Finding Aid, Blackmon (1BR25) 1983 and N.D.

Summary

The Veterans Curation Program utilizes the standard archival practice of unique naming of collections. The purpose of this practice is to avoid redundant and confusing collection names commonly found with archaeological investigations. Therefore, this collection is referred to as Blackmon (1BR25) 1983 and N.D. This name is consistent throughout the finding aid, the file folders, and the box labels. The extent of this collection is two tenths (0.2) linear inches.

The Blackmon site, occasionally referred to as the Blackbro site, is a multi-component archaeological site in Barbour County, Alabama. W.R. Hurt of the University of Alabama recorded it in 1949. The Smithsonian Institution investigated the site in 1959 and David DeJarnette surveyed a portion of the site in 1975. During his 1975 survey DeJarnette noted that a large amount of historic trade goods had been looted from the Blackmon site, and the looting continued throughout the 1970’s (Huddleston 1998). In the publication Excavations at Four Sites on Walter F. George Lake Alabama and Georgia Mistovich and Knight noted “as many as seventy burials are reported to have been removed by vandals” (1986). The Columbus Museum of Arts and Crafts, also referred to as the Columbus Museum of Arts and Sciences in the associated Blackmon documents, recovered a number of artifacts as the result of a lawsuit against looters in 1981 and 1982 (Huddleston 1998).

The looting operation was tracked down by a group effort; agencies included the FBI, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Columbus Museum of Arts and Crafts, USACE, and the U.S. Justice Department. The investigation led to an individual with an unspecified number of Native American artifacts stored in boxes in his attic (Huddleston 1998). Information with the artifacts stated that they were recovered from Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge, specifically from the Blackmon site. Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge is on land leased to the National Park Service by USACE, Mobile District, thus these artifacts are the responsibility of USACE. Only portions (boxes 2 through 6) of the artifacts recovered were sent to the Augusta VCP for processing; the remainder of the artifacts was sent to the Mobile District’s Fort Gaines Field Office.

One additional box (box 1) of materials was donated to the Columbus Museum at a later date by individuals who stated that they had been salvaging artifacts from the Blackmon site. Mistovich and Knight also conducted an investigation of the Blackmon site in 1984; however, it appears that the artifacts processed at the Augusta VCP were not part of Mistovich and Knight’s investigation. The artifacts were collected by several groups of looters that commandeered artifacts from the Blackmon site sometime in the 1970’s and donated the artifacts to the Museum (Huddleston 1998).

One vessel, the so-called “Fishing Lure Pot” was included in a box of Blackmon (1BR25) 1983 and N.D. material. This vessel’s provenience is unknown, although it is believed that it was “removed from a burial at the Rood site or a site from this same cultural period within Lake Walter F. George Property” (Huddleston 1998). For these reasons, this vessel was removed from its original box to its own investigation. Further information can be found in the Collection Management Project Report for Fishing Lure Vessel N.D. prepared by the VCP.

In 1998, NAGPRA related materials from 1BR25 were recorded on Mobile District standardized data gathering forms and these materials were entered into the database for reports and in-house data management. However no formal, publically available report was made available (Huddleston 1998). In addition, Blackmon was documented in a Brockington and Associates report in 2010, stating that some material from this site that has yet to be documented is housed at the Erskine Ramsay Archaeological Repository in Moundville, AL (Hines 2010). All materialincluded in the Blackmon (1BR25) N.D. investigation should be considered NAGPRA or NAGPRA-related material.

Five object inventory documents were found in artifact boxes. They were scanned and printed on acid-free paper to create this archival investigation. The originals stayed with the artifacts. The documents contain catalogue numbers AL82-31-3 and AL82.31.2.

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): US Army Corps of Engineers Mandatory Center of Expertise for the Curation and Management of Archaeological Collections, St. Louis District

Principal Investigator(s): David Dejarnette

Landowner(s): US Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District

Sponsor(s): US Army Corps of Engineers Mandatory Center of Expertise for the Curation and Management of Archaeological Collections, St. Louis District

Repository(s): University of Georgia, Laboratory of Archaeology, Athens, Georgia

Prepared By(s): Veterans Curation Program

Submitted To(s): US Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District

Notes

General Note: The digital materials in this collection were processed by the Veterans Curation Program (VCP), and include an artifact database, artifact report, finding aid, and a scanned asset key. Additional digital materials held by the VCP include a document folder listing, initial data collection sheet, notes, object removal record, and preliminary inventory. For additional information on these materials, refer to the Finding Aid.

File Information