Stirring Up a Hornet's Nest: - UGA Laboratory of Archaeology ...

The GPS locations of suspected sites were recorded so that they could be revisited during secondary
reconnaissance survey.
Several historic farmsteads were located by this method and team members conducted a preliminary search
of these sites with the metal detector. The project’s time and resources did not allow complete examination
of all of these finds. Several of these home sites contain vast amounts of metal, which rendered the metal
detector strategy ineffective. These homes are likely of late 19 th or early 20 th century vintage, since
abundant metal debris is typical on these types of sites. What is not known, however, is whether these sites
mask an earlier historic occupation or site use.
For the secondary reconnaissance survey, a larger group of metal detector operators were organized and
coordinated by the Field Director. Highly skilled operators were interspersed with those with less
experience. The operators were assigned transects or sectors of sites or landforms to cover. On homestead
sites the sector method was used, whereas transects were used to cover areas of slope where Revolutionary
War period metal relics had been previously identified by the preliminary reconnaissance team.
Once a significant metal find was located, its location was recorded, either by the Sokkia total station or
with a GPS handheld receiver. UTM locations were recorded for each find using the NAD 27 datum
reference. These Northing and Easting metric geographic coordinates were shortened for convenience by
dropping the first two digits of the Easting and first three digits of the Northing reading. For example, an
object located at UTM, Zone 17, 3729226 Northing, 325270 Easting, was given the grid coordinates: 9226
North, 5270 East. Both sets of coordinates are included in Appendix I. When the mapping process was
delayed or backlogged, metal pin flags were used to mark the location of the finds. Each find was assigned
a unique “Piece Plot”, or PP# numerical designation. These piece plot numbers served to identify each find
throughout the field survey and laboratory analysis phase.
A total of 86 artifacts from various survey locations was either not excavated or uncovered and left in
place. Those left in place were duly noted in the field inventory with the notation “nc” (no collection) in the
artifact inventory in Appendix I. Site loci and artifact locations were recorded using a combination of
Garmin GPS handheld devices and a Sokkia Total Station with a TDS Recon data collector.
Figure 3. View of Project Area, Facing North from Monument Hill.
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