Gradiometers, Copper Plates, & Mounds : A History of the Etowah Site
Presented by Dr. Adam King,
Research Associate Professor, SC Institute of Archaeology & Anthropology, University of South Carolina
The Etowah site is a large town built by Native Americans before the coming of the Europeans in the northern part of the modern state of Georgia. It is a big and impressive place, and it was an important place in the early history of the Deep South. Etowah was a major center in the Mississippian civilization that flourished from as early as 1000 CE to as late as 1600 CE. This forgotten Native American civilization is responsible for large cities, great monuments, and elaborate works of art, just like other civilizations of the world. Etowah’s history was complex and included multi-ethnic beginnings, an unexplained abandonment, the arrival of foreigners, attacks by invaders, and even a visit by early Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. In this presentation, Dr. King discusses what traditional archaeology, remote sensing, and iconographic studies have revealed about the site and the people who built it. Dr. Adam King, Research Associate Professor in the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of South Carolina, focuses his research on the early history of Native Americans, particularly during the Mississippian Period (AD1000-1600).