Fernbank Museum of Natural History

Press Release

ATLANTA—September 8, 2006—Fernbank Museum of Natural History announces the results from the inaugural season of its summer archaeology program – the search for mission Santa Isabel de Utinahica in Telfair County, Georgia. After a month of weekly public education sessions throughout June, Fernbank Curator of Native American Archaeology, Dennis Blanton, is pleased with the findings.

“Although the dust has hardly settled it is safe to declare the program a success,” Blanton said. “We learned a great deal about a neglected area’s past – and we made many new friends. Moreover, we can see that the best results are probably yet to come and plans are already in the works to continue the exploration next year.”

The summer archaeology program included four sessions of fieldwork, which was open for public participation. Ultimately, the public program yielded both educational outreach and strong scientific findings. 

High school students, college students, teachers, local residents, archaeology enthusiasts and long-time Fernbank supporters worked side-by-side with Fernbank’s professional team of archaeologists on a project that introduced them to the fascinating world of archaeology. As they took part in a search for the lost Spanish Mission settlement at Santa Isabel de Utinahica, they learned how to properly excavate and recognize important artifacts, and how finds are studied to deduce new details about unwritten history.

As the end of June closed in, Blanton’s team continued to find telling evidence about Native American contact with the Spanish, but then it was time to close up the sites.

“It’s like opening the curtain to peek inside, only to have to close it and walk away after you’re hooked,” Blanton said. “But it is incredibly exciting because we know that when we return to the sites, there’s so much to explore. It’s hard to walk away after finding such fascinating clues, but that just builds on the excitement of the archaeological process.”

The program was made possible by the generosity of the property owners and other supporters. Family-run Land Management Associates, Inc. not only granted access to the property, but family members also pitched in and helped the team dig, sift and sort findings. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources provided support and funding to ensure the success of the public program as well. Many other donations of time and services were provided to Fernbank Museum of Natural History including ground penetrating radar readings, aerial photography, X-ray services and more.

Highlights from the first month in the field include:

• A Spanish presence is confirmed. With only a month in the field, Fernbank has not decidedly located the lost mission site, but Blanton has verified a Spanish and Native American presence in the area. A very distinctive 16th-century glass bead and an iron tool were excavated at one of the archaeological sites. The other site produced Spanish majolica ceramics before the Museum’s work began. So while Fernbank can’t yet report that it has identified the mission site, Blanton says he also can’t say that he hasn’t.

• Significant, well-preserved deposits still survive below ground. At both sites intact deposits have been documented and sampled. At the site that produced the bead and tool, there also is evidence indicative of the location of a large building. At the other site, intact living surfaces with large numbers of artifacts were encountered in several areas. Future work will especially be focused on the apparent building site.

• “Square Ground” Indian communities are now better documented. The existence of a distinctive Indian society in the area of “The Forks” was indicated by prior work but Fernbank’s program has provided the first systematic documentation of representative sites. These Indian communities are significant for “hosting” mission Santa Isabel de Utinahica. Artifacts that reveal details of life in these communities include a large quantity of distinctively decorated “square ground” pottery, a large marine shell bead, elaborate smoking pipe fragments, food remains in the form of animal bones and mussel shells, and architectural traces like clay daub and mud dauber nests.

• Native American Indian Participation. Fernbank was fortunate to have participation from three members of the Muscogee Creek Nation in Oklahoma, individuals who trace their ancestry to the groups living in the project area centuries ago. Their involvement was as meaningful for Fernbank as it was for them.

• Potting Clay Source Identified. A previously unknown source of high quality potting clay was discovered along the river bank. Fernbank has begun a series of experiments to test the performance of the clay and will continue the study by chemically comparing this new clay with Indian pottery from the excavation.

• Climate Conditions from Mussel Shells. Also initiated was a study of freshwater mussel shells indigenous to the Ocmulgee River. Working on the hypothesis that growth “rings” in these shells are sensitive to climate change, a large sample of modern specimens was collected to test this idea. Potentially we can extend our record of past climate back to the time of Santa Isabel using 400-year old shell specimens excavated this summer.

• Details of Ancient Environment Revealed. An unexpected geological find in the closing days of the archaeology project yielded an ancient wetland deposit containing extraordinarily well-preserved plant remains near the river – more than 10 feet below the present ground surface. Nutshell, seeds and other plant parts are present in abundance and their context suggests that they are many tens of thousands of years old. This material offers a highly significant opportunity to reconstruct the local climate and environment before or during the last ice age. More details will be released after further studies of the geologic deposits have been completed.

“Fernbank’s summer program turned into something of a classic expedition,” Blanton said. “In effect, the new Fernbank initiative managed to touch on virtually all of the major subject areas important to natural history studies: archaeology and anthropology, geology, and the environment. This kind of broad-based program serves many interests and provides a wonderful learning opportunity.”

Those who are interested in joining the exploration next year should check Fernbank’s Web site at www.fernbankmuseum.org in spring 2007 for an application and further information.

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