Shell Mound Archaeological Project
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Watson, Patty Jo, 1932-
setName: label: See more items in
content: Patty Jo Watson papers
label: See more items in
content: Patty Jo Watson papers / Series 1: Research / 1.3: The United States / The Southeast
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1970-1978
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Shell Mound Archaeological Project (1971-2005) was co-directed by Watson and William H. Marquardt (a student of Watson's). Fieldwork began in 1972 on shell mounds on the Middle Green River approximately forty miles from Mammoth Cave and Salts Cave. Watson and Marquardt were looking for botanical samples to further develop the evidence of plant cultivation discovered in Salts Cave. The first mound they studied was the Carlston Annis mound, which had been excavated by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s. They made extensive use of flotation to isolate botanical remains. Watson and Marquardt published their findings in William H. Marquardt and Patty Jo Watson, eds., Archaeology of the Middle Green River Region, Kentucky (Gainesville: Institute of Archaeology and Paleoenvironmental Studies, University of Florida, 2005). This section includes materials related to grant proposals and finances.