Gateway to the Past: Georgia's Leake Site
March 24 - September 23, 2012
The Leake site, a Native American archaeological site located along the Etowah River near Cartersville, Georgia, contains the remains of an American Indian occupation that lasted from approximately 300 B.C. until 650 A.D. The site featured three earthen mounds and an expansive village situated near the interface of several river valleys, including the Tennessee, Chattahoochee/Apalachicola, Coosa, and Ocmulgee/Altamaha systems. This strategic location made the Leake site a “gateway” between the Southeast and the Midwest and allowed it to serve as a pilgrimage center, a staging ground for journeys, a residential village, and a ceremonial center.
Artifacts found at the site to be featured in the exhibition include a large selection of Swift Creek complicated stamped pottery (common throughout Georgia and in portions of surrounding states), Flint Ridge chert from Ohio, pottery from the Gulf Coast, ceramic human and animal figurines, quartz crystals, graphite, graphite, copper, galena, mica, hematite, and other materials originating from a wide area across the Southeast and Midwest. In addition to these items, the exhibition will feature items from the Columbus Museum’s collection that help illustrate civilization of the Middle Woodland period in the Chattahoochee Valley.
