Cherokee History Museum acquires Long Creek artifacts
December 14, 2014 | In the PressFrom Cherokee Tribune (http://www.cherokeetribune.com/view/full_story/26238167/article-Cherokee-History-Museum-acquires-Long-Creek-artifacts?instance=home_top_bullets) (opens in a new window)
A large collection of Native American artifacts found in Ball Ground will soon be on display in Cherokee County for residents to enjoy.
The Cherokee County Historical Society announced Friday it had acquired the Lamar and Mary Fowler Holcomb Native American collection, a significant number of artifacts collected from the Long Swamp archaeology site in Ball Ground over a period of 70 years.
Long Swamp’s peak Native American occupation occurred from 1100 to 1200, when the site included a mound, palisade wall and village.
Some of the artifacts are expected to be on display by mid-January, but because of the size of the collection and limited space at the Cherokee County History Museum, only a portion of the items will be on permanent display, officials said.
Lamar Holcomb said he found his first Native American artifact when he was 3-and-a-half years old, and he’s been collecting ever since.
“I lived over there on Long Swamp Creek where it runs into the Etowah River, and my grandmother used to take me to the garden with her. I was about 3, 3-and-a-half when I found my first arrowhead. I was with her and she was showing me how to hunt for them,” Holcomb recalled.
The Lamar and Mary Fowler Holcomb collection contains 16 pottery bowls and jars, ear spools, pipes, carved pottery figurine fragments, beads and many other items.
Holcomb, who has lived nearby the archaeological site his whole life, said he and his wife Mary probably collected 50 to 60 different 5-gallon-buckets full of artifacts over the years.
“I’ve known about that place ever since I was 3 or 4 years old,” Holcomb said.
He said many artifacts have been found under the ground, some in open spaces left from the old inhabitants.
“An old gentleman was plowing back when I was a kid, and the mule fell through a hole down below,” he said, adding that the owners of the property gave him permission to dig on the site. “We dug it all with a little hand digger that you use in a flower garden.”
At one point, Holcomb said he had collected eight complete, unbroken bowls. But when a tornado came through in 1994, every single one was broken.
“I also had half of a clay bear, and I never found it,” he recalled, noting other pieces he lost in the tornado.
But the Ball Ground resident said he realized that there was nobody to inherit his collection, and so it just made sense to give them to the Historical Society for others to enjoy.
“I’m 73, and I don’t have any kids,” he said. “So I figured I’d let them have it where they could display it.”
Historical Society Executive Director Stefanie Joyner said the collection will showcase artifacts from the important archaeological site.
“This is an exciting time for Cherokee County residents,” she said. “There are hundreds of archaeological sites in the county, and visitors will soon be able to see artifacts from two of the most important locations — the Long Swamp collection at the Cherokee County History Museum and the Hickory Log collection at the Funk Heritage Center.”
Joyner said grants from Bank of North Georgia, Marshall and Kathy Day, and Skip and Helen Spears helped make the preservation of the artifacts possible.
The Historical Society is teaming up with the Georgia State University Anthropology Department to use the identification and classification of the artifacts as a teaching tool for students, officials said.
The addition of this collection, along with the existing Harold Johnston and Jack Richardson Native American collections, will allow the Historical Society to interpret thousands of years of several Native American cultures in Cherokee County, officials said.
Lisa Tressler, an archivist with the Historical Society, explained that the diversity of the collection will also help experts to better understand the county’s history.
“It is rare to have such a large and diverse collection of items from a single site. For that site to be one of the few mounds in Cherokee County makes it all the more important,” Tressler said. “It is an honor to have the opportunity to share a glimpse into the lives of Cherokee County’s early occupants.”
Holcomb said he’s loaned some of his artifacts out in the past for display, and said he plans to visit the museum once his artifacts are permanently displayed.
