ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
CHARLESTON CHAPTER
NEWSLETTER ASSC Charleston Chapter
ARCHAEOLOGY PHOTO CONTEST! CALL FOR ENTRIES Photographic documentation is an essential part of the excavation process. We try to document what we see as objectively as possible using photo boards, north arrows, and giant bed sheets for shadow. We obsess over foot prints, leaves in our units, soil colors, and those annoying clippers that somehow make it into the frame! It doesn’t mean that we cannot appreciate the artistic merit of a beautiful image. If you think you have an eye for photography, submit an image to our “1st Annual Archaeology Photo Contest.” The subject matter can be anything archaeological, including images of sites, monuments, crew members, artifacts etc. Please read the contest rules and submission guidelines on page 6. GOOD LUCK!!
What’s new?
The Chapel of Ease dig led by ASSC Charleston Chapter members Andrew Agha and Nicole Isenbarger made it to the local papers! Despite spooky stories of hauntings, Andrew, Nicole, and a group of volunteers excavated the site on Halloween, looking for Col. George Chicken’s grave. Read the article at http://www.ourgazette.com/news/Halloween-dig-focuses-on-uncovering-gravesite .
Charles Towne Landing field season is coming to a close. Archaeologists are planning on working on their finds and reports for a few months before they go back out to the field. For their site update and other articles go to the SC State Parks archaeology newsletter at http://southcarolinaparks.com/enews/Jan10.htm#news A few of our members went to the Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) annual conference and presented papers. Read the conference recap on page 3. We are on Facebook! You can join discussions, share resources, and look at photos from past events. If you have any news you would like to share with the rest of the Chapter, contact: assccharleston.newsletter@gmail.com
WINTER 2010
Meeting Schedule
February 16th, Tuesday, 6 pm.
Speaker: Charla Springer Charla will talk about The Chapel of Ease excavations and her involvement as a volunteer in this project. Refreshments will be served.
Do you have ideas about future meetings and activities?
We would love to hear them! Our email address is at the bottom of this page.
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CHARLESTON CHAPTER
ASSC CHARLESTON CHAPTER
CHRISTMAS PARTY This year’s Christmas Party was hosted by Charles Towne Landing at Founders Hall. The gathering united many of our members, including students, professional archaeologists, and volunteers. The guests feasted on a large spread of food, including ham, chili, meatballs, wings, potato salad, veggies, chicken pot pie, and casseroles, not to mention an entire table devoted to desserts.
PAST EVENTS
◄ Founders Hall at Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site.
Guests are arriving at Founders Hall. ► CTL volunteers Barbra and Zoe in the foreground. While munching on food, guests also enjoyed some friendly competition. Prizes were given to the winner of “Pin the Whip on Indy” as well as those who solved the online puzzles correctly. The “Archaeology Trivia Tournament” tested everyone’s knowledge of “trivial” facts. As it turned out, everyone was a big fan of coprolites, but only one team had watched The Mummy closely enough to remember the mummy’s Egyptian name! Our special thanks to everyone who brought a dish to the party and stayed afterwards to help us clean. We are looking forward seeing everyone again at the next get-together. ◄ One of the altered images for the online puzzles. Participants tried to guess the archaeological site or monument shown in the picture.
The answer was Easter Island! ►
WINTER 2010
SOCIETY
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HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY (SHA) 2010 Conference Recap
FOR
The 43rd annual SHA conference was held on January 6-9 at Amelia Island Plantation near Jacksonville. Amelia Island Plantation is a 1,350-acre beach resort with Audubon International certified sanctuary golf courses, spas, tennis courts, and restaurants. Despite the unusually cold weather, the attendees enjoyed beautiful ocean views and excursions to St. Augustine, Fort Clinch, Kingsley Plantation, and Historic Fernandina.
The organized sessions began on Thursday, January 7th. One the first sessions was Charles Town and Beyond: The Evolution and Adaptation of Town and Country (1670-1740), organized by Katherine Saunders of Historic Charleston Foundation. Among the presenters were our very own Andrew Agha, Martha Zierden, David Jones, and Cicek Beeby. The papers in this session were titled: Archaeology at Charles Towne Landing: New Discoveries and Changing Interpretations at South Carolina's First Permanent English Settlement Site by David Jones, Cicek Beeby; “not a tolerable Place to plant”: Dr. Henry Woodward at St. Giles Cussoe by Andrew Agha, Charles F. Philips. Jr.; 15 Minutes of Fame: The First Frontier of South Carolina by Sarah E. Stroud; Native American Ceramic Variability at Early English Trade Settlements in the Carolina Lowcountry by Brent Lansdell, Jon Marcoux; A Comparison of Cattle Remains from Eighteenth-century Charleston, South Carolina and Mary Musgrove's Cow Pen by Elizabeth J. Reitz, Michael Kennerty; Innovation or Fortification on the Ashley River by Eric C Poplin; "Fencing our Vineyard": Defense of Early Charles Town by Martha A. Zierden, Katherine Saunders, Nicholas Butler; Early Foodways at Public Entertainment Establishments in Charleston, South Carolina: Animals Remains from the Dock Street Theatre Privy by Carol Colaninno. With such a good range of papers on daily activities, entertainment, diet, trade, architecture, and defense, the session offered an extensive view of early colonial life. The conference resumed on Friday and Saturday. There were about 75 sessions and hundreds of presentations, making it difficult for the attendees to pick and choose. One of the interesting sessions was The Life and Times of Leland Ferguson: From Mississippian to Moravia where our treasurer Ron Anthony presented a paper titled The Right Time, The Right Place. Our president Andrew Agha did not only organize this session, but also shared his memories of Leland Ferguson through his paper Learning How to Write from an Author: Forgetting about Colonoware, the X, and Artifacts for a Minute. The conference came to a close on Saturday.
PAST EVENTS
This year’s theme was Coastal Connections: Integrating Terrestrial and Underwater Archaeology. The conference started on Wednesday, January 6th with specialty workshops such as Archaeological Illustration, Chemistry for Archaeologists, and Bones for Archaeologists. On the same day, the conference officially welcomed the attendees with a plenary session titled Coastally Connected: Current Ethical and Preservation Dilemmas on Land and Underwater, followed by an opening reception.
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CHARLESTON CHAPTER
ASSC 36TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
UPCOMING EVENTS
FIRST CALL FOR PAPERS The Archaeological Society of South Carolina is pleased to Call for Papers for the 36th Annual Conference that will be held on April 9th and 10th, 2010. It will be held at USC Columbia in Gambrell Hall Auditorium, Room 153. The theme for this year’s conference is “Archaeological Sciences”. This broad topic was chosen to allow presenters to highlight the diversity of scientific techniques and applications that underlie modern archaeology in their own research and will comprise the first session. A second general session of papers covering archaeological research findings of interest will be presented as well. We encourage and welcome members of the public and professional archaeologists working in the Carolinas or Georgia to submit papers. We recognize that many of the same questions and issues important to South Carolina's archaeology community cross state borders in our region. Deadline and Format for Submission: January 5, 2010- March 8, 2010. Early submission is encouraged to ensure placement on the schedule. Submissions should include the author(s), title and a brief abstract. The abstract should be no more than 100 words. Please send all submissions to Program Chair Jon Leader by email at: leader@sc.edu. You may also contact Jon with questions or comments at 803-576-6560. Poster Awards Two awards will be given to the best student poster presentations. The awards will be presented at the Awards Ceremony at the 2010 Annual Meeting. Key Note Speaker We are very pleased to have Dr. Vincas Steponaitis as our speaker this year. He will be presenting a public lecture on the evening of Friday, April 9th, and a conference paper on the 10th. Dr. Steponaitis is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Research Laboratories of Archaeology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A catered conference dinner is planned for Saturday evening after the conference ends. The meal will include a vegetarian option. Conference Registration : $10, Students/Seniors $5 Conference Dinner: TBA Checks should be made payable to the Archaeological Society of South Carolina and reference the ASSC 36th Conference in the memo area. Please send the checks to: ASSC Annual Conference ATTN: Helena Ferguson 1321 Pendleton Street Columbia, SC 29208
WINTER 2010
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THE CHARLESTON MUSEUM
Curator Lecture Series All lectures are free and open to the public. For more information, please call 7222996 or contact rchesser@charlestonmuseum.org.
February 18, Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Sadly, of the original thirteen American colonies, South Carolina was by far the unhealthiest. To most early Charlestonians, getting sick in the heat of late summer was not a question of if but, more appropriately, when. During the 18th and 19th centuries, diseases of epidemic proportion severely hampered the city’s growth. In fact, just staying alive during Charleston’s “sickly season” was a major accomplishment among its residents. Join Curator of History Grahame Long as he discusses the Sickly Season in this second in a three-part Curator Lecture Series.
Pushing Up Palmettos: Funerary Art in the Carolina Lowcountry March 25, Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Life is indeed fleeting, yet death remains ever permanent. Therefore, Charleston's historic grave markers and mourning heirlooms stand as more than just cultural remnants. Lowcountry cemeteries and graveyards can easily double as art galleries, and mementos such as mourning jewelry are best described as fine examples of early American sculpture and artisanship. Join Curator of History Grahame Long for this final installment in the threepart Curator Lecture Series. ◄
Mourning pendant, from the Ehney Family of Charleston ca. 1805. The scene is made with hair from William Rose Ehney, a two-year-old boy who died in Charleston in 1805. It shows his parents, Peter and Sarah, mourning by William's grave marker. Courtesy of the Charleston Museum.
Visit http://charlestonmuseum.org/calendar.asp for more events at the Charleston Museum.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Infections, Afflictions, and Perilous Prescriptions: Charleston and "The Sickly Season"
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CHARLESTON CHAPTER
ASSC CHARLESTON CHAPTER
PHOTO CONTEST Rules and Submission Guidelines
PHOTO CONTEST
Subject Matter: Anything related to archaeology, including but not limited to: sites, crew members, monuments, artifacts, features, archaeological tools, underwater archaeology, surveying, fieldwork in progress etc. Rules and Conditions: • Photos must be received by May 31, 2010. Winners will be announced in our Summer 2010 newsletter. • Entrants must be 18 years of age or older. By participating in the contest, the entrants agree to the rules and conditions listed here. • The contest is open to ASSC members and non-members alike. There is no fee for participating. • A maximum of two (2) images are allowed per entrant. Photographs must be shot by the entrant. • The photographer retains all the rights to his/her images, and by entering the contest, grants the ASSC Charleston Chapter the rights to use the images for the society’s promotional purposes, including but not limited to the newsletters and websites. Photos reproduced will be credited to the owner. • Photos that have been previously published are not eligible. It is assumed that the entrant has the right to distribute the images. It is recommended that the entrants seek permission from project directors before submitting photos of sites, artifacts etc. ASSC Charleston Chapter will not be responsible for copyright infringements the photographer may have violated. • If the image includes recognizable individuals, each individual (or their guardian) must fill out a release form. (see How to Enter below) Technical Specifications • All photos must be in digital format. Accepted formats: .jpeg, .jpg, .gif, .bmp, and .tiff. Jpeg format is preferred. • Photographs may not exceed 2 MB in size. High resolution images are preferred. • Photos may be in color or black-and-white. How to enter • Fill out the photo submission form: http://sites.google.com/site/asscsite/chapters/charleston-chapter • If necessary, fill out a model release form for each recognizable person in the picture: http://sites.google.com/site/asscsite/chapters/charleston-chapter • E-mail all documents and photos to assccharleston.newsletter@gmail.com For more info on the prizes and the judging process, please visit our website.