Drinking the YouTube KoolAid

I finally caved and created a YouTube page for Savannah Under Fire, because I have a video and I want to spread the Savannah Under Fire love. You can see us working in Davant Park in this 4 minute video.

Find our YouTube page here. Know it, love it, watch it.

One musket ball, two musket balls?

We found a musket ball in Davant Park today!  Unfortunately, it was in a soil layer that was disturbed and mixed up. So it can't tell us anything about the Revolution. Visit us tommorow (Tuesday) at Davant Park to see if we've gotten deep enough to find the Revolutionary War soils layers.

Fieldwork Recommencement

We'll be kicking off two more weeks of fieldwork on Monday (April 19th). We will be returning to Davant Park, the area south of Colonial Cemetery where Lincoln St. dead ends into Perry Ln.

We are very excited about this location. Our historic maps indicate that ditchwork connecting two redoubts probably runs through this area. In October 2008, we did ground penetrating radar (GPR) in the southeast quadrant of Colonial Park Cemetery and in Davant Park. Our GPR guru Dan found a large, linear anomaly running northeast/southwest throughout this area. This means that there is some natural or cultural ditch running through this area. Monday we will be digging some test units (1 by 2 meter squares) to see if this ditch is really from the American Revolution.

This is a GPR image of Davant Park. North is up. Each tick mark is one meter. 

(Figure 122 from our technical report)

Another advantage of doing GPR before digging is that we are able to "see" graves. Dan mapped numerous unmarked graves within the walls of the cemetery. Unmarked graves are very common in old graveyards, and the graves frequently extend beyond the marked edges of the cemetery. But surprisingly, there were no graves south of the Colonial Cemetery's brick wall.

Stop by and we'll give you a tour!

Visit Camp Lawton this weekend

This is a great opportunity to visit a cool archaeology site near Savannah. Two of Savannah Under Fire's own have worked on this project: Dan Elliott and Matt Luke. (hi guys!) The Camp Lawton dig is at Magnolia Springsa State Park. You can visit the dig on April 17 and May 1. Other dates will be posted on www.gastateparks.org/MagSpr or call 478-982-1660.



I'm passing along the article below (verbatim) from the Georgia Preservation Online newsletter.

Archaeological investigations have begun at Camp Lawton in Magnolia Springs State Park near Millen, Georgia. The excavations are the result of a partnership between the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Georgia Southern University.

Camp Lawton was established during the Civil War in the fall of 1864 by the Confederate Army to house Union prisoners of war at Magnolia Springs in order to take advantage of the abundant water supply. Built by slave labor of pine timber harvested on site, the walls measured 12 to 15 feet high. The stockade began receiving the first of at least 10,299 prisoners in early October. The post was abandoned by the end of November when threatened by Sherman’s drive on Savannah. The prisoners were transported to other, safer, locations. On December 3, 1864 Sherman’s forces took possession of Millen and Camp Lawton. The depot (and likely the stockade and all support structures) was burned by his men.

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) conducted in December 2009 by the Lamar Institute revealed a possible location for the southwest corner of the prison stockade. Georgia Southern University has begun archaeological investigations to “ground truth” the results of the GPR survey. State archaeologist and Historic Preservation Division director Dave Crass said, “The results of the survey and testing will aid DNR in interpretation and future investigations at the Park.”

The public is invited to view the progress of the excavations at the park on April 17 and May 1. Other dates will be posted on www.gastateparks.org/MagSpr or call 478-982-1660.

Shout Out to Prof. Bruno's Intro to Anthropology Class!

Who is up to speed on Revolutionary War Savannah? Who has a handle on archaeological discoveries in Savannah? The answers are the same...Professor Barbara Bruno's Introduction to Anthropology class at Armstrong Atlantic State University (AASU)! Thanks to all 40 or so students who came to class prepared, interested, and ready to engage in a discussion about the Savannah Under Fire project. It was fun (for me, anyway!) I look forward to reading your papers and know that they will help us hone our public outreach. Thank you! Please visit us on-site if you get a chance. We'll be starting on April 19 at Davant Park. That is the strip of greenspace between East Perry Lane and the south wall of the Colonial Park cemetery. Look for our archaeology banner. Come by between 9-5 on April 19 (Monday) or April 20 (Tuesday). After that, depending on what discoveries we make, we will be at various venues around town. Check out this blog as we continue to update the schedule throughout the next two weeks. If you visit, make sure you remind me you are in Prof. Bruno's class. Hope to see you. Meanwhile, good luck with your classes!

Archaeology Talk Talk Talk

UGA professor Erv Garrison will be speaking about his excavation at the Grove’s Creek site on April 6 at 6:30 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (1802 Abercorn St.). Get the details in Connect Savannah's article. This talk is part of the annual lecture series presented by the SCAD Architectural History Department. I have visited this amazing site and can't wait to hear Dr. Garrison's update.

Make sure you read the article all the way through- the end talks about our latest work at the Roundhouse Railroad Museum.