“The Archaeology and History of Native Americans in North Georgia: Mississippian Period, Contact, and Post-Contact“

Biography

I am an archaeologist who has worked extensively in the Southeastern United States in both academic and cultural resource management settings. I received my Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Kentucky in 2011, after earning a M.A. degree in anthropology from the University of Georgia and a B.S. degree from Radford University in southwestern Virginia. After receiving my master’s degree, I taught for a year at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, and then worked at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville; I also assisted with the University of Georgia excavations of the Mississippian period Lamar Mounds in central Georgia. In 1998 I began a career in cultural resource management, working as a Principal Investigator for The Louis Berger Group and later for Gray & Pape, Inc., in Richmond, Virginia. In 2011 I completed my dissertation on Mississippian frontier chiefdoms, specifically the Carter Robinson site, in southwestern Virginia. This work was supported by a National Geographic Exploration Fund grant.  In 2013 I received the C.B. Moore Award for Excellence in Archaeology by a Young Scholar from the Southeastern Archaeological Conference. From 2013-2019 I was an Assistant Professor at the University of Mississippi, and Associate Professor from 2019-2021. I served as Co-Director of the UM  Curation Project, funded by a National  Park Service Save America’s Treasures Grant, to  catalog and curate the university’s archaeological collections. I am currently Senior Archaeologist at New South Associates, Inc., in Stone Mountain. I also serve as the President of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, a 900-member organization of archaeologists across the Southeast.

Research

My primary area of research is Mississippian chiefdoms located on the periphery of the Mississippian cultural world. I examine the role of craft production in the emergence of inequality within chiefdoms. I do this through the analysis of ceramic vessels, shell items, (beads, shell debris and lithic tools), and evidence of fabric production.  I analyze domestic household economies and specifically women’s roles in these economies through comparisons of domestic structures within and between sites. I expanded excavations to the nearby fifteenth-century Ely Mound in 2019. I also research the Westos, a mid-seventeenth century Northeastern Native American group who initiated Indian slaving in the Southeast, and  more generally, the contact period, the focus of a recent co-edited volume.

In service to the discipline I research field safety and ethics. I oversaw creation and implementation of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference Sexual Harassment Survey, served on the Society for American Archaeology Sexual Harassment Survey committee and Ethics Task Force 2, served as a consultant on the National Park Service Sexual Harassment Survey and serve as an advisor on the National Science Foundation grant investigating safer field school practices. Recent publications examine safety issues for archaeologists with chronic health conditions and safe excavation of arsenic-embalmed individuals of the nineteenth-century. I am a co-creator of the crowd-sourced website Re-Centering Southeastern Archaeology bibliography to increase knowledge and citations  of publications by archaeologists  and scholars that identify as Black, indigenous, LatinX, people of color, women,  LGBTQ+, and people with disabilities.

Select Publications:

In Review        Gender, Crafting and Power. In Mississippian Women, edited by Rachel Briggs, Lynn Sullivan, and Michaelyn Harle. Under review and contract with University Press of Florida.  

In Press           Before Columbus: History, Archaeology and Resources. In Understanding and Teaching Native American History, edited by Kristofer Ray and Brady DeSanti. Harvey Goldberg Series for Understanding and Teaching History. Under contract with University of Wisconsin Press, Madison.  

2021                Arsenic and Old Graves: A Method for Testing Arsenic Contamination in Historic Cemeteries. Maureen Meyers, David Breetzke and Henry Holt. Manuscript submitted to Advances in Archaeological Practice special issue, Health and Wellness in Archaeology.  

2021                Mitigation Strategies for Asthma, Diabetes, and Depression During Field Archaeology. Carla Klehm, Maureen Meyers, and Rebecca Peixotto. Manuscript submitted to Advances in Archaeological Practice special issue, Health and Wellness in Archaeology.  

2021                Salt, Craft Specialization, and Exchange During the 14^th Century in Virginia. In TheArchaeology of Salt in Eastern North America, edited by Paul Eubanks and Ashley Dumas. University of Alabama Press.  

2020                Contact, Colonization and Native Commerce in the Southeastern United States, edited by Tony Boudreaux, Maureen Meyers, and Jay Johnson, pp. 192-203. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.  

2018                The Concept and Consequences of Sexual Harassment in Southeastern Archaeology. Advances in Archaeological Practice 6(4): 1-13. Maureen Meyers, Elizabeth Horton, Tony Boudreaux, Stephen Carmody, Alice Wright and Victoria Dekle. *Cambridge Press ‘Article of the Month’ November 2018.  

2017                Social Integration at a Frontier and the Creation of Mississippian Social Identity in Southwestern Virginia. Southeastern Archaeology 36(2): 1-10.  

2016                Political Economy and Craft Production before and after the Collapse of Mississippian Chiefdoms. In Beyond Collapse: Archaeological Perspectives on Resilience, Revitalization, and Reorganization, edited by Ronald Faulseit, pp. 380-403. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.  

2015                MultiscalarArchaeological Perspectives of the Southern Appalachians,edited by Ramie Gougeon and Maureen Meyers. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville. 

2014                Shell Trade: Craft Production at a Fourteenth-Century Mississippian Frontier. In Trend and Tradition in Southeastern Zooarchaeology, edited by Tanya Peres, pp. 80-104.  University of Florida Press, Gainesville.   

Founders’ Day 2021

Our Fellowship Minister, Rev. Marsha Mitchiner, has served the Congregation for over two decades, since ordination by us, following her study with Lanier Clance.

She counsels, connects, and contacts members and friends, and for those who need it, performs the laying-on of hands in her role as a massage therapist.

Many of us can vouch for the quality of her work, and appreciate the wisdom, restraint, and compassion she brings to the job of caring for our Congregation. Marsha speaks once each quarter, and helps smooth the functioning of the Congregation innumerable times in between.

“You Are Always in the Middle of Your Life”

Franklin Abbott has been a practicing psychotherapist in Atlanta for nearly forty years. He is also a poet, musician, community organizer and amateur oral historian. His connection to the Congregation and Old Stone Church goes back more than forty years to early urban radical faery gatherings held in the sanctuary before First E became its steward. He has spoken at First E many times, performed music and poetry there, coordinated events and memorials. He and First E founding minister Lanier Clance were close friends and co-hosted an eclectic existential radio program on WRFG for over five years in the mid-1980s. His most recent project is a double CD of 44 original poems and 14 original songs titled Don’t Go Back To Sleep. He lives near Decatur with two cats who assisted him with mental health and amusement during the bad times of Covid before vaccinations.

“Rest and Release as Acts of Revolution”

Rev. Marti Keller has served as a Unitarian Universalist minister for more than 23 years, most recently as the co-transition minister for the UU Church of Jacksonville Florida and prior to that in Auburn Alabama. She has been both a parish and social justice minister, and a guest speaker in many pulpits, including internationally in Edinburgh, Scotland, Ireland and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She is spending more time researching, reflecting on and writing personal essays and immersion journalism piece, having spent the first 20 years of her professional life as a reporter and editor (graduate of the UC Berkeley School of Journalism).

“Getting Wiser with Age?”

Stell Simonton first stepped into the door of the First Existentialist Congregation after moving to Atlanta in the mid-1980s. She’s been a member for many years.

Since 2013, she’s worked as a freelance journalist in Atlanta, writing frequently about youth development and the various nonprofits that help young people thrive. Her work has appeared in Youth Today, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Christian Science Monitor, the Washington Post, Georgia Health News and other publications. She previously worked for 19 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Bill Moyers once wrote something to the effect that a journalist enjoys the license to be educated in public — that journalism is really a continuing education course. It’s a free pass to ask questions.

To Stell, the process of questioning can involve a delightful skepticism (sometimes an adolescent in-your-face approach) but it also encourages a reflectiveness that can come from walking in someone else’s shoes. Since she is turning 65 this year, she’s reflecting on old age, particularly what Carl Jung has to say about the second half of life. Hence the topic of the Sept. 5 presentation: “Getting Wiser with Age?”

Stell lives with her husband, Wade Marbaugh, in Atlanta. Their two daughters, Anna Simonton and Olivia Simonton, were raised in the First Existentialist Congregation.

“What do you do when the well runs dry?”

Our Fellowship Minister, Rev. Marsha Mitchiner, has served the Congregation for over two decades, since ordination by us, following her study with Lanier Clance.

She counsels, connects, and contacts members and friends, and for those who need it, performs the laying-on of hands in her role as a massage therapist.

Many of us can vouch for the quality of her work, and appreciate the wisdom, restraint, and compassion she brings to the job of caring for our Congregation. Marsha speaks once each quarter, and helps smooth the functioning of the Congregation innumerable times in between.

“The travels of Joseph Bedney: from freedom to slavery and back again.”

H. Robert Baker is Associate Professor of History at Georgia State University and is the author of Prigg v. Pennsylvania: Slavery, the Supreme Court, and the Ambivalent Constitution (2012) and The Rescue of Joshua Glover: A Fugitive Slave, the Constitution, and the Coming of the Civil War (2006). His scholarly articles have appeared in the Law and History Review, Common-Place, and the Journal of Supreme Court History. He holds a Ph.D. in History from UCLA, where he studied with Joyce Appleby. He also writes about food and wine for the blog Tropics of Meta.

“E Unum Pluribus”

E Pluribus Unum has served as an unofficial motto for the nation—Out of many, one. At the founding of the nation, founders were creating opportunities to emphasize their coming together—joining of many previously distinct parts. Now, over two centuries later, how can we respect our connections while also honoring our rich diversity. 

Rev. Kimberly Quinn Johnson serves as minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork, on Long Island in Bridgehampton, NY. Her ministry and her preaching encourage us to connect to our most deeply held values so that we can live our faith in the world.

Before ministry, Kimberly worked as a union organizer with the UAW. She also taught Women’s and Gender Studies at New Jersey City University.

The core of Kimberly’s ministry is faith formation—creating spaces and experiences for people to connect to the sacred, and to express that connection in the world.  In her teaching, Kimberly employs the theory and practice of popular education, facilitating the exchange and exploration of our knowledge and experiences to encourage deeper understanding and grounding for action.

Kimberly serves on the Organizing Collective Board for BLUU (Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism). Kimberly also serves as co-chair of the UUA Appointments Committee and is a member of the Steering Committee for UU Class Conversations, and the Board of Trustees of the UU Women’s Federation. She also serves as vice-president of the St. Lawrence Foundation for Theological Education. She gets to work at the nexus of faith formation, youth ministry, and racial justice as a Program Leader with the UU College of Social Justice. And she’s likely to be spending her summer working with youth through UU Summer Seminary or Thrive, leadership experiences for youth of color.

“Women and Islam: The Veil and Other Costumes and Customs”

Much controversy is stirring about the Muslim tradition of women’s wearing of a head scarf or veil. What is this about? How do we balance religious tolerance and women’s rights? What do we make of this as westerners and/or as liberals? How does this connect with other traditions and habits of dress?  Let’s explore this charged topic together. You’re invited to bring a scarf, hoodies, or hat to the service if You choose.

Rev. Dr. Mellen Kennedy is a Unitarian Universalist minister and also a Sufi minister (Cheraga).  She serves as minister for the Springfield UU Meetinghouse in Vermont. Mellen is also chair of the board of The Inayatiyya: A Sufi Path of Spiritual Liberty.  She is founder of Interfaith Bridge, an organization dedicated to cultivating friendship and understanding across faiths, particularly among Muslims and non-Muslims.  She is also co-founder of the UU Small Group Ministry Network, and teaches the art of sacred storytelling and extemporaneous speaking. 

“What You Pay Attention to Grows”

Reverend Janna Nelson was ordained by the First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta in 1999, where she was an active member for decades before moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico six years ago to be closer to her large family. She is a retired elementary school teacher and preschool director who enjoys children and who learns as much from them as they do from her. She was doing singing with a sister in classrooms in a local school until the pandemic closed schools down in March. She and her husband Scott Hooker performed for decades in the Atlanta area and continue to play jazz in Albuquerque.

She is honored to be speaking to the congregation and is grateful to be invited to share reflections through an existential/feminist perspective, going back to source material and discovering new feminist writers. She had personal experiences as a young person that stirred ideas about life that she later found expressed by these writers and thinkers. These ideas and concepts continue to be a touchstone for a way to live life more fully, with all its complexity and grief and uncertainty, to participate in freedom from oppression and alienation of all kinds, a way to keep moving forward, to help build something good, to participate in healing.  A way to still live in the moment, to find lightness, to cultivate curiosity, to let in beauty, to grow and expand, to connect with others, while living in these challenging and sometimes frightening times.