One Year Anniversary...

This month is both the one year anniversary of my permanent arrival in Magnolia and the one year anniversary of the discovery of the theft of the Cedar Grove ceramic vessels from the AAS-SAU Research Station facility in the Bruce Center.

I'll be posting a one-year report to the blog in the next couple of weeks...that'll take care of the anniversary of my tenure as AAS-SAU Research Archeologist....but as for the stolen pots...

Last week, the Magnolia Banner-News ran a nice front-page, above-the-fold story that hopefully puts the pots back into the public memory (so they can keep an eye out for them) and may drum up some donations for building our security measures. Look here for a PDF of the article.

The Magnolia Banner-News continues to do a great job of covering both the case and archeology in general.

All of you out there...keep your eyes out for the pots...Click here for PDF list of what was stolen or here for a full color web site version. The Offical Press Release regarding the theft can be found here.

Holt Hall Foundations

On Thursday, April 12, 2007 Dr. Ben Johsnon of the SAU History Department notified me that the Physical Plant employees had unearthed some foundations...When I heard this, I hoped that it might be the foundation of Old Main (the first structure on the SAU campus...See some of early posts here for some pics). . .Alas, it was not Old Main, but it was one of the first generation of SAU's buildings.

Holt Hall was one of the first dormitories quickly built in response to the overwhelming enrollment following the opening of what was then the Third District Agricultural School (TDAS) in 1909. Dr. James Willis identified the foundations and provided us with a date of 1911, which corresponded with the material remains--the foundations are made of a simple aggregate concrete without any rebar supports (certainly pre-1930s).

David Jeane (my AAS-SAU Station Asst.) and I spent a few hours documenting the remains of these foundation before the SAU Physical Plant took a jackhammer to the upper portions of the foundations.

Interestingly, Steven Oches' digital photography class showed up as well to document us documenting the foundations...

Above: The concrete foundations of Holt Hall.

For more pictures of the foundations (including some of the pics by Steven Oches' students) check out:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcbrandon/sets/72157600089736058/

Long Time Gone...

Wow....I am truly sorry that I have been so remiss in my posting, but the spring semester has really knocked me off of my feet. My first semester as AAS-SAU Research Station archaeologist was very busy, but I managed to keep all of the balls juggled in the air...and I had a good time doing it.

The Spring semester is a different story, however...The addition of my 2 classes (General Anthropology and Anthropology of North American Indians) has swamped me as I did not cut back my outreach and research efforts. I have: closed on my house, gone to the SHAs in Williamsburg, VA, taught the archeology merit badge class at a Boy Scout Wintercamp at Camp DeSoto south of El Dorado (see photo above by Anthony Clay Newton), I have visited two CRM excavations in my station territory, I am helping to organize the upcoming Caddo Conference in Magnolia...I will be giving a program to the Kadohadacho Chapter of the AAS (Feb 13), an a program at Historic Washington State Park (Mar 6)...I have helped conduct geophysical surveys on a mound group in Northern Louisiana and I have helped map an Archaic site near Hot Springs...I am mapping 4 African-American cemeteries in my area...I will be documenting another cemetery and a well at Historic Washington State Park this month...and I have a journal article, a book chapter and an peer review for a regional journal all with deadlines this month.....Arrrgghhhh!

I LOVE teaching and would not stop if I had the chance...but I've learned a valuable lesson about "seasonal" outreach at the AAS-SAU Station...you live you learn.

I'll endeavor to post a little more regularly as we go through the spring...