GEOARCHAEOLOGY LABORATORY
GEOARCHAEOLOGY LABORATORY
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Welcome
Welcome
Welcome to the home page for the Geoarchaeology Lab. This lab conducts research on archaeological questions using geoscience methods. These include petrographic, sedimentologic, paleontologic. Common analytical studies include particle size analysis (PSA), petrologic analyses using light microscopy and electron microscopy (SEM-EDS). Shallow geophysical instrumentation such as ground radar, electrical resistivity and conductivity, as well as magnetometry are available for limited scale studies and student training.The lab recently deployed drone mounted radar for the study of two prehistoric rock effigy mounds in Georgia.
The Geoarchaeology Laboratory supports undergraduate and graduate student research.
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
Lab Affiliate and Associate Director, Geospatial Center, Department of Geography, UGA
Jim Wilson
Instructor, Department of English and Laboratory Affiliate
Adjunct Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, James Cook University, Australia, 2022-2024
Affilated Scientist, Director, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography
Affliated Scientist, Research Professional, Alexander Lab, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography
Research Assistant, 2021-2024
Kelsey Williams
Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2021-2024
Matt Newton
PhD Candidate, Anthropology-Interdisciplinary
University of Florida
RECENT PROJECTS
Testing 80 MHz Ground Radar at UGA Health Sciences Campus
RECENT PROJECTS -II
Testing 80 MHz Drone Radar at UGA Effigy Mound Sites
Below: Dr. Bernardes with MALA GeoDrone 80 system deployed at the Rock Hawk prehistoric effigy mound, Putnam County, GA, fall 2024. More radar studies are anticipated in 2025.
Carousel of Images Barge 13 paleo-landform site - tree stumps, fossils, roots, people - Just completed 4-year study offshore Georgia
Geoarchaeology Class of 2023 conducted study of the mound in front of the Marine Science Building.
It's not just an ivy-covered landscape feature. It's the only remaining defensive structure of the Civil War in Athens. The images, below, illustrate how history can hide in plain sight and remain unknown to passersby on the way to a class, an event at Stegman Coliseum or just a meal at Snelling Dining Hall just across the street.
The class confirmed the mound is the last surviving remnant of heavy gun embrasure. Two-thirds of the structure was destroyed when the Women's Physical Education Building was enlarged in 1970. That building is today's Marine Science & Dance Building. The geophysical and limited soil auger study showed the mound was just that - a dirt berm that stood over 4 m high. Today 2 meters of the structure remain above grade with over a meter below left below ground. Few artifacts were found - window and bottle glass, wire, a nail, together with a 1995 Lincoln penny lost by a student or maintenance worker. Wood recovered from deep in the mound and dated, using UGA's Center for Applied Isotope Studies (CAIS) radiocarbon facility, confirmed the age of the mound to be from the period of the Civil War.
After (Today)
After (Today)
The gun embrasure is disguised as a benign, ivy-covered landscape feature.
Before (1864)
Before (1864)
This image is not that of the UGA structure but of one similar to it built elsewhere.
Lab Surveys Grove's Creek Shoreline, April 2025
Shown at left, a highly eroded Wilmington Culture shard, ca. AD 900, found in Grove's Creek, Skidaway Island, Georgia. The shard was recovered from the stream using a PONAR sediment grab much like a terrestrial shovel test. This shard is presumed to have eroded from 9 CH 127e previously excavated in fall, 2009 by UGA. The thinking, then, was that the majority of the archaeological site had eroded into the creek and marsh, over time, due to coastal erosion.
Participants in the April survey were: Ervan Garrison; Jim Wilson; Dr. Mary Socci, UGA CREW Director, Wormsloe; and Ms. Sandee Winter.
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