Past and Current Activities and Projects  

Past Activities

The Oconee Valley Project was initiated by Lamar Institute associates Mark Williams and the late Gary Shapiro in the early 1980s with the intent to locate, map, and gather baseline information on all aboriginal mound sites in the Oconee River valley of central Georgia. The project was an offshoot of the University of Georgia's Lake Oconee salvage project. The project includes archaeological field research at the Copeland site (near Greensboro, Georgia),  King Bee site (near Eatonton, Georgia), Little River mounds (near Madison, Georgia), the Sawyer site (near Dublin, Georgia), Scull Shoals mounds (near Greensboro, Georgia), Shinholser mounds (near Milledgeville, Georgia), and Shoulderbone mounds (near Sparta, Georgia). The project efforts have since spread to incorporate adjacent watersheds (Savannah River and Ocmulgee River) and include survey, mapping, and test excavation of other aboriginal sites in northern Georgia including: Beaverdam Mound (near Elberton, Georgia; Bullard's Landing Mounds, Browns Mount, and Lamar Mound (near Macon, Georgia); Fortson Mound (near Washington, Georgia); and Ramona's Mound (near Abbeville, South Carolina). The project also incorporates many surface surveys, which consisted of a systematic search for all archaeological sites within vast timber clearcuts and agricultural fields. Together these excavation and survey data help to reconstruct the patterns of prehistoric settlement in central Georgia on a scale never before witnessed. Most of these excavations and surveys are documented in the Lamar Institute Report Series.

Salvage excavations and site stabilization at the Lower Cherokee town of Tamassee, Oconee County, South Carolina were conducted by the Lamar Institute in 1984 in conjunction with the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology (SCIAA), University of South Carolina. The published results of this work are available through the Research Manuscript Series, SCIAA, Columbia, S.C. For information about obtaining digital version sof the Tamassee report, contact Jonathan Leader (S.C. State Archaeologist) at SCIAA.

In 1987 the LAMAR Institute launched a research initiative, known as "Lost City Survey" , which focused on previously unstudied colonial period settlements in Georgia and South Carolina. The centerpiece of this work is New Ebenezer, Georgia, which was a town settled by Pietist Lutherans from the Alps. Survey and Excavations of the colonial town of  New Ebenezer, Effingham County, Georgia are ongoing. Survey and/or excavations have been conducted on several other colonial towns in coastal Georgia, including: Abercorn,  Bethany,  Mount Pleasant, Old Ebenezer, and Vernonburg . The LAMAR Institute, working in cooperation with the Diachronic Research Foundation, Inc., Columbia, S.C., surveyed the site of  Jamestown, South Carolina, which was another "dead town" that was founded on the lower Santee River by French Huguenots in 1706. Most of the Lamar Institute's "Lost City" research is documented in the Lamar Institute Report Series. Many of these towns were discussed more than a century ago in the book, Dead Towns of Georgia, by Charles C. Jones, Jr.

The Lost Cities research was recently expanded to include Sunbury in Liberty County and San Savilla in Wayne County, Georgia, which are discussed below. Sunbury is one of C.C. Jones Jr.'s "Dead Towns", which is now showing signs of new life as a coastal development.

Other lost settlements that were the subject of earlier research by LAMAR Institute include Petersburg, Georgia and New Bordeaux and Purysburg, South Carolina. For more information on the research at New Bordeaux and Purysburg, click here.

Our continuing research initiative, Georgia Pre-Civil War Forts Survey, has made good progress in the past several years. The goal of the initiative is to inventory, locate, and assess military sites in Georgia built prior to 1861. The LAMAR Institute's inventory of potential military sites in Georgia, dating prior to 1861, presently stands at 328 and growing. Can you name them all?

In 2001 the LAMAR Institute delved into the Revolutionary War archaeological sites in coastal Georgia. These projects, which are part of the institute's "Pre-Civil War Forts Initiative", seek to identify, protect, and interpret important fort and battlefield sites in this region of Georgia. This project was boosted with the generous support of the National Park Service's American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP). The LAMAR Institute was awarded research grants from the ABPP in 2001 to explore New Ebenezer's role as a headquarters for the American Patriot and British armies who were engaged in the Southern campaigns in 1778 to 1783. The "Ebenezer Revolutionary War Headquarters" project identified many important fortifications, defensive trenches, campsites, graves, and other archaeological resources. Historical research was a vital component in this research effort. That work, which was conducted from January 2002 to December 2002, resulted in: detailed topographic mapping of the town and associated earthworks, ground penetrating radar survey of selected parts of town, and extensive historical research. The product is a greatly enriched understanding of Revolutionary War history in Georgia that should provide great research context for this period of Georgia history. The Ebenezer report is available online at Ebenezer Headquarters. The LAMAR Institute furthered the goals of the Forts Initiative in 2003 when they were awarded three additional research grants:

	one from the ABPP for the study of the Sunbury Battlefield in Liberty County, Georgia
	another from the ABPP for the study of the Fort Mount Venture Massacre in Wayne County, Georgia
	and one from the Plum Creek Foundation, which further supported the research effort at Fort Mount Venture.

In February 2003,researchers with the LAMAR Institute conducted a preliminary archaeological reconnaissance of Sansavilla Bluff on the Altamaha River in Wayne County,Georgia. This property, which is currently owned by the Plum Creek Timber Company, contains a concentration of early historic and prehistoric sites that have been too long neglected. Three new archaeological sites were recorded and several previously recorded sites were revisited. The finds include the village of Williamsburg (circa 1790-1810) and the probable site of Fort Mount Venture (Mary and John Musgrove's 1730s trading post. Fort Mount Venture was attacked, burned, and its inhabitants nearly all killed by Spanish-allied Yamassee Indians in 1742. This site, which was allegedly located in the 1960s by University of Georgia archaeologists (but not officially reported or recorded), promises to be one of the most significant sites in colonial Georgia. In March 2003 the LAMAR Institute conducted a reconnaissance survey of a 4 acre tract at Hudson's Ferry in Screven County, Georgia. Hudson's Ferry was a major British post in 1779 and is a place rich in history. The Sunbury report is available at Sunbury. Related information on nearby Fort Morris is also available online from Southern Research and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The Sansavilla Bluff report is available at Sansavilla Bluff. The Hudson's Ferry report is available at Hudson's Ferry. LAMAR Institute research on the fortifications of Camden County, Georgia were fast-forwarded when a planned residential development and marina threatened the late 18th and early 19th century U.S. Army post at Point Peter. Subsequent historical and archaeological research at Point Peter was undertaken by the firm of Brockington & Associates. The LAMAR Institute's preliminary introduction to the Camden County forts is available in the online report at Point Peter. The most recent endeavor of the LAMAR Institute's Fort's Initiative are the excavations at Fort Hawkins in Macon, Georgia. Fort Hawkins was a major United States Army headquarters post from 1806 to 1821. It also served as the primary "factory" in the southern Indian trade. LAMAR Institute researchers are studying the site through historical documents and excavation and a detailed summary of this active project is presented at our News page.

 

Skeletons in the Closet

Another research focus, the Skeletons in the Closet Initiative, also reports significant progress. The goal of this initiative is to root out the history of early Georgia archaeology and its archaeologists and introduce them to the people of the 3^rd Millenium.

Mark Williams has made significant strides by creating a biographical file on Georgia archaeologists. Williams also has been ferreting out the facts on the Irene Mound excavations of the 1930s. The reanalysis of the Irene Mound collections, funded by the National Park Service and implemented by the University of Georgia's Laboratory of Archaeology, is but one example of the LAMAR Institute's initiative.

Dan Elliott conducted a reconnaissance inspection of the 19^th century Georgian Roland A. Steiner collection at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago in April 1999 and in February 2002 he examined the files pertaining to Georgia collections at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH),New York.

The Smithsonian Institution's Steiner collection once numbered more than 78,000 items. Most of it was acquired by the museum following a Resolution passed in the House of Representatives in the U.S. Congress. Although the precise number of remaining artifacts with Steiner's provenance is unavailable, the Smithsonian's curatorial staff estimated it to be about 35,000 items.

The Field Museum collection contains about 2,000 artifacts from Georgia. Nearly all of these were collected by Roland Steiner. The Field Museum originally purchased more than 15,000 artifacts from his collection. Obviously the collection was greatly reduced over the century that followed.

About another 20,000 artifacts from Roland Steiner's collection wound up at the AMNH, thanks to the generosity of George Foster Peabody. Steiner was nearing the end of his life and needed to sell the collection. Peabody, who was a native Georgian, purchased the collection for the museum.

Dan Elliott, accompanied by Rita Elliott spent one week studying the Georgia collections at the AMNH through a visiting scholar grant from the museum. Like Steiner's other collection, the AMNH collection has dwindled through the years as many items from the collection were exchanged with other museums, discarded, or otherwise deaccessioned.

The AMNH collection also includes major collections by Charles C. Jones, Jr., Roland Steiner, George Foster Peabody, Robert Wauchope and others.  To learn more about Roland Steiner and his exploits, click here.

Some of the Skeletons in the Closet are literally in the closet. Mark Williams and Dan Elliott began the Bettye Broyles Repatriation Project (a sub-unit of the Skeletons in the Closet Initiative) in the Spring, 2000. Both drove to Bettye's house near Chattanooga and had a nice visit before attacking a stash of cardboard boxes in her hillside garage. These boxes contained artifacts from a number of Swift Creek sites in Georgia, as well as a few stray boxes from Cahokia and elsewhere.  Broyles had obtained the materials in the early 1960s and her SEAC Bulletin on Swift Creek design motifs was based on these materials.  The collection includes a 1/2 pick-up truckload of sherds from famous sites such as: Fairchild's Landing, Halloca Creek, Kolomoki, Mandeville, Milamo, and Swift Creek.  Ms. Broyles gave the materials to us for safekeeping and we immediately transferred the collection to the Laboratory of Archaeology at the University of Georgia, Athens.  Bags and boxes that were in tatters were transferred into new bags and carefully relabeled by Williams' student workers. Many sherds in this collection are exquisite examples of Swift Creek art and are good candidates for a museum exhibit. Obviously, the ownership of the material is an issue that needs to be worked out. If the rightful owners of the materials request them back and can demonstrate that the material will be properly curated this time, then the LAMAR Institute most likely will be willing to repatriate them.

Ms. Broyles also graciously allowed the LAMAR Institute team to photocopy hundreds of Swift Creek design tracings that she had compiled. She intends for the original drawings to be donated to the National Anthropological Archives (NAA), American Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution in the future. The vast majority of these designs are unpublished and we look forward to reproducing them in an upcoming Swift Creek "Pattern" Book. Time did not allow us to complete the photocopying and hundreds of tracings of sherds from the Kolomoki site remain to be copied. Broyles promised to complete the job for us, but many months have passed now and we probably should make a second trip to her house soon.

Ms. Broyles also has a collection of 8-track sound recordings of nearly all Southeastern Archaeological Conference (SEAC) meetings that she attended in the early years. She plans to donate these priceless tapes to the NAA as well. Although her mind is quite clear, age is creeping up on Bettye and hopefully, she will have an opportunity to organize her papers.

Since our conversations with Ms. Broyles were "off the record" she imparted many great stories about Southeastern archaeologists to the two of us, which we will treasure always.  Ms. Broyles also demonstrated her tedious, time-consuming, conservative techniques for reconstructing pottery designs, which was fascinating.

Among the many interesting collections from Georgia, which are housed at the curation facility in Suitland, Maryland is one from the Greenwood Mound (or Dillard Mound) in Rabun County.  The Greenwood Mound is located near the headwaters of the Little Tennessee River. An obscure archaeologist named William Colburn conducted excavations at Greenwood Mound in the 1930s, which produced one short journal article describing the site. The Greenwood Mound collection at the Smithsonian was briefly reconnoitered and Elliott provides a few preliminary comments regarding their excavated context in a paper found here.

Also, recent advances in the digital records and holdings in the Smithsonian Institution Research Information Search (SIRIS) database at the Smithsonian Institution has alerted us to many new avenues for research on Georgia's early archaeology. Ultimately, we hope to make the Skeletons in the Closet speak.

Be sure to check out the recent reprint of Clarence Bloomfield Moore's classic volume on Georgia archaeology at The University of Alabama Press. And more information on Georgia's early archaeologist is available from  Fernbank Museum.

 

Southwest Georgia Studies

Kolomoki, located in the uplands of Early County, Georgia, is a long misunderstood Woodland mound center.  Excavations in the 1960s at Kolomoki by William Sears and students with the University of Georgia, Department of Anthropology, resulted in a series of excavation reports on the site.  Shortly before his death, however, Sears recognized his erroneous interpretation of the site, which he revealed in his famous American Antiquity article. Sears' confession, plus the results of the LAMAR Institute's 1993 Swift Creek conference and subsequent publication, set the stage for a reexamination of the Kolomoki site and its role in Woodland society. Tom Pluckhahn reports that great progress is being made at Kolomoki.  Portions of Tom's dissertation work at Kolomoki were funded by the LAMAR Institute.  The Kolomoki Mound group is an extremely important archaeological site in Early County, Georgia.  Pluckhahn is a Research Associate of the LAMAR Institute.  One important aspect of Pluckhahn's research was a review of previous work conducted at this important Woodland period mound complex. His fieldwork explored many new parts of the mound center and resulted in an innovative interpretation of the site. Dr. Pluckhan recently accepted a teaching position in Oklahoma, although we expect his interest in the archaeology of Georgia and the Southeast to continue to flourish. Pluckhan's dissertation research  was recently published by the University of Alabama Press. The LAMAR Institute is proud to have supported, in small part, the Kolomoki Mounds Archaeological Project.

Another research initiative, the Flint River Basin Archaeological Survey, evolved from LAMAR Institute's archaeological survey research in southwestern Georgia for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Historic Preservation Division. Reconnaissance level survey and relic collector interviews yielded almost 400 previously unrecorded sites in 14 counties of southwestern Georgia. Most of these were located in the Flint River watershed. The LAMAR Institute conducted an archaeological reconnaissance survey of 14 counties in southwestern Georgia, under contract with the Historic Preservation Division, Georgia Department of Natural Resources.  The counties under study included Baker, Calhoun, Colquitt, Decatur, Dougherty, Early, Grady, Lee, Miller, Mitchell, Seminole, Terrell, Thomas, and Worth. The reconnaissance resulted in a substantial increase in the known universe of archaeological sites in this region of Georgia. Before the survey slightly more than 1200 sites were recorded in these 14 counties and after the study is completed, this number will exceed 1500 sites. Also, a preliminary survey of relic collectors and their collections (relevant to these 14 counties) was completed.  The Flint River Basin Archaeological Survey (FRBAS), which was launched in July 2004, expands the study to include 42 counties in the Flint River watershed.  Additional information on the FRBAS project is at Flint River Survey. The full report is available at FRBAS Report.