Public Invited to Archaeology Day on Jekyll Island
Monday, February 23rd, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2:00-4:00 PM – The public is invited to join Alex Sweeny and an archaeological research team from Brockington and Associates as they excavate the remains from a native American shell midden near the Jekyll Island gas station on Ben Fortson Parkway. The public will learn more about the current archaeological research efforts on Jekyll Island and delve into the puzzles of the past. Visitors will have the opportunity to tour the site, inspect artifacts uncovered during the course of the dig, ask questions, and learn about Georgia’s prehistory.
Details about the site:
The midden site was first discovered during an archaeological survey conducted in the mid-1990s. It was resurveyed in 2008. The archaeologists are now returning for a second more intensive phase of research to examine the site in greater depth.
Based on the results of last year’s work, Sweeney describes the site as “likely the remains of either a seasonally occupied resource extraction locale or a small village or hamlet.” Prehistoric ceramic sherds located at the site suggest that it may have been occupied beginning about 300 BC, during the Middle to Late Woodland Period , at a time when small seasonal villages were beginning to appear. It may have been occupied until as late as about 1540 AD, the end of the Mississippian Period and just before European arrival to the area.
Sweeney and his crew are working closely with members of the Jekyll Island Museum on the project. The Jekyll Island Museum, a division of the Jekyll Island Authority, works in consultation with the Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Natural Resources to oversee the management of all of the archaeological resources on Jekyll Island.
John Hunter, the Director of the Jekyll Island Museum, encourages visitors to attend the public archaeology program. “I would like to see the museum spend more time doing public archaeology in the long term,” he admitted. “It is a great way to share information about the past. You get to be outside, doing something active and hands on, and really learning concrete, everyday things about the people who were here before us. What could be better than that?”
