Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Anthropology Theses Department of Anthropology 8-12-2016 The MARTA Collection: An Investigation of an Archaeological Legacy and Cache of History Lori C. Thompson Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/anthro_theses Recommended Citation Thompson, Lori C., "The MARTA Collection: An Investigation of an Archaeological Legacy and Cache of History." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2016. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/anthro_theses/108 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Anthropology at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Anthropology Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. THE MARTA COLLECTION: AN INVESTIGATION OF AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL LEGACY AND CACHE OF HISTORY by LORI C. THOMPSON Under the Direction of Jeffrey B. Glover, PhD ABSTRACT The initial rail lines for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), radiate from a center point where the town of Terminus gave rise to Atlanta. This massive public undertaking created an opportunity for Georgia State University (GSU) personnel, under the direction of Dr. Roy Dickens, to implement urban archaeological excavations, which were part of the burgeoning field of Cultural Resource Management (CRM). The material recovered from this project revealed a wealth of information about the people, culture, and growth of Atlanta. Since the conclusion of this project in 1980, little attention has been given to the physical collection. This invaluable resource has succumbed to the effects of decomposition and loss due to inattentiveness over time.