APPLICATION FOR VOLUNTEER WORK AT

USC 2008 WARP EXCAVATIONS

 

 

For information about the project and 2008 field season see Dr. Wagner's web page.  Please complete the following information and return by April 18 (early applications are encouraged) to:

 

Dr. Gail E. Wagner                        (803) 777-6548 / messages at -6500

Department of Anthropology    FAX 803-777-0259

University of South Carolina     gail.wagner@sc.edu 

Columbia, SC  29208

 

Please read carefully all the Information for Volunteer Applicants.  Please note that the minimum age for unaccompanied volunteers is 16 with parental permission.  Volunteers between 12-15 years of age must be mature individuals who are accompanied each day by a responsible adult.  No prior experience is required, just a willingness to work under direction.

 

PRINT or TYPE:

 

Name(s):

 

Address:

 

Telephone: Work (    )                    Home (    )                Cell (    )

Time zone and times of day you can be reached at these numbers:

 

 

Fax or email (if you have them):

 

Are you in very good physical health?   yes     no

 

Will you be covered by medical insurance?   yes    no

 

Please list any medical considerations, including diabetes, allergies and severity (include food allergies, poison ivy, pollen, anything).  Please not how well such considerations are under control:

 

 

 

 

 

NOTE: Our work week is Tuesday - Saturday, 7:15 am - 3:30 pm in Camden, SC.  When and how frequently do you anticipate participating if not for an entire week (MINIMUM acceptable contact is for three days for those who can commute locally):

 

 

 

If you plan on participating by the week, indicate which of the following weeks (circle numbers):

1. May 13-17 (just getting started the first 2 days)

2. May 20-24

3. May 27-31

4. June 3-7

5. June 10-14

6. June 17-21

7. June 24-28 (closing down the last day)

 

 

Do you belong to a local or national archaeological society or museum?  Please list:

 

 

 

 

Previous field, class, or laboratory experience in or related to archaeology:

 

 

 

 

Brief statement of why you are interested in attending the field experience, and what you would like to do there.  What do you hope to gain from this experience?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Applicants who are accepted will be notified by mail ASAP.  If there is a delay, that is because the details of the field experience are still being worked out.

 

USC W.A.R.P. PROJECT EXCAVATIONS

INFORMATION FOR VOLUNTEER APPLICANTS

The following information is geared to answer questions about the Wateree Archaeological Research Project (WARP). This field school is offered for undergraduate (3-6 hrs) or graduate credit (6 hrs) at the University of South Carolina. It is also open to volunteers who do not wish to obtain college credit. If you would like to learn more about taking the course for credit, please call, write, or download forms from the WARP web page (where you can also learn more about the project): http://www.cas.sc.edu/ANTH/Faculty/WAGNERG/wateree.html

 

WHEN?

Beginning Tuesday, May 13 and ending on Saturday, June 28. We will be meeting Tuesdays through Saturdays, with Sunday and Monday off. Generally, the workday is expected to run from  meeting at 7:15 am to leaving the site by 3:30 pm. On Saturdays we enjoy a special pot-luck PIG OUT lunch. At times we may schedule field trips: we hope you enjoy adventure and are flexible in your plans!

 

WHERE?  WHAT?  HOW?

The Belmont Neck site (38KE6) is located at the fall line on the Wateree River just outside of Camden, central South Carolina. This single mound and village site, occupied from A.D. 950-1300, is the earliest known capital of the chiefdom of Cofitachequi centered in central South Carolina from 1000-1700. Cofitachequi was visited by Hernando de Soto in 1540 and by other Spanish and English explorers through A.D. 1670. So far only limited testing has been done at Belmont Neck, so we are especially excited to learn more about this early capital. We plan to examine the village for the first time. Surprisingly little is known about late prehistoric South Carolina village life. The excavation of an A.D. 1600 Native American house was completed during the 1998 field season at the Mulberry site, the next nearest mound capital upstream and the capital that rose to importance following Belmont Neck’s abandonment. No house has yet been totally uncovered dating from 1000-1300 in South Carolina. Despite our goals, our plans remain flexible and we may work at other sites.

Volunteers will participate fully in excavation, mapping, note-taking, and laboratory processing. Participants will be required to complete field paperwork on a daily basis. On rain days the class will re-convene to process artifacts in the archaeological laboratory.

We will meet daily in the parking lot of Historic Camden on Highway 521 in Camden (just north of I-20) and will carpool from there the several miles to the archaeological site. Access to the site each day may require a 1 mile walk in each direction if the roads are too muddy. Volunteers without cars may arrange to be picked up each morning at their hotel or bed and breakfast; however, life in Camden will be much easier with a car.

No accommodations will be provided; please consult the internet for a list of accommodations in the immediate Camden area. USC dormitory accommodations are available. Participants are expected to supply their own food and drink for the day, although the project will supply extra drinking water. Excavation equipment is supplied by the project, although volunteers may wish to purchase their own basic equipment such as a trowel, tape measure, and line level (upon acceptance you will be sent a descriptive list of basic equipment and basic working clothes you may wish to bring). An excavation methods manual will be given to each participant on their first day. Temperatures may be very hot and humid, and volunteers from more northern areas may find themselves prone to heat stroke; participants are urged to drink plenty of liquids beginning five days before they arrive and during their stay in South Carolina.

FEES

Cost is $30, payable to the project by writing a check to the USC Educational Foundation (tax deductible) with “Dept. of Anthropology WARP” written on the comment line. If you are accepted, we will ask you to mail the check to the Department of Anthropology. Refunds will be made if cancellations are made at least one week before commencement. The field school will be taught by Dr. Gail E. Wagner and assisted by Jeremy Vanier.

   

OTHER S.C. DIG OPPORTUNITIES

While you are in South Carolina, you may want to link up with other digs, including excavations in Allendale Co. during the month of May. For more information on the excavations by the Allendale Paleoindian Expedition, during the month of May, contact Dr. Al Goodyear of the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1321 Pendleton St., Columbia, SC 29208-0071, (803)777-8170.

 

W.A.R.P

 

 

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anderson, David G.

1989

 The Mississippian in South Carolina.  In Studies in South Carolina Archaeology, ed. by A.C. Goodyear, III, and G.T. Thompson, pp. 101-132.  Anthropological Studies 9, Occasional Papers of the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology.  University of South Carolina, Columbia

 Blanding, William

1848 Remains on the Wateree River, Kershaw District, Carolina.  In Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, ed. by E.G. Squier and E.H. Davis, pp 105-108. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge 1. Washington, D.C.

DePratter, Chester B.

1994 The Chiefdom of Cofitachequi.  In The Forgotten Centuries: Indians and Europeans in the American South, 1521-1704. ed. by C Hudson and C.C. Tesser, pp 197-226. The University of Georgia Press, Athens

 

Please see the web page at:

 

http://www.cas.sc.edu/ANTH/Faculty/WAGNERG/Wateree.html