Artifact Database, Rood's Landing Tom Meltzer (9SW1) 1975 and 1980

The Rood’s Landing site (9SW1), also known as Rood’s Creek, was described by Caldwellas a Mississippian Period mound center consisting of eight mounds and a large village at the confluence of Rood’s Creek and the Chattahoochee River in Stewart County, Georgia. It was first described by C.B. Moore in 1907, and recorded again in 1939 by Wauchope (Atz, Huddleston & Sweeney 2000). Later, “large surface collections were made by the Smithsonian, the University of Georgia, the University of Alabama, and the Columbus Museum…and amateurs have since reported cultural materials from several peripheral areas to the Columbus Museum” (Knight and Mistovich 1984). Based on information recorded on the box label, it appear that the artifacts in this investigation were collected in 1975 by Tom Meltzer, and it is assumed that he then donated the items to the Columbus Museum of Arts and Crafts. The only artifact not collected in 1975, VCP ID 001-022, was found in 1980 and had a small write up in the Rood’s Landing Archives (Box 1, Folder 55) where it was noted as having been found by Tom Meltzer and Tom Whipple. Tom Meltzer was a member of the community who often worked with Frank Schnell (College of Education Quarterly 2009: 3). Looting at the Rood’s Landing site was a problem throughout the 1970’s and early 1980’s, and at this time Frank T. Schnell was conducting numerous collections in the Rood’s Landing area at the behest of the Columbus Museum (Schnell 1973). Many such investigations were also conducted in the area to assess the impact of Walter F. George Lake on the site and to document it since it was being damaged by erosion (Schnell 1973; Knight and Mistovich 1984; Atz et al. 2000). Should additional information about Rood’s Landing be found in the future, it could be determined that artifacts from Rood’s Landing (9SW1) 1955, Rood’s Landing (9SW1) Arbitrary 1968-1979, and Rood’s Landing Tom Meltzer (9SW1) 1975 and 1980 could belong together or could be further divided. If this occurs, artifacts will need to be moved between projects.
The procedures employed by the St. Louis VCP to rehouse the archaeological material from the Rood's Landing Tom Meltzer (9SW1) 1975 and 1980 investigation are discussed in the Artifact Report. The report can be found in tDAR The artifact database can be found in tDAR at (https://core.tdar.org/document/426176)