Saturday, July 19, 2008

The Harding House Survey

Thank you to Lisa Rollins, Director of Special Media Projects News and Public Affairs at Middle Tennessee State University for sending along photographs from the Harding House Survey

About 25 volunteers from MTSU’s anthropology program and Middle Tennessee Metal Detectors gather July 12 at the Stones River Battlefield to begin searching for Civil War artifacts near the Harding house site. The purpose of the geospatial/archaeological survey, led by Dr. Tom Nolan, director of MTSU’s Laboratory for Spatial Technology, is to recover and map artifacts from the battlefield and create a permanent spatial record of their locations for future study.

Dr. Hugh Berryman, director of MTSU’s Forensic Institute for Research and Education, watches as MTSU anthropology student Tyler Parrott, left, readies his GPS equipment to record locations at the Stones River Battlefield. The pair was part of an all-volunteer team that began conducting a geospatial/archaeological survey July 12 for artifacts and mapping purposes near the historic Harding house site, which is slated for development this summer.

This Civil War-era lead shot, deformed from an impact, was among the items recovered July 12 by an all-volunteer team working to survey the Harding house site near the Stones River Battlefield. The geospatial/archaeological project, dubbed the Harding House Civil War History Survey, was rained out July 13, but will continue later this month.

This MiniĆ© ball—or minie ball—was recovered July 12 as part of a geospatial/archaeological survey near the Harding house site, which was led by Dr. Tom Nolan of MTSU’s geosciences faculty. Nolan said the find is “the type of projectile fired by the majority of Civil War rifled muskets.”

This horseshoe remnant was among the 40-50 items recovered July 12 as part of the Harding House Civil War History Survey near Stones River Battlefield. The horseshoe’s age is consistent with the Civil War era, but there is no way to know if it was once on a horse used by cavalry or on a farm horse, observed Zada Law, archaeologist and adjunct professor for MTSU’s geosciences.


This “canister shot,” which behaves like a giant shotgun shell when fired, was one of 40-plus items recovered July 12 as part of a geospatial/archaeological survey led by Dr. Tom Nolan, director of MTSU’s Laboratory for Spatial Technology, to recover and map artifacts from the Harding house/battlefield area and create a permanent spatial record for future study. Nolan said this find represents part of an artillery round that was used “when the artillery needed close-range fire power.”

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