Mentor Spotlight: Martha Wallace
Hello Green River Preserve archaeology enthusiasts!
I’m Martha Wallace, Camp Archaeologist at Green River Preserve since the summer of 2012. I’ve made some amazing discoveries through the years, with the help of the campers, digging shovel tests, collecting artifacts, exploring the trails, and discovering sites and features.
Each summer, archaeological investigations at GRP have yielded extensive evidence of the ancient civilizations that inhabited Western North Carolina many thousands of years ago. The material evidence includes a Native American fire ring exposed at nearly 3 feet beneath the surface in the bottom of a test unit in Cabinville. Two distinct Native American rock quarry sites were discovered near GRP Base Camp. Several lithic production workshops have been identified, where Native Americans produced spearpoints and tools by flint knapping with local rock cobbles and boulders. Several caves and bivouacs have been found throughout Green River Preserve and Dupont State Recreational Forest (DSRF), used by Indigenous people for shelter or storage. In the very distant past, hundreds of petroglyphs were etched into the exposed rock balds on Long Rock, Upper Bald and Lower Bald and neighboring DSRF. Several pointer trees have been identified in GRP and DSRF, pointing to the locations of rock shelters typically less than 100 meters away. Numerous elevated rock features have been identified in and around GRP, DSRF and Cedar Mountain, N.C. The oval shaped and elevated rock features are referred to by the locals as “Turtle Drums” and are believed to be ancient Native American drumming stones.
All the material evidence has led to recording several archaeological sites with the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology (NC OSA) and documenting these finds with articles and reports filed with regional archaeological organizations and institutions. In addition, I have created the Archaeology Corner in the GRP Lodge, where campers get to examine and handle artifacts found at Green River Preserve.
In 2022 and 2023, I filed 4 site forms with the NC OSA for two rock quarry sites, a lithic production workshop and a bivouac motel. The sites were assigned site numbers (31HN319, 31HN323, 31HN324, 31HN327) and have been added to the state registry of known archaeological sites in NC! The site forms contain methods of excavation and data collection, artifact catalogues, photographs, and maps of each site.
Recently, my article was published in the North Carolina Archaeology Society Journal (NCAS Spring 2023, Volume 33, Number 2) summarizing the archaeological findings at Green River Preserve from 2012 through 2022. I’ll be submitting a follow up article to the NCAS in the fall to include recent discoveries from 2023 and 2024.
I’m working on a formal report for Green River Preserve to document and consolidate my archaeological findings from 2012 to present. The report will include the methods of excavation and data collection, artifact catalogues, maps, photographs, graphics, research, analysis, and conclusions from each of the sires. The site forms, articles, and reports will provide access to the data collected and encourage comparison and analysis in current and future archaeological studies in the region.
This is such an exciting time as we move forward with Archaeology at GRP! An archaeological study of the Turtle Drums could answer many questions: when and how were they constructed and what was their significance and purpose of use? Future studies at the Green River Rock quarry could determine dates of use for the quarry, potentially developing a better understanding of trade in the region. Several flakes of Green River Rock were identified in an archaeological survey in Flat Rock, NC, over 10 miles northeast of the quarry site (Agha, A. Crossing Site, 2023). Green River Rock is 90% of the hundreds of lithic artifacts collected from the test unit in Cabinville. The possibilities are endless for more intensive archaeological studies at GRP.
I look forward to being with the campers this summer. They’ve always been the best part of Archaeology at GRP! The campers are surrounded by evidence of the ancient cultures as they hike about The Preserve. They get to see and experience the caves, bivouacs, petroglyphs, quarries, lithic surface scatters, spearpoints, tools, and Turtle Drums. Their curiosity and thirst for knowledge has been an inspiration, motivating me to seek the answers to their many questions about the ancient Indigenous peoples of WNC. When did they inhabit the area and how long did these civilizations last? How dense were the settlements? What types of structures did they live in? Who were they trading with and what materials? What was their diet and food ways? When and why did they make the Turtle Drums and etch symbols into the rock faces? Some of these questions will be addressed in my report and future archaeological studies.
This summer will be Season 13 of Archaeology at GRP! I’ll be at summer camp for the first week of Sessions 2, 3 and 4, taking many of the campers on mentor hikes in the mornings and continuing archaeological investigations in the afternoons. I’ll be presenting a camp wide program about Archaeology at GRP and Native American history and culture during those sessions.
Stay tuned. More to come soon.
Remember. Culture is Everywhere!
Martha Wallace / Archaeologist / Senior Mentor / Tour Guide / Historian / Educator
You can contact me through my walking tour and archaeology business called Charleston Perspective.
www.charlestonperspective.com charlestonperspective@gmail.com (843) 460-8671
