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. This thesis focuses on the physical condition of this collection, its i organization, and challenges of reassessing, stabilizing, and increasing the accessibility of the material to allow future researchers the ability to utilize this resource. INDEX WORDS: Curation, Archives, Urban archaeology, Historical archaeology, Atlanta, MARTA, Legacy Collection. ii THE MARTA COLLECTION: AN INVESTIGATION OF AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL LEGACY AND CACHE OF HISTORY by LORI C. THOMPSON A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2016 iii Copyright by Lori Christine Thompson 2016 iv THE MARTA COLLECTION: AN INVESTIGATION OF AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL LEGACY AND CACHE OF HISTORY by LORI C. THOMPSON Committee Chair: Jeffrey B. Glover Committee: Nicola Sharratt Susie Fishman-Armstrong Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University August 2016 v DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this thesis to my family. First, to my parents, Bill and Glenda Thompson, I would like to thank you for all the support you have given me over my lifetime. Art and Connie Pappas, my in-laws, thank you for always being there. To my son, Theo, I hope that the time I have spent on this endeavor and away from you will be remembered as a time when I followed my dreams and encourage you over your lifetime to do the same. And finally, to my husband, Van Pappas, you have always been my biggest supporter. I could never have been brave enough to jump without knowing you were always there. You are my best friend and partner for life. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The following people have supported me in my career and education and I would like to acknowledge that I would never have completed a graduate program without their continued support: Dr. Jeffrey B. Glover, Dr. Nicola Sharratt, Susie Fishman-Armstrong, and Dr. C. Thomas Lewis. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Roy S. Dickens, Jr., Linda R. Carnes, Linda H. Worthy, Robin S. Futch, William R. Bowen, Gary D. Barber, and all the original participants of the MARTA project. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... x 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 2 The Curation Crisis ....................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Curation in the Twentieth Century ................................................................... 7 2.2 The MARTA Collection as a Legacy Collection ............................................. 12 3 The Components and Chronology of the MARTA Project and MARTA Collection ........................................................................................................... 14 3.1 The Contractual Chronology ........................................................................... 18 3.2 The Archaeological Project .............................................................................. 21 3.3 Fieldwork ........................................................................................................... 22 3.4 Laboratory Work .............................................................................................. 27 3.5 The Transfer and Return of the MARTA Collection .................................... 31 3.6 Associated Documentation, Publications and Reports .................................. 38 4 Physical Distribution of The MARTA Collection at GSU ....................................... 40 4.1 Components of the Marta Collection and Recommendations for Processing ........................................................................................................... 40 4.1.1 General Collection Conditions ..................................................................... 41 vi 4.1.2 Documents ..................................................................................................... 41 4.1.3 Maps and Photos ........................................................................................... 46 4.1.4 Artifacts ......................................................................................................... 47 4.1.5 Data Capture ................................................................................................. 54 4.1.6 Digital Data ................................................................................................... 55 4.1.7 Student Projects............................................................................................. 56 4.2 A Case Study: Veterans Curation Program ................................................... 58 5 Assessment of Collection ............................................................................................. 62 5.1 Katherine Singley .............................................................................................. 68 5.2 Case Study: 9FU47 ............................................................................................ 70 6 Discussion...................................................................................................................... 74 6.1 Outreach - The MARTA Collection and Praxis ............................................. 76 6.1.1 Site 9FU107 ................................................................................................... 76 6.1.2 Site 9FU91 ..................................................................................................... 79 7 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 82 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................ 84 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................. 89 Appendix A: Research Notes. ..................................................................................... 89 Appendix B: Atlanta History Center. ...................................................................... 102 Appendix C: Antonino J. Waring Archaeological Laboratory at UWG. ........... 106 vii Appendix D: Complete Reports Submitted by Katherine Singley. ...................... 107 Appendix E: Lab Procedures. .................................................................................. 123 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1 Estimated Man-hours for Processing MARTA Collection. .......................................... 52 Table 4.2 Organizational Table for Cataloging Material. ............................................................. 54 Table 5.1 Status of Data of the MARTA Collection as of March 2016. ...................................... 64 Table 5.2 Summary Table of Conservators Findings. .................................................................. 69 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1 Map of MARTA West line with locations of CCUs and archaeological sites (Bowen and Carnes 1977:84, Figure 43). ......................................................................... 16 Figure 3.2 Map of MARTA East line with locations of CCUs and archaeological sites (Bowen and Carnes 1977:47, Figure 19). ......................................................................... 16 Figure 3.3 Systems map of MARTA North