Cemochechobee Archaeological Investigations at the Walter F. George Dam Mound Site (9CLA62) 1977-1979

This collection is referred to as “Cemochechobee Archaeological Investigations at the Walter F. George Dam Mound Site (9CLA62) 1977-1979.” This name is consistent throughout the finding aid, the file folders, and the box labels. The extent of this collection is one (1) linear inch.

The documents date from 1976 to 1977, with the majority of the documents dating to 1977. The final report associated with the investigation was written in 1979,which explains the date range in the investigation name. The collection arrived in two 13” by 18” UPS Express mailing boxes and one 6” by 38” UPS Express mailing tube. The documents, consisting primarily of oversized paper and photographic materials, were rolled or folded into the containers. Among the photographic materials were a set of aluminum printing plates. Due to the manner in which the documents had been stored within the containers, some damage was sustained. The documents were folded, rolled, creased, and in some cases, torn. Many of the oversized and photographic materials were originally encased in plastic. Overall, the collection was in fair condition. No insect, rodent, or environmental damage was noted in the documents; however, the documents had not been rehabilitated prior to receipt and were contaminated with dirt and other unidentified substances. The plastic encasing the photographic materials was removed and discarded due to being acidic.

Documents were thoroughly cleaned with white vinyl and vulcanized rubber erasers. Flattening techniques, including humidification, were used to diminish creases and folds. Tears in the documents were previously repaired with acidic pressure-sensitive tape. Acidic pressure-sensitive tape was removed and replaced with acid-free tissue mending tape. In cases where removing pressure-sensitive tape would adversely affect the document, it was retained and covered with acid-free tissue-mending tape. Metal contaminants such as staples and paper clips were removed. Photographic materials were cleaned with PEC-Pads. The photographic printing plates required special cleaning, as the images were not produced with light-sensitive emulsion. Each plate was carefully cleaned with a vulcanized rubber eraser to remove surface residue. Some of the photographic printing plates had dents in the metal and in the photographs themselves. Many of the printing plates were stained with black ink on both the back as well as the front of the plate.

A physical copy of the final report was not included in the collection as the majority of the documents from the investigation, including the final report, had been previously processed by the Augusta VCP with the investigation name Cemochechobee. This portion of the document collection from the Cemochechobee investigation can be found at the Georgia Archaeological Site File and Laboratory of Archaeology at the University of Georgia. A digital copy of the report from the previous processing was referenced when assigning scanned asset descriptions to the Report Records. The Report Records series includes several oversized figure drafts on print paper, photographic paper, and aluminum printing plates. Each of the nine aluminum plates measures 11” by 18” and features two to four images that correspond to printed images in the report. The nine aluminum plates contain a total of 28 images. The final report for the investigation refers to each individual image as a separate “plate.” Processing archivists decided to treat the images as separate “plates” as well, so the images on the aluminum plates were individually photographed and given separate scanned asset numbers. Processing archivists referenced the “plate” index in the final report in order to organize the printing plates and describe each image. Several printing plates appear to be missing from the collection. The photographic data input of the database was modified to include the measurements for the aluminum plates and the plate images. This was done due to the oversized nature of the plates.

The digital materials in this collection were processed by the Veterans Curation Program (VCP), and include archival photographs, finding aid, oversized material spreadsheet, photographic material spreadsheet, and the scanned asset key. Additional digital materials held by the VCP include the archives database, box inventory, box labels, document folder listing, general feature form, illustrations, initial data collection, map, notes, oversized labels, photographic material labels, photographic slide labels, and a records removal sheet. For additional information on these materials, refer to the finding aid.