County has opened a 229-year-old window to one of the pivotal points in the early years of the American Revolutionary War – and there’s evidence that it’s not exactly the way the history books tell it.

For centuries following the Feb. 14, 1779, battle at Kettle Creek, stories passed down through the generations pitted 350 Patriots against 700 Loyalists on only 12 acres of land.

But archaeologists have found evidence that the three-hour running battle stretched over at least 500 acres of property surrounding the traditional site where a monument and cemetery now stand.

Nine men and women working with The LAMAR Institute, a Savannah-based nonprofit archaeological research organization, last month unearthed dozens of musket balls, buttons, pieces of weapons and evidence of small farmsteads during a five-day dig on the 500 acres of property.

The study, funded through a $40,000, two-year grant from the National Park Service and the city of Washington, could lead to plans for a battleground park, city officials have said.

Each discovery in last month’s dig gave researchers a look into the day when the militiamen routed twice their number in new British recruits and made Southerners think twice about staying loyal to the Crown.

“This, by all accounts, was a guerrilla war,” said Dan Elliott, LAMAR Institute president and archaeologist. “This was neighbor against neighbor.”

And neighbors were definitely part of the battle – even if they didn’t want to be involved.

Evidence of at least three farmsteads – hand-wrought nails, collapsed chimneys and horseshoes – were found during the dig about 500 feet south of the battlefield monument, along with a few musket balls.

MULTIMEDIA SLIDESHOW: Check out an audio slideshow as Dan Elliott with the LAMAR Institute talks about the Kettle Creek dig: View slideshow

“Right now, we’re getting a rough idea of what life was like for people when this battle was raging on around them,” Elliott said.

The Patriots lost only seven men in the Battle of Kettle Creek, but dozens were injured and taken to a location north of War Hill – the traditional battlefield site – for treatment, researchers found.

Archaeologists found evidence during the dig to back up their theory about the location of this field hospital.

At least 18 buttons, likely from clothing that was ripped off men in order to treat their wounds, were found in one concentrated area – an unlikely discovery in an area that over the years has been picked over by artifact seekers, Elliott said.

The Kettle Creek battle was a vicious fight between Loyalists recruited by Col. James Boyd in South Carolina to fight on the side of the Crown and Patriots who were not ready for Georgia to be claimed by the British.

Historical accounts of the battle say an army led by Col. Andrew Pickens, Col. John Dooly and Lt. Col. Elijah Clarke tracked Boyd on his way to Augusta as he circled around through Wilkes County to avoid a Patriot army encamped on the Savannah River.

Pickens split his men into three groups and tried to sneak up on Boyd’s recruits while they camped at Kettle Creek, but scouts saw them.

Boyd was able to muster about 100 men to meet Pickens’ 140 at the top of a steep hill. Boyd was mortally wounded, causing the new troops to panic and retreat back to the camp.

Dooly was stuck in a canebrake on one side of the camp, but Clarke charged in from the other side.

In the end, 20 Loyalists were killed and 22 taken captive. About half the rest went back to South Carolina and the other half went on to Augusta, Elliott said.

Archaeologists believe they found the location of the Loyalists’ last stand.

Southwest of the traditional battlefield, metal detectors uncovered musket balls and musket ball fragments from a secluded hill off of Salem Church Road.

The fragments likely are evidence that musket balls hit trees as the loyalists crouched behind for protection, said David Battle, assistant director of the LAMAR Institute.

Researchers hope to label the musket balls as Patriot- or Loyalist-owned by determining the caliber and amount of lead found in each bullet, Battle said.

The rough terrain obviously was no problem for the Patriots, he said.

“These were woodsmen,” Battle said. “They were good shots who were used to fighting behind stumps and trees.”

Elliott said researchers likely will release an officially report of the team’s findings later this year.

Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 070308

Good Morning Class, Today We Will Discuss…

Prehistory of Georgia\’s Barrier Islands

Prehistory of Georgia’s Barrier Islands.

Just sit back and watch my nifty powerpoint show.

Report to Congress on Revolutionary War/War of 1812

Alabama Battlefield Report by Southern Research

Above is the CD version of a report that I authored (with lots of help from others, including Rita F. Elliott, Tracy M. Dean, and Debra J. Wells. Simply click the smaller icon and the .pdf file will download.

Six years later, the final results of this project have been completed by the National Park Service. Here is the press release:  press-release-nps-battlefield-report

Follow the link below to read and download the recently released report to the United States Congress by the National Park Service on the status of America’s Revolutionary War and War of 1812 battlefields and associated sites:

http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/Rev1812_Final_Report.pdf

or you should be able to download it from here by clicking below:

rev1812_final_report

I was head of a team that examined a list of sites in Alabama for this project. We prepared a lengthy report and compiled lots of primary data. The NPS report used our information to write their report. I also assisted Matt McDaniel in his study of Georgia’s battlefields, which he reported. Matt McDaniel also used some of the information for his Masters thesis at the University of Georgia, which is available for free download at their library website.

Glen Mary Plantation

Glen Mary plantation is a shining white gem in the green landscape of piedmont Georgia. Its owner, Marilyn Meyers, secured a grant from the Save America’s Treasures program of the National Park Service to document and preserve this important cultural complex.

Initial archaeological investigations of the Glen Mary plantation in rural Hancock County, Georgia were conducted by the LAMAR Institute over one weekend in 2004. This limited effort identified several areas around the grounds of the manor house at Glen Mary that may have archaeological significance. Shown below is archaeologist and historic preservationist Tracy M. Dean uncovering a previously unknown walkway that lead to the main entrance of Glen Mary. In addition to her budding skills as an archaeologist, Tracy is an accomplished architectural historian. Recently, Tracy completed an extensive inventory of the built historical architecture of Hancock County for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The report of the Glen Mary plantation work is available for free online download as a .pdf file at this link. 84. Preliminary Archaeological Examination of the Glen Mary Plantation, Hancock County, Georgia. By Daniel T. Elliott, 2004 (0.7 MB).

North End Plantation, Ossabaw Island, GA

The John Morrell family built a plantation on the northern end of Ossabaw Island in Georgia. Curiously enough, it was known as North End plantation. John Morrell was of Swiss ancestry and came to Georgia with his parents from Purysburg, South Carolina. That was in 1760, zoom forward to 2004. The LAMAR Institute was added to the historic preservation team to document, explore, and restore the remains of the North End Plantation. This project was funded by a “Save America’s Treasures” grant, other grants from the Robert Woodruff Foundation, my buddy the actress from Tybee Island, and others. Over the next three years a series of archaeological field visits documented aspects of this important barrier island plantation. That research was documented in two voluminous technical reports, authored by me with contributions from several others. The first of these reports is available online at the LAMAR Institute’s website in .pdf format. Visit http://lamarnistitute.org/reports.htm

The second report is not widely available yet. This particular project captured the interest of the local, state, and national media. Photo of dig at top right is by Stephen Morton, a great photographer! Photo below is credited to a famous Savannah photographer. Photo of the woodstorks is by me and taken in the morning at North End Plantation. More archaeology and history work at the North End plantation is in the works. And here are a few other links that give a different perspective:

Smithsonian Magazine, by Eric Wills

www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/sea_island_strata.html

Associated Press (AP), by Russ Bynum (photos by Stephen Morton)

http://www.staugustine.com/stories/022705/nat_2915812.shtml

Preservation Online, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, by Rachel Adams (photo by Stephen Morton)

Getty Images, by Stephen Morton

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-105296560.html

Atlanta Journal Constitution, by Stacy Shelton

www.ajc.com/news/content/travel/southeast/ga_stories/2006/11/26/1127meshtabby.html

Atlanta Journal Constitution, by Mike Toner

http://www.diaspora.uiuc.edu/news0906/news0906.html

Connect Savannah, by Michael Jordan (no, not the basketball player)

http://www.connectsavannah.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A2504

The Ossabaw Oracle, by the Ossabaw Island Foundation

www.ossabawisland.org/oracle/Ossabaw%20Oracle%20Spring%202005.pdf

and

www.ossabawisland.org/oracle/Ossabaw%20Oracle%20Spring%202007.pdf

Kettle Creek Battlefield

The LAMAR Institute’s archaeological team completed fieldwork of the Kettle Creek Revolutionary War battlefield this week. Now the fun part begins, washing, analyzing, mapping, etc. We found several areas related to the battle over about a 1,000 acre or more area. It was a dizzying assortment of metal detectors, GPS and GPR devices and bug spray. The ticks were only moderately bad and we only saw one copperhead and it was dead. A report is due in November. I have attached a photo of folks surveying a Revolutionary War cemetery with the GPR equipment. Shown here are project volunteers, Sheldon, Judy, and Gail. The cemetery, which was created in the 1970s, contains mostly cenotaphs and relocated grave markers but the GPR survey should indicate which markers are truly grave markers.

It’s the years and the mileage…

Most archaeologists that I know love Indiana Jones. The four movies are invigorating and they reinforce what we all became archaeologists for in the first place, well, sort of…
I have just returned from the theatre and the 4th movie in the trilogy. I liked it, I only caught one error in the chronology, if you don’t count the few thousand years that were jumbled up in the story, and that is, the movie is supposed to be based in 1957, but the Rolodex, which Indy has, was not in production until 1958. So, did he have access to a pre-production model or what?

Tighten up there Steve and George–
But don’t stop making movies!

Joel Jones nominated for National Register?

Joel Jones, renowned Georgia archaeologist recently reached a major milestone of one-half century in age. Joel, a native of Rome, Georgia, has worked on many LAMAR Institute archaeological projects, as well as many decades of service to Universities and private Cultural Resource Management (CRM) firms. We honor him in 2008 and pose the question, should someone nominate him for the National Register of Historic Places? Or, perhaps he has been too remodeled and modified over the years to meet the eligibility requirements? Nawh! Rita and I made him a pop-up book for his birthday (our first attempt). Below are a few pages from the book, which is titled:
Tripod Jones and his Crowfield Adventures.

Go Tom Go!!!!

TOM GRESHAM RECEIVES ARCHAEOLOGY SERVICE AWARD

Thomas H. Gresham, M.A.

At this year’s spring meeting of The Society for Georgia Archaeology (SGA), Thomas H. Gresham was presented the Joseph R. Caldwell Award for outstanding service to Georgia Archaeology. The Caldwell Award recognizes those individuals dedicating a noteworthy amount of time and energy toward supporting an archaeological project; making outstanding contributions in the area of public education and Georgia archeology; and providing substantial support for SGA and its programs over time.

Mr. Gresham has been dedicated to preserving the history and prehistory of Georgia and making that information available to the public, often by donating his time and expertise, often behind the scenes, for the past thirty years. As a principal in Southeastern Archeological Services cultural resource management firm, Tom has performed archaeological investigations in an ethical and professional manner, resulting in the identification and protection of hundreds of sites in Georgia. He has also pursued research interests such as his investigation of historic rock piles and aided in interpretation of these sites. An Eagle Scout, he has volunteered with the Boy Scouts of America in investigations around Clark Hill Reservoir as well as made numerous presentations to school groups, library groups, and others to raise awareness of Georgia’s archaeological resources. He is past President of the Georgia Council of Professional Archaeologists, long time officer and board member of the LAMAR Institute and President of the Oglethorpe County Historical Society. Tom has worked for the protection of human burials and was on the committee that drafted Georgia’s burial law, OGA 36-72. In addition, as a governor-appointed member of the Georgia Council on American Indian Concerns since its inception, Tom has provided archaeological expertise in dealing with burial issues brought before the Council as well as assisted in producing information to explain the laws and landowner rights to the public and developers. He has devoted innumerable volunteer hours as an active member of SGA. He is currently serving his second term as Secretary of SGA, having served a 4-year term as board member prior to taking this office and for five years prior to that as Profile editor. During his term as board member, he was instrumental in preparation of the application for 501(c)3 status as well as providing the solution for a permanent address for the organization. As Secretary he has continued to manage the member database, coordinate new member services, and provide support for Early Georgia distribution. Notably, he was the mover and shaker behind the recent acquisition of the Athens Clarke County regional library’s retired bookmobile for refitting as SGA’s archaeology mobile, and secured the $5,000 grant from Georgia Transmission Corporation to cover the cost of getting the bus wrapped/painted!

The award, last presented in 2007 to Rita Elliott, reflects the many contributions of Joseph Ralston Caldwell, whose archaeological fieldwork in Georgia and work in the Southeastern U.S. began at the Works Progress Administration excavations near Savannah during the late Depression. He served as Professor of Anthropology at the University of Georgia from 1967 until his death in 1973. The first Caldwell Award was presented in 1990 to long-time SGA member George S. Lewis, followed by Frankie Snow in 1992, Jim Langford in 1993, David Chase in 2000, and Betsy Shirk in 2004.

Recent Finds–Jeremy Inlet, Edisto Island, S.C.

• May 6, 2008, Rincon, Georgia, Fresh from the beach.

Archaeologists have known about the paleontological fossil site at the north end of Edisto Island at Jeremy Inlet since at least the 1960s. The Charleston Museum has fossils from this place dating back to at least the 1820s and possibly earlier. I became aware of this place in 1978 when I first vacationed at the Edisto Island State Park with my colleague Jean H. McPherson. Over the course of the next 30 years, I made numerous visits to that place and surface collected fossils. As a casual visitor, I managed to accumulate a sizable collection of fossils from this site. I have also observed other finds made by friends and acquaintances.

The fossil deposit has yielded a rich assortment of Pliocene and Pleistocene fossils. These include both land and marine creatures both big and small. The land animals include mammoth, mastadon, giant sloth, bison, horse, camel, capybara, deer, elk, large cats, various turtles, and numerous small mammals. The marine animals include whales, dolphins, manatees, many species of sharks and rays, drum fish, and numerous other species.

Jeremy Inlet also contains an impressive assortment of prehistoric pottery and a few chipped stone tools. The pottery dates to several periods from the Terminal Archaic (Stallings Series and Thoms Creek Series), Early-Middle Woodland (Deptford Series) to various complicated stamped and cord marked types (untyped but probably Middle Woodland through Late Mississippian). The stone tools that I have observed included stemmed and triangular projectile points of Late Archaic through Late Woodland age. The area on both sides of Jeremy Inlet also has a thin veneer of historic artifacts from the late 18th through late 19th centuries, including brick, ceramics, glass, nails, and other metal items, which are mostly the remains of the village of Eddington–a settlement that was destroyed by hurricanes in the 1890s.

H.S. Ladd (1939) provides an important discussion of the Edisto fossil deposits in a National Park Service publication. He provides a partial list and several black and white photographs of terrestrial species found as fossils at Edisto by CCC workers in the 1930s. He also offers some interpretations as to the source and taphonomy of this fossil bed.

A state park employee reported finding a human long bone on the beach at Edisto Island in the 1970s. The report of this find was published in a brief article in a South Carolina archaeology journal. The current whereabouts of this very important fossil find is unknown to me.

In the late 1970s Paleontologist (and sometimes archaeologist) Janet Roth excavated a small test unit in the marsh at Edisto Island for her M.S. thesis (See Roth and Laerm 1980). My friend and archaeologist Greg Paulk assisted Ms. Roth in this undertaking. Sanders (2002) contains further discussion of the finds at Edisto Island by Roth and her colleagues.

Fossil collectors have been particularly busy at Edisto over the past three decades. Many fossils have been removed from the beach by collectors (including myself) and the ultimate disposition of most of these collections is unknown. Steps need to be taken to compensate for this steady drain on the resource base. The South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology has maintained a hobby diver program for several decades and this program partially addresses this issue. Under this program divers who scour the murky bottoms of the numerous blackwater rivers and streams that drain the South Carolina coastal plain are registered with the state.

Two recent fossil finds at Jeremy Inlet warrant special mention. The first is a small fossilized (black) fragment of a rib from an unidentified large mammal, which exhibits a “bullet-shaped” drill hole in cross-section. The artifacts has two or more striations, which are oriented perpendicular to the long axis of the drill hole. These striations probably represent marks left by the drill bit as the drill was removed and the drilling residue removed and the drill bit then reinserted into the hole. This artifact was found by Dan Elliott in April, 2008. It was found on the beach surface on the south side of Scott’s Branch at Jeremy Inlet, approximately 50 meters below the high-water dune margin. Two photographs of this object are shown below (on metric graph paper).

Close-up view of possible Paleoindian bone tool, showing drill striations.

Possible drilled tool from Jeremy Inlet, Colleton County, SC, USA

The other important find was a section of cranium (skull cap) of what appears to be a Homo Sapien Sapien. This item has been fossilized and is light chocolate brown to medium brown in color. It contains several parallel cut marks on its surface, which may be intentional. While this skull is petrified, it is not as discolored as most of the fossil bones from Edisto Island. This artifact was found by a local resident of Edisto Island, who has been actively collecting fossils and artifacts from Jeremy Inlet for the past five years. Her collection was briefly examined by Dan Elliott in May, 2008. This collection also contains many Stallings and Thoms Creek pottery sherds, as well as later wares.

References

Ladd, 1939, Land Animals from the Sea, The Regional Review III(3): (NPS), http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/regional_review/vol3-3b.htm

Roth, Janet A., and Josh Laerm, 1980, A Late Pleistocene Vertebrate Assemblage from Edisto Island, South Carolina. Brimleyana 3:1-29.

Sanders, Albert E., 2002, Additions to the Pleistocene Mammal Faunas of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Relevant Links:

Lennon, Gered, 1996, Living with the South Carolina Coast, Nature, pp 108-110, http://books.google.com

Paleo Direct, 2008, Land Mammal Fossils, http://www.paleodirect.com/mammalfossils.htm

Paleontological Research Institution, 2008, Beachcombing for Fossils, http://www.priweb.org/ed/earthtrips/Edisto/jeremy.html

Sport Diver Archaeology Management Program, Maritime Research Division, FAQ, S.C. I.A.A., 2008, http://www.cas.sc.edu/SCIAA/mrd/sdamp_hdl_faqs.html

The Paleobiology Database, http://paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=displayCollectionDetails&collection_no=65405

GPR at Theus Plantation–Yesterday’s News

Yesterday, I conducted a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey of a portion of the Theus plantation at Palmetto Bluff, Beaufort County, South Carolina. I was ably assisted by archaeologists Ellen Shlasko, Kris Lockyear, Katrina Epps, Heather Cline, Jessie Ann Larson, and others at Integrated Archaeological Services, Bluffton, SC. This study was also covered by the local news media (The Island Packet, see archives for 04/08/08 at islandpacket.com). The preliminary survey results look very intriguing. Stay tuned for more! Oh, and we had good press coverage, see photo below of Island Packet reporter Liz Mitchell and a typical GPRchaeologist

Text of article from Savannah Morning News, May 30, 2008, by Doug Wyatt:

Archaeologists dig into Palmetto Bluff’s rich history
By Doug Wyatt
Created 2008-05-29 23:30

Palmetto Bluff, near Bluffton, is a swanky place. On the community’s 20,000 acres, you’ll find plenty of stunning scenery, not to mention elegant homes, a spa, tennis courts and other trappings of modern affluent living.

It’s been highly-prized land for a long time, Mary Socci reminds us.

“What’s prime real estate now was prime real estate during the Civil War,” she says. “Not to mention 4,000 years ago.”

Socci is Palmetto Bluff’s archaeologist. In 2004, Palmetto Bluff contracted with Integrated Archaeological Services to dig into the area’s rich history. The community is in its “second phase” of construction, with much of the area still undeveloped.

Working alongside a team from IAS headed by Ellen Shlasko, Socci and her staff have spent the past several years finding and recording the area’s historical and cultural sites. Federal and state laws require developers to document such sites before they build on the land.

Plantation left few clues

The search for the sites often isn’t easy. Theus Plantation, for example, was once a 1,000-acre working farm in the area. Early written records are vague, but a British sea captain owned the property in the 1730s. James T. Theus bought the property in 1830; he raised livestock and harvested corn, peas, beans and cotton on the land.

Obviously there were structures on the estate, but archaeologists haven’t been able to find them. Their only clue was a series of faint fence-post holes.

“We basically have a field that has been plowed for centuries,” Socci said. “There are all sorts of artifacts lying on top of the group, but they’re jumbled up. It’s been plowed so much we’ve lost all context for what we’re finding.”

Among the numerous artifacts that have been discovered are handmade nails, animal bones, pieces of ceramic, buttons made from bone and glass. The items were crafted over millennia; the area has been inhabited, Socci said, since at least around 2000 B.C.

Bringing in the radar

The real story of the Theus Plantation era is found a couple of feet below the field’s surface. What the archaeologists needed was a gizmo that could see through the soil and tell them what might lie underneath.

Dan Elliott, fortunately, has such a machine.

Elliott is a research archaeologist and president of the Savannah-based LAMAR institute. Since 1982, the nonprofit group has conducted archaeological research across the Southeast, embarking on such wide-ranging projects as a study of the Oconee River Valley’s aboriginal mound sites and a survey of previously unstudied colonial period settlements in Georgia and South Carolina.

Elliott owns ground-penetrating radar equipment that sends pulses underground and detects “bounce-back” signals. His GPR machine, resembling a lawnmower with a computer screen atop it, can show and record objects up to 6 feet below the surface. With the device, he can detect foundations, walls, wells and small artifacts without disturbing the soil.

One day in April, Elliott donated his time and his machine to Palmetto Bluff, helping Socci and Shlasko unearth Theus Plantation’s long-buried secrets. In a few short hours, he detected underground post holes and what might be a well. Both would indicate structures, possibly even a house, on the site.

The GPR, Elliott said, “saves a lot of time and manpower. This technology makes us smarter and more efficient, but it will never replace people digging in the dirt.”

A slow process

On a recent warm day, archaeologists JaColeman Hutto and Jessie Lerson carefully scraped away at the earth, exploring the spot where Elliott thinks he detected a well.

“It’s a slow, painstaking process,” Lerson said. “But it’s great being outside. Working inside somewhere filing and collating would be a lot worse.”

About 30 sites of possible historical and cultural importance have been found at Palmetto Bluff, Socci said. “About half of them are Native-American sites; the others are plantation sites.” Her archaeologists, she said, are “down to the last few sites” requiring excavation.

The thousands of artifacts gleaned from the sites are being stored for future study by researchers; some are already on display in the community’s museum.

Many of Palmetto Bluff’s residents, Socci said, have shown a strong interest in learning about the area’s long history.

“It’s a fascinating place,” she said.
For photographs that accompany the article visit: savannahnow.com

The Ground Truth!

The true test of GPR is excavation, and Ellen and her crew tested several GPR anomalies that I recommended for study. The results were very good, in that the GPR anomalies proved to locate cultural features. Some were a little boring maybe, but cultural features none the less.

GPR Plan map of Theus Plantation 2008

Above is one of the GPR maps. Note the row of circular anomalies at about 20 m north. Below is what was located in the vicinity of one strong circular anomaly, which was located at about 20 m north and 23 m east of the 0 0 point.

GPR Anomaly Verified!

Volunteering in Archaeology in Savannah

The Society for Georgia Archaeology (SGA) has been around for many decades and is a blend of professionals and amateurs. It has several regional chapters and in our area, this is the Coastal Georgia Archaeological Society (CGAS). There is also a chapter in Brunswick called the Golden Isles Archaeological Society. The next bi-annual meeting of the SGA is at Fernbank Museum in Atlanta on April 26, 2008. More information about the SGA and its programs can be found at their website: http://thesega.org/

On the opposite side of the river is the Archaeological Society of South Carolina (ASSC). It has annual meetings in the Columbia area. A very active chapter is located on Hilton Head Island. The ASSC has a very interesting meeting and low country boil date coming up on April 19. More information at their website: http://www.assc.net/

Some of these chapters get involved in excavations. most of the time they get monthly speakers on archaeology topics and have seasonal get-togethers. Some professionals involve these groups in their excavations, although increasingly liability issues and client requirements prohibit this. Our organization, The LAMAR Institute, Inc., will use volunteers on a selective basis. Other potential local opportunities to volunteer include the Coastal Heritage Society. The next event where a volunteer would be useful is their Archaeofest on May 31. It is geared mostly for kids. Their website is http://chsgeorgia.org/

The LAMAR Institute (http://lamarinstitute.org) is currently seeking volunteers for a project at the Kettle Creek Revolutionary War battlefield in Wilkes County, Georgia, June 12-17. More information on it is at the AIA Fieldwork Opportunities website: http://www.archaeological.org/webinfo.php?page=10036&search_region=1

There is also the Topper Site in Allendale County, which is a long-term excavation by my friend and colleague Dr. Al Goodyear. His website is: http://www.allendale-expedition.net/

As far as recording archaeological sites in the files, this is something that individuals can do, and are encouraged to do. The State of Georgia keeps its archaeological site inventory at the University of Georgia. More info on that is at: http://shapiro.anthro.uga.edu/GASF/

To learn about archaeology ethics, information can be found at the Register of Professional Archaeologists, http://rpanet.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=2

There is also information about Archaeology and Volunteers at the Society for Historical Archaeology at: http://sha.org/EHA/secondary/volunteer.cfm

Nash Farm Battlefield Park Opens

Here is a Youtube link to a video interview with B.J. Mathis as she discusses the recent history of the Nash Farm battlefield park at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMqMH9ynI-8

Henry County’s Nash Farm Battlefield Park is Now Open!

March 15, 2008, Hampton/Lovejoy, Georgia

Henry County, Georgia officially opened it’s Nash Farm Battlefield Park for daily public use on this date. This 204 acre park occupies the site of a fierce Civil War Cavalry battle and a later major Infantry battle. The park, located along the Clayton-Henry County line east of Lovejoy, Georgia, is mostly in former cattle and buffalo pasture and it represents a fast-disappearing rural landscape on the outskirts of metropolitan Atlanta. In 2007 the LAMAR Institute conducted a historical archaeology survey of the battlefield. The report from this study, authored by Daniel Elliott and Tracy M. Dean, was submitted to Henry County Government in August, 2007. This same report is available to the public online at this link:

Click the link below for a .pdf version of the LAMAR Institute’s report on the Nash Farm battlefield:

publication-123

or for a copy of the same report in Microsoft Word format, click on:

Nash Farm Battlefield: History and Archaeology, LAMAR Institute Publication Series, Report 123. The LAMAR Institute, Savannah, Georgia, 2007.

For more historical information, visit Henry County’s website for the Nash Farm Battlefield Park at http://www.henrycountybattlefield.com/

Atlanta’s Sprawl Threatens Georgia’s Greenspaces.

Marty Willett–Man with a Plan (for Fort Hawkins)

 Fort Hawkins Master Plan Unveiled

March, 2008, Macon, Georgia

The Fort Hawkins Commission, led by Chairman Marty Willett, have published their Master Plan for the future of Fort Hawkins. Willett’s ambitious$3.5 million dollar stewardship plan addresses the needs for the fort and should result in a wonderful heritage tourist attraction for Macon and central Georgia. The LAMAR Institute is delighted to have been a part of this effort and we look forward to continued participation in bringing this strategically important United States Army post, circa 1806-1819, back to life through historical archaeology.

See also this recent newspaper article by Matt Barnwell in the March 28 edition of the Macon Telegraph, posted online at http://www.macon.com/149/story/307025.html

Kettle Creek Revolutionary War Battlefield Project

SEEKING PRIMARY DOCUMENTS ABOUT THE BATTLE

We are currently searching for primary documents relating to the February 14, 1779 battle at Kettle Creek in Wilkes County, Georgia. If you have any letters, maps, military documents, or other primary records from the time of the battle, or other (reliable) secondary documents that are obscure, we would love to see them and take a digital photo for use in our current research project. If you would like to help, contact: dantelliott@windstream.net

Kettle Creek Battlefield

Description
Archaeological survey of the Kettle Creek battlefield in rural Wilkes County, Georgia began in February 2008. A second phase of the field survey will continue to build on the discoveries made during the initial work. The battle of Kettle Creek on February 14, 1779 was a fight between North Carolina and South Carolina Loyalist militia and Georgia and South Carolina Patriot militia. The Patriots emerged the victors in this three hour firefight. Although casualties were relatively slight, this Patriot victory sent a powerful signal to the British invaders that Loyalist support in the Southern colonies was far less than expected. The survey will make detailed topographic maps of the battlefield and carefully locate and recover battle related artifacts. This project is funded by the US Dept Interior, National Park Service, Preserve America grant program and the City of Washington, Georgia.

Contact information

Daniel T. Elliott
P.O. Box 2992
Savannah, Georgia 31402
United States of America
7063417796
dantelliott@windstream.net

Bibliography
Robert Scott Davis, Jr., Georgians in the Revolution: at Kettle Creek (Wilkes Co.) and Burke County. Southern Historical Press, . Easley, 1986.Janet H. Standard, The Battle of Kettle Creek: A Turning Point of the American Revolution in the South. Wilkes Publishing Company. Washington, GA, 1973.

Archaeofest 2008

ArchaeoFest 2008

May 31

SOLD OUT!

10AM-3PM
Phone: (912) 651-6850
Admission: Yes
Location: Battlefield Memorial Park, corner of MLK and Louisville Rd., Savannah, GA

Visit the Coastal Heritage Society’s webpage at http://chsgeorgia.org for more information.
A one-of-a-kind hands-on experience with archaeology. Kids of all ages will enjoy learning about the “real-life CSI” techniques historical detectives employ to learn secrets from the past. Activities, puppet show, ground penetrating radar (GPR) demonstration–Fun for adults too! Sponsored by the Savannah History Museum, Coastal Heritage Society, Savannah.

KEEP TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR ARCHAEOFEST 2009!

Archaeology of Savannah’s Revolutionary Past

PRESS RELEASE

COASTAL HERITAGE SOCIETY

For release Friday, March 21, 2008

Archaeologists Discover Artifacts from 1779 Battle of Savannah in Madison Square

Today Coastal Heritage Society archaeologists unearthed several artifacts from the October 1779 Battle of Savannah in Madison Square in downtown Savannah. Lead archaeologist Rita Elliott and her team discovered two musket balls—one French, the other British—as well as a shoe buckle, a brass ring, and lots of loose brick fragments, in the northeast corner of Madison Square (the corner sandwiched between the DeSoto Hilton Hotel and E. Shaver, Bookseller). The discoveries come on the fifth and final day of a series of digs that began in Emmett Park on East Bay Street.

Elliott believes the site occupies the location of a French and American false attack on British lines, designed to distract attention away from the main attack on the Spring Hill Redoubt—now the site of Battlefield Memorial Park on MLK and Louisville Road. The brick fragments may be remnants of a former military barracks which were torn down prior to the battle to provide cover for British troops defending the city. Ironically, today’s discoveries took place in the shadow of a monument to Sgt. William Jasper, who died in the 1779 battle.

Quick facts:

• The work is funded by a $37,857 American Battlefield Protection Program grant from the National Park Service.
• The team used computer software to match modern maps with more than a dozen historical maps, and pinpoint the most likely place to find artifacts.
• The team is headed by CHS Archaeologist Rita Elliott, who also headed the CHS team that found artifacts and fortifications on Battlefield Memorial Park in 2005. archaeologists Dan Elliott and Laura Seifert round out the team, along with veteran volunteer archaeologist Carl Arndt.
• This is a year-long project with multiple phases of research, field work, lab work, and report writing.
• Between 8,000 and 12,000 troops took part in the October 1779 battle. The British forces defeated a combined French and American army, and roughly 800 soldiers were killed or wounded.

This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior.

UPDATE: 04/20/2008.

Since this past Monday our crew dug up six feet of Revolutionary
War dirt, actually only 5 feet as the top 1 foot covered the period from 1783-
2008.  In the top 3 feet of it was the backfill dirt that was put there in late
1782 by Major General Anthony Wayne (fellow PA guy) and his men. Beneath that
is 2 more feet covering the period from September 1779-mid 1782. The very
bottom 6 inches or so is the Siege of Savannah layer, September and October
1779. It had small lead musket balls, possibly from Pulaski's Legion. We were
in a British ditch outside of an earthen fort. We discovered it about a month
ago and returned this week for a bigger sample. We found it through several
means including historical map research, GPR survey, and dumb luck. Our 2 meter
by 2 meter test unit came down on the edge of it perfectly so that we also have
a good idea of its orientation. This part of the Savannah battlefield was lost
since soon after General Wayne's men filled it in. Oh, and in the level just
above the battle, which had lots of post-battle debris, we found a single lead
musket ball that was made into a die. Lucky seven, lucky seven.
It was in great condition.
The British troops that garrisoned this part
of the defenses were "Armed negroes and pickets", or the enslaved people
belonging to Loyalist jerks and some watchful sharpshooters. The crack British
troops were kept safe from harm, about a half mile to the northeast.