Papers by James Wettstaed
Oxbow Books, Feb 23, 2023
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Archaeology in Montana, 1995
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
American Antiquity
Democratic cooperation is a particularly complex type of arrangement that requires attendant inst... more Democratic cooperation is a particularly complex type of arrangement that requires attendant institutions to ensure that the problems inherent in collective action do not subvert the public good. It is perhaps due to this complexity that historians, political scientists, and others generally associate the birth of democracy with the emergence of so-called states and center it geographically in the “West,” where it then diffused to the rest of the world. We argue that the archaeological record of the American Southeast provides a case to examine the emergence of democratic institutions and to highlight the distinctive ways in which such long-lived institutions were—and continue to be—expressed by Native Americans. Our research at the Cold Springs site in northern Georgia, USA, provides important insight into the earliest documented council houses in the American Southeast. We present new radiocarbon dating of these structures along with dates for the associated early platform mounds ...
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
American Antiquity, 2022
Democratic cooperation is a particularly complex type of arrangement that requires attendant inst... more Democratic cooperation is a particularly complex type of arrangement that requires attendant institutions to ensure that the problems inherent in collective action do not subvert the public good. It is perhaps due to this complexity that historians, political scientists, and others generally associate the birth of democracy with the emergence of so-called states and center it geographically in the "West," where it then diffused to the rest of the world. We argue that the archaeological record of the American Southeast provides a case to examine the emergence of democratic institutions and to highlight the distinctive ways in which such long-lived institutions were-and continue to be-expressed by Native Americans. Our research at the Cold Springs site in northern Georgia, USA, provides important insight into the earliest documented council houses in the American Southeast. We present new radiocarbon dating of these structures along with dates for the associated early platform mounds that place their use as early as cal AD 500. This new dating makes the institution of the Muskogean council, whose active participants have always included both men and women, at least 1,500 years old, and therefore one of the most enduring and inclusive democratic institutions in world history.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
American Antiquity, 2020
Hernando de Soto's expedition through the southeastern United States between 1539 and 1543 is oft... more Hernando de Soto's expedition through the southeastern United States between 1539 and 1543 is often regarded as a watershed moment for the collapse of Indigenous societies across the region. Historical narratives have proposed that extreme depopulation as a result of early contact destabilized Indigenous economies, politics, networks, and traditions. Although processes of depopulation and transformation were certainly set in motion by this and earlier colonial encounters, the timing, temporality, and heterogeneous rhythms of postcontact Indigenous histories remain unclear. Through the integration of radiocarbon and archaeological data from the Mississippian earthen platform mound at Dyar (9GE5) in central Georgia, we present a case of Indigenous endurance and resilience in the Oconee Valley that has long been obfuscated by materially based chronologies and typologies. Bayesian chronological modeling suggests that Indigenous Mississippian traditions persisted for up to 130 years beyond contact with European colonizers. We argue that advances in modeling radiocarbon dates, along with meaningful consultation/collaboration with descendant communities, can contribute to efforts that move us beyond a reliance on materially based chronologies that can distort and erase Indigenous histories.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Plains Anthropologist, Feb 1, 2005
Page 1. Reconsideringthe Dominance of Limestone Temper in the Pottery of the Northeastern Ozarks ... more Page 1. Reconsideringthe Dominance of Limestone Temper in the Pottery of the Northeastern Ozarks of Missouri James R. Wettstaed The publishedliterature has typically portrayed the pottery of the northeastern Ozarks of Missouri as dominated by limestone temper. ...
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The discovery of a well preserved Lamar culture household in the Chattahoochee National Forest of... more The discovery of a well preserved Lamar culture household in the Chattahoochee National Forest offers to shed light on a period of time that remains poorly understood by archaeologists and ethno historians: the contact and post contact periods. The US Forest Service, in partnership with Southern Research, is carrying out excavations at site 9ST62 to better understand events in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and their effects on the residents of northeast Georgia. This paper examines two recent field seasons of work at the site with the Passport in Time (PIT) Program and our plans for the future.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Rock art sites on public lands present a challenge to cultural resource managers. Such sites are... more Rock art sites on public lands present a challenge to cultural resource managers. Such sites are popular places for the public to visit, while at the same time they are common targets for vandalism. These issues are considered using examples from two sites on the Chattahoochee National Forest in North Georgia. Track Rock Gap is probably the best known rock art site in Georgia, while the Hickorynut Mountain site is essentially unknown. Both sites present different challenges in regards to management and protection.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Technical Reports by James Wettstaed
CONTEXT AND MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR ROCK FEATURE SITES ON THE CHATTAHOOCHEE-OCONEE NATIONAL FORESTS, GEORGIA, 2023
Rock features are a common type of archaeological site that archaeologists have long struggled to... more Rock features are a common type of archaeological site that archaeologists have long struggled to properly address. Substantial numbers of rock feature sites have been recorded throughout North Georgia, however, only a small amount have been confirmed to be American Indian in origin. The Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests (CONF) manage nearly 865,000 acres across northern Georgia and hundreds of rock feature sites have been recorded on Forest Service land and similar numbers are likely to be recorded in the future. The present document is designed to be a context and management plan for this type of site on National Forest land. A primary goal for the current study is to establish criteria that can be used without relying on excavation. If these features are burials or sacred sites then excavation will cause a significant
negative impact to the integrity of such a feature. This initial evaluation can hopefully identify those features that require additional Tribal consultation to establish the proper management.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Farmstead sites dating to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are one of the most c... more Farmstead sites dating to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are one of the most common types of archaeological sites found in the Southern Appalachians. Despite the ubiquity of these sites across the landscape, no formal effort has been made to examine this as a unique site type on the Chattahoochee National Forest. The Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest proposes to develop a context and management plan for nineteenth and twentieth farmsteads in the Southern Appalachians. This will involve a combination of historic and archaeological research in order to provide a context for such sites and characterize this type of site. Such a context and management plan will allow for the more efficient evaluation and management of such sites when they are recorded in the future. The present document is a research design that will guide the development of a context and management plan for farmsteads dating to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Test excavations were conducted at the Farmer’s Bottom site in March 2014. The initial occupatio... more Test excavations were conducted at the Farmer’s Bottom site in March 2014. The initial occupation at this site was during the Middle Woodland Cartersville period, 100 B.C. to A.D. 550. A second occupation occurred at the site during the Early Mississippian Etowah period, A.D. 900-1200. Both of these occupations appear to have been minor, at least in the part of the site that was tested. The primary occupation at the site can be assigned to the Late Mississippian Lamar period, A.D. 1450-1650. Three radiocarbon dates overlap in the early sixteenth century (A.D. 1500-1510) and the early seventeenth century (A.D. 1600 and 1615). It is possible that all three dates represent a single occupation and not two. The Lamar pottery from the site does not at this time clearly suggest two separate occupations and appears to be consistent with an early seventeenth century occupation. Several features were encountered, including the likely remains of at least one structure. This is an unusual and significant site and focused excavations can provide important information to allow us to better understand a poorly known time period in a poorly known region.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Published Papers by James Wettstaed
Historical Archaeology, 2003
American settlers began moving into the Missouri Ozarks in the early-19th century. Despite exten... more American settlers began moving into the Missouri Ozarks in the early-19th century. Despite extensive historical research, however, very few early-19th-century farmsteads have been investigated archaeologically in the region. Using the data generated by limited excavations a seven sites, combined with a study of store records from the 1840s and travelers' accounts, this paper provides an archaeological perspective of life on the Missouri Ozarks frontier. In particular, as in other frontier settings, status differences do not appear to be visible in the archaeological record. In this case, the explanation may be related to the Scotch-Irish cultural traditions of the inhabitants.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The Missouri Archaeologist, 1995
During the 19th and 20th centuries, the Ozarks of southern Missouri was one of the most important... more During the 19th and 20th centuries, the Ozarks of southern Missouri was one of the most important mining regions in the United States. While industrialized underground lead mining occurred in some parts of the Ozarks, 19th-century lead mining was on a much smaller scale in most of the region. In most cases, individuals or small groups mined the lead by hand and sold it to one of the many furnaces distributed throughout the area. The most ubiquitous mining-related sites in the eastern Ozarks are the thousands of hand-dug pits scattered across the region. Little attention has been given to them by archaeologists, who have in most cases simply recorded and dismissed them. From the start, lead mining was a hard life, but it played an important role in the settlement of the interior Ozarks. The recent research in the Palmer district sheds light on an important period of Missouri's history. As will be seen, there is a rich and varied archaeological record which, as yet, has hardly been examined.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Plains Anthropologist, 2000
Store records provide an intimate look at the lives of people in a local community. An examinatio... more Store records provide an intimate look at the lives of people in a local community. An examination of the day books from the company store of an early nineteenth century Ozarks mining town provides detailed information on the diversity and quantity of goods available in a remote frontier community. The picture that emerges is of an independent and largely self-sufficient people intimately connected to the larger world. Such detailed data on available consumer goods provides important comparative material for archaeologists, as only a small percentage of a person's purchases actually appear in the archaeological record.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Early Georgia, 2010
Although historic period sites are ubiquitous throughout the Georgia Piedmont, the archaeology of... more Although historic period sites are ubiquitous throughout the Georgia Piedmont, the archaeology of these sites is poorly understood. Most historic sites in the Piedmont can be classified as one of three types: plantations, farms, or tenant sites. An overview of historical archaeology in Georgia recently prepared by Joseph et al. (2004) provides a comprehensive discussion of upland (Piedmont) cotton plantations, tenant sites, and farms, and the archaeological research that has been done on such sites. However, only a few such sites in the region have been the subject of detailed, extensive excavation. Because most excavations of historic sites in this part of Georgia are the result of cultural resource management projects, determinations as to which sites are important and require additional research are made at the survey level when sites are initially recorded. How sites are addressed and recorded at the survey stage therefore affects what happens later, and our understanding of the historic archaeological record. A review of historic sites recorded on the Oconee National Forest indicates that the approaches that have previously been used to record such sites have been inadequate and have not accurately categorized these sites. As a result, many nineteenth-century sites that could potentially provide important information have not been protected or investigated further. There appear to be two basic reasons why so many historic sites have been dismissed on the Oconee National Forest. One reason is method-ological, while the other appears to reflect an overall attitude or approach to historic sites. I will address these two reasons, especially the methodology , using examples drawn from recent investigations on the Oconee National Forest.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Archaeology in Montana, 1993
Wildfire is an ever present, naturally occurring event. This paper has described a number of impa... more Wildfire is an ever present, naturally occurring event. This paper has described a number of impacts to archaeological sites which can be
directly attributed to fires. These impacts vary from minor to the complete destruction of a site and the type of damage that occurs is often related to the types of fires which occur and their intensity.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Early Georgia, 2019
The earliest pottery in North America originated in Georgia in the Savannah River Valley around 5... more The earliest pottery in North America originated in Georgia in the Savannah River Valley around 5,000 cal B.P. (4,854-5,320 cal B.P., Stoltman 1966), spreading north and south along the coast and then inland up the Savannah River. It also spread elsewhere throughout Georgia, and although never occurring in large quantities, fiber-tempered pottery is widespread and common in the Piedmont. An analysis of collections made nearly 30 years ago at a site in Stephens County identified a fairly large collection of fiber-tempered pottery at this upper Piedmont site. Radiocarbon dating of the fiber from two sherds place occupations at the Lower Brown Bottoms site (9ST24) at approximately 3,000 cal B.P. Although it is often found in sites north of the Fall Line, fiber-tempered pottery typically receives minimal attention, largely because of the small amount that is typically found at sites. When one or two sherds are found at a site that contains much more substantial occupations from other time periods, it is hard to justify putting much effort in analysis or discussion. However, now that we know we can date individual sherds, these small collections are more valuable. A review of sites with fiber-tempered pottery north of the Fall Line suggests that even with very small collections investigators could fairly easily document important aspects of the distribution and adoption of this technology.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Uploads
Papers by James Wettstaed
Technical Reports by James Wettstaed
negative impact to the integrity of such a feature. This initial evaluation can hopefully identify those features that require additional Tribal consultation to establish the proper management.
Published Papers by James Wettstaed
directly attributed to fires. These impacts vary from minor to the complete destruction of a site and the type of damage that occurs is often related to the types of fires which occur and their intensity.
negative impact to the integrity of such a feature. This initial evaluation can hopefully identify those features that require additional Tribal consultation to establish the proper management.
directly attributed to fires. These impacts vary from minor to the complete destruction of a site and the type of damage that occurs is often related to the types of fires which occur and their intensity.
documented two extensive charcoal-production complexes
affiliated with iron furnaces dating to the late-19th century.
These complexes include numerous charcoal pits and
temporary workers’ houses. Investigations at several habitation
sites recovered relatively small but clearly domestic
assemblages and demonstrated variability between these
sites. These results represent the first archaeological
investigations of charcoal production in Missouri and provide
a rare opportunity to examine the entire suite of sites
related to charcoal production. They contribute to a fuller
picture of the 19th-century Missouri iron industry.