“Mounds, Mortars and Mysteries: Mississippian Period Archaeology in the Wateree Valley- A.D. 1200-1670”

The Horry County Museum and the AVX Foundation present "Mounds, Mortars and Mysteries: Mississippian Period Archaeology in the Wateree Valley- A.D. 1200-1670" on Saturday, July 10 at 1 p.m.

Antiquarians and archaeologists have been investigating the Native American societies living along the Wateree River since the early 19th century. A concentration of mounds, artificially constructed monuments of earth, were noted here in one of the earliest publications on the archaeology of the United States in 1848, yet we still have only scratched the surface. Recent investigations combined with a synthesis of all known information has led to a more informed understanding of these vibrant societies just prior to European contact and colonization. This slide illustrated lecture will share information on the sites, artifacts, foodways and the rich culture of South Carolina Native Americans.

Christopher Judge has studied Native Americans in South Carolina for over 35 years. The lens that informs his research is anthropological archaeology of pre-contact cultures. Currently, he is the Assistant Director of Native American Studies at USC Lancaster and an Instructor of Anthropology.

From 1996-2016, along with his colleagues Carl Steen and Sean G. Taylor, he conducted a long-term initiative known as the Johannes Kolb Archaeological and Education Project on the Great Pee Dee River in Darlington County. From 2018 to the present, he has been working with Dr. Gail Wagner (USC Anthropology) and Dr. Adam King (USC-SC Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology) on archaeological investigations at Mulberry Mound on the Wateree River, funded by a gift from Duke Energy to the Educational Foundation of USC.

He has served as the President of the Archaeological Society of South Carolina and the Council of South Carolina Professional Archaeologists (COSCAPA). Currently, he is Chair of the Native American Liaison Committee of the COSCAPA and a member of the COSCAPA membership committee. He served several terms on the Society for American Archaeology's Public Education Committee. He is a member of the Native American Advisory Committee, South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs and a member of the Southeastern Archaeological Conferences' Native American Liaison Committee. He holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in Anthropology from USC Columbia.

This free program will be held in the Museum’s McCown Auditorium located at 805 Main Street in Conway. For more information, call (843) 915-5320 or email hcgmuseum@horrycounty.org.

To view a full list of scheduled programs, visit the museum website at horrycountymuseum.org.