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STONE MOUNTAIN: Cultural sleuths find long-buried treasures

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Jill Elvgren
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« on: December 27, 2007, 02:51:34 am »

STONE MOUNTAIN: Cultural sleuths find long-buried treasures

By Mike Williams
Cox International Correspondent

Published on: 12/27/07
 
Stumbling onto an intricate, 1,400-year-old rock carving in the Puerto Rican rain forest conjures romantic visions of Hollywood-style archaeology: Indiana Jones defying danger and evil enemies to preserve ancient treasures with mystical powers.

The reality of most archaeological work is far more mundane, a combination of backbreaking labor and painstaking attention to the tiniest details.

But that just makes the recent discovery of an ancient Taino Indian ball court and stone carvings in Puerto Rico that much sweeter for the staff at New South Associates, a Stone Mountain firm that conducts archaeological and historic surveys for public and private developers around the South and in the Caribbean.

"In reality, most of the sites we discover get no further work," said Joe Joseph, the firm's vice president and administrative officer. "We make a record and often the site is destroyed because the artifacts are not of major significance. The Puerto Rico site is by far one of the most significant we've ever been involved in."

New South was founded in 1988, when Joseph and Mary Beth Reed, an anthropologist and historian, left another cultural-preservation firm in the Atlanta area to start their own shop. The company has grown into a 50-person team of archaeologists, historians, graphic designers and technicians who survey sites slated for development, looking for historical or cultural artifacts that might be worth preserving.

It is now majority-owned by women, an important distinction in the competition for government contracts, which have set-asides for small and minority firms. Reed serves as president, while Joseph, Theresa Hamby and Natalie Adams are the other principals.

The firm's work stems from local, state and federal laws enacted over the past few decades to preserve the nation's historic and cultural resources. Federal law, in particular, mandates that large projects conduct studies in advance to see if new roads, dams or other projects might disturb buildings and artifacts either buried or forgotten.

New South recently was hired to survey a site for a hospital expansion in Charlotte. Using ground-penetrating radar, researchers found graves dating back to the Revolutionary War. They recovered and reburied the remains, also contacting family members who had long ago lost touch with the bit of family history associated with the plots.

"Nobody knew the graves were there," Joseph said. In Georgia, New South surveyed New Echota, the Cherokee Indian capital near Calhoun that dates to 1825, ahead of a Georgia Department of Transportation project, helping planners design road improvements that would not have a negative impact on the tribe's history.

New South occupies a renovated historic home in Stone Mountain, along with three adjoining buildings on a 3.5-acre campus at 6150 E. Ponce de Leon Ave. The firm also has branch offices in North and South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee.

A look at New South

> Based in Stone Mountain, at 6150 E. Ponce de Leon Ave. Four other locations in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee.

> Fifty-member team of archaeologists, historians, graphic designers and technicians.

> Celebrates 20th anniversary of company's founding in October 2008.

> On the Web: www.newsouthassoc.com


 Staff Map locates Ponce in Puerto Rico. Inset map outlines area of detail relative to the United States.


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