Speaker
Dennis Blanton, Curator of Native American Archaeology (pictured right)
Fernbank Museum of Natural History

"Every shovel of soil yields a new discovery."

Background for Dennis's Talk
New archaeological findings at a south Georgia site address the topic of European expansion into the New World, promising to bring long-sought clarity to the story of Hernando de Soto’s epic trek through the Southeast (1539-1543). Recent investigations by Fernbank Museum of Natural History have yielded evidence of early sixteenth-century Spanish exploration where previously none existed. The work also provides specific information about the Native communities visited by the exploring parties.

Prior to our recovery of a robust assemblage of early sixteenth-century European artifacts at a Native American community near the Ocmulgee River in south-central Georgia (Telfair County), there existed no compelling archaeological record of De Soto’s passage across the vast stretch between today’s Tallahassee, Florida and the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. Excavations since 2006 have produced unequivocal evidence of direct Native-Spanish contact before 1550 that includes four types of glass beads, three iron tools, a decorative brass piece, a silver pendant, and lead shot. The artifacts were recovered within a 14 x 20 meter excavation area, often in undisturbed context, that coincides with the location of a large Lamar-Period Native structure believed to be the community’s “council house.”

The project is ongoing and future study will involve additional excavation at multiple sites and close analysis of the growing artifact collection. The findings promise, in time, to bring us closer to a thorough reconstruction of the pre-contact cultural landscape, and a truer sense of the initial encounter between indigenous societies and Europeans – and its implications.

For Further Exploration
Fernbank Expedition Journal: Archaeologist’s Report - A blog in which Dennis shares the results of his latest field work with the public at large.

Archaeology Field Work - A Flickr photostream which features images of some of the remarkable finds by Dennis's research team as well as "action" photographs of archaeologists at work.

Fernbank Museum of Natural History Research and Collections - Web page which describes all past and current research efforts of the museum and their contributions to the museum collection.

Dennis's Biographical Statement
I was born and lived out my earliest years in South Carolina before my family relocated to Georgia. I attended South Georgia College (1976-78) prior to moving on to complete an undergraduate degree in anthropology at the University of Georgia (1980, Phi Beta Kappa). My graduate studies include completion of an M.A. in anthropology at Brown University (1983) and current work toward finalizing an anthropology Ph. D. at the University of Virginia.

I have had a lifelong interest in archaeology and found myself in an organized field project by the time I was fourteen years old. During my career I have worked in eleven different states, including Puerto Rico, but most of my time has been spent in eastern North America, including extended periods in New England, Illinois, and Virginia. My Virginia experience includes 15 years as director of The Center for Archaeological Research at the College of William & Mary, and a year creating and directing a new public archaeology program at historic Shirley Plantation.

I happily returned to Georgia in July 2005 as Curator of Native American Archaeology at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta. My duties there involve caring for the very large St. Catherines Island Collection, recently transferred to Fernbank from the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

I have been fortunate over the years to receive wide recognition for some of my research. As one example, the discovery of how severe drought affected the Jamestown colony in Virginia appeared on the front page of The New York Times, in Science Magazine, on National Public Radio, and on the television programs Scientific American Frontiers (with Alan Alda) and ABC World News Tonight. More recently I have co-edited a new book entitled, Indian and European Contact in Context: The Middle Atlantic Region (2004, University Press of Florida).

My current professional activities include service as President of The Society for Georgia Archaeology and as a member of the Georgia National Register of Historic Places Review Board.