Popular Study Series: Prehistoric Cultures in the Southeast

Summary

This pamphlet contains three short sections. The first is a short summary of archaeological investigations in the Southeastern United States, including at Ocmulgee National Monument (Georgia), Mound State Monument (Alabama), in Tennessee and Kentucky (as part of investigations done prior to water control projects of the Tennessee Valley Authority), and in Lousiana.

During the last few years, archeological exploration in the eastern United States, particularly in the southeast portion, has flourished under sponsorship of numerous local and State scientific organizations in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution. In several instances, involving both National and State park developments, the National Park Service has served as sponsor. At Ocmulgee National Monument, Macon, Ga., there has been developed the first national monument east of the Mississippi River which is predicated primarily or solely on American pre-history. Interest created by archeological exploration and restoration projects at Ocmulgee has led to the demand from many parts of the Southeast that a museum be established which would serve as a center of prehistoric research and survey for the whole region. Tentative plans were drawn for a museum and initial work on a small unit of the structure was started under the Emergency Relief Act. Part of this pamphlet describes the coordination of these investigations.

A second section of the publication, "Ocmulgee's Trading Post Riddle," summarizes a 1936 archaeological investigation of the location where this historic structure was located. A summary of the results notes that "... trench explorations had come upon the site of a large and thriving trading post. The military character of many of the European finds seemed on first impressions to be too evident to suggest an ordinary establishment set up primarily for trade. The presence of 50 burials representing individuals of various ages and sexes denoted the existence of a stable population and probably a fairly sizable community..."

A third section of the publication, "Indoor Archeology" by Charles H. Fairbanks, describes the curation of collections at Ocmulgee National Monument.

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Ocmulgee National Monument

Landowner(s): National Park Serivce

Sponsor(s): U.S. Department of the Interior; National Park Service

Repository(s): Ocmulgee National Monument

File Information