New Evidence of Early Spanish Activity on the Lower Ocmulgee River

In 2006, Fernbank Museum of Natural History launched an archaeological project along the lower Ocmulgee River of southeastern Georgia. The ongoing effort began with a straightforward objective: recover and interpret archaeological evidence of an early seventeenth-century mission named Santa Isabel de Utinahica. Interpretations of historical accounts put the mission in or near The Forks, a reference to the junction of the Oconee and Ocmulgee Rivers that creates the Altamaha River (Braley 1995; Snow 1990; Worth 1993, 1994, 1995a). Previous tantalizing discoveries of Spanish artifacts in the area offered solid targets for investigation and the project design was simply to investigate as many candidate mission sites as possible. Spanish artifacts have since been recovered from each of the four sites we have investigated but obvious evidence of Santa Isabel\u27s location still eludes us. We have confirmed instead a Spanish presence both pre-dating and post-dating the mission. From one site there are robust indications of much earlier Spanish contact during the sixteenth century, very possibly associated with the entrada of Hernando De Soto. From another site there is equally compelling evidence of Indian refugees who abandoned coastal mission communities in the late 1600s. And from others there is Spanish material we cannot yet precisely date

A phase I archaeological survey of a new site for the Environmental Toxicology and Pathology Research Center at Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester County, Virginia

A Phase I archaeological survey of a new site for the proposed Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) Environmental Toxicology and Pathology Research Center in Gloucester County, Virginia, was undertaken by staff of the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research (WMCAR) on September 28, 1993. This investigation was intended to provide specific information concerning the nature and distribution of potential archaeological resources within the project area (approximately 11,933 m2 [39,150 ft.2]). The work included a review of the existing archaeological sites and an evaluation of extant documentary and cartographic sources pertaining to the project area

A cultural resource overview and preservation plan for the Timberneck Farm property and Catlett Islands, Gloucester County, Virginia

In January and February, 1992, the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research (WMCAR) conducted an archaeological overview study of the Timberneck Farm and Catlett Islands in Gloucester County, Virginia under an agreement with the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia (CBNERRVA), Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS). The purpose of the investigation was to assess the archaeological potential of the area and to formulate a framework for management of those cultural resources present

Phase I archaeological survey of the VIMS scientific storage building parcel and phase II evaluation of site 44GL357, Gloucester Point, Virginia

On September 24, 1990, the College of William and Mary\u27s Center for Archaeological Research (WMCAR) conducted a Phase I archaeological survey of an approximately one-half-acre parcel for a proposed Scientific Storage building at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), Gloucester Point, Virginia (Figures 1 and 2). This area is located within the Gloucester Point Archaeological District. The purpose of the study was to provide preliminary identification and assessment of prehistoric and historic sites, or potential site locations, within the proposed project area

A phase I cultural resource survey of the proposed sites for the VIMS Environmental Toxicology and Pathology Research Center, Gloucester Point, Virginia

In July 1990, the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research (WMCAR) of the Department of Anthropology at the College of William and Mary entered into an agreement with the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences (VIMS) to conduct - a Phase I archaeological investigation at three proposed candidate parcels for the Environmental Toxicology and Pathology Research Center on the VIMS campus, Gloucester Point, Virginia. The purpose of the investigation was to identify the presence of archaeological resources that may exist within the each area

A phase I archaeological survey and monitoring of the fire protection/water lines, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester County, Virginia

In February 1992, the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research (WMCAR) entered into an agreement with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) to conduct a Phase I archaeological investigation of the Fire Protection Facilities/Water Lines project area on the VIMS campus. This investigation, designed by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR) (Appendix A), is intended to provide specific information concerning the nature and distribution of potential archaeological resources within the project area in order to place the water lines without impact to sensitive archaeological resources within the Gloucester Point Archaeological District

Life on the edge of Gloucester Town : evaluation and data recovery at sites 44GL171 and 44 GL177 associated with the Environmental Toxicology and Pathology Research Center, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester County, Virginia

The William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research (WMCAR) conducted archaeological data recovery on portions of Sites 44GL171 and 44GL177, which lie within the boundaries of the proposed Environmental Toxicology and Pathology Research Center (ETPRC) building on the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) campus from April 24, 1995 to July 6, 1995. These sites are located within the Gloucester Point Archaeological District.Data recovery from Sites 44GL 171 and 44GL 177 provides a rare glimpse into a turbulent period in the history of Gloucester Point. The pictures of Gloucester Town that emerge from this research illustrate economic prosperity and decline during the first half of the eighteenth century, and short-term military occupation during the Revolutionary War. These events had profound effects on Gloucester Town\u27s residents and late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century settlement in the town

A Southeastern North America River Community Forty-Thousand Years Ago

Understanding how past communities have been shaped by environmental alterations can provide insight into the impacts of future climate change. Local climate and river systems have changed significantly over the last glacial maximum, but little is known about the communities of the Georgian Coastal Plain earlier in the period. Plant fossils from Coffee Bluff, a Quaternary organic river deposit of the Ocmulgee River in southeastern Georgia, were used to determine past environmental and climatic conditions. The paleoflora were found imbedded in a mud matrix and were removed by a slaking method; they were later identified and separated to respective ecological environments. Of the eleven species identified, one was a wetland species (marsh sedges), while the remaining ten were woodland species. From using the coexistence approach with the plant fossils and aligning their growing conditions, we suggest that Coffee Bluff was a stream/riverine habitat with loamy and well-drained soils; local climate was humid, with temperatures and annual precipitation ranging from 10 to 210C and 1016 to 1524 mm, respectively. Few gymnosperm specimens were recovered in the material, though groups like conifers were dominant in the coastal plain environment during the late Pleistocene. It is most likely that there were fewer conifer trees near the collection area

A phase I cultural resource survey of additional acreage for the Raleigh House parcel at Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester County, Virginia

A Phase I Cultural Resource Survey of additional acreage for the Raleigh House parcel at Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) in Gloucester County, Virginia was undertaken by staff of the William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research (WMCAR) on February 8, 1993. This investigation was intended to provide specific information concerning the nature and distribution of potential archaeological and architectural resources within the project area

Oral Rabies Vaccination in North America: Opportunities, Complexities, and Challenges

Steps to facilitate inter-jurisdictional collaboration nationally and continentally have been critical for implementing and conducting coordinated wildlife rabies management programs that rely heavily on oral rabies vaccination (ORV). Formation of a national rabies management team has been pivotal for coordinated ORV programs in the United States of America. The signing of the North American Rabies Management Plan extended a collaborative framework for coordination of surveillance, control, and research in border areas among Canada, Mexico, and the US. Advances in enhanced surveillance have facilitated sampling of greater scope and intensity near ORV zones for improved rabies management decision-making in real time. The value of enhanced surveillance as a complement to public health surveillance was best illustrated in Ohio during 2007, where 19 rabies cases were detected that were critical for the formulation of focused contingency actions for controlling rabies in this strategically key area. Diverse complexities and challenges are commonplace when applying ORV to control rabies in wild meso-carnivores. Nevertheless, intervention has resulted in notable successes, including the elimination of an arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) rabies virus variant in most of southern Ontario, Canada, with ancillary benefits of elimination extending into Quebec and the northeastern US. Progress continues with ORV toward preventing the spread and working toward elimination of a unique variant of gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) rabies in west central Texas. Elimination of rabies in coyotes (Canis latrans) through ORV contributed to the US being declared free of canine rabies in 2007. Raccoon (Procyon lotor) rabies control continues to present the greatest challenges among meso-carnivore rabies reservoirs, yet to date intervention has prevented this variant from gaining a broad geographic foothold beyond ORV zones designed to prevent its spread from the eastern US. Progress continues toward the development and testing of new bait-vaccine combinations that increase the chance for improved delivery and performance in the diverse meso-carnivore rabies reservoir complex in the US