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Bronze Member
Archaeological groups scouring Blue Licks
By WENDY MITCHELL, Staff Writer
Thursday, April 3, 2008 2:08 AM EDT Print this story | Email this story
BLUE LICKS BATTLEFIELD STATE RESORT PARK -- On Aug. 19, 1782, musket fire and other sounds of battle filled the hills on the northern side of the Licking River at Blue Licks Spring as pioneers battled British and Native American troops for the right to exist in "Kaintuckee."
After 225 years, nature has reclaimed the bloodied soil and buried remnants of the battle under layers of fertile earth which is now part of the Kentucky State Park system.
History minded individuals, led by Morehead State University Associate Professor of History Dr. Adrian Mandz, students and the Battlefield Restoration and Archaeological Volunteer Organization, based in New Jersey, have converged on Blue Licks Battlefield State Resort Park this week to participate in the first extensive archeological exploration of the park.
BRAVO and leader Dan Sivilich have been featured on History Channel and Discovery Channel television programs.
"We covered the re-enactment area Monday and the area from the Pioneer Museum to the campground of the Buffalo Trace and found six musketballs. One appeared to be a dropped musketball 50 calibre or so, another you could see marking where it was probably tamped down the barrel about 40 calibre," said Paul Tierney, park naturalist. "The other four appear to have hit rocks, ricocheted and impacted the bank."
Though the group had hoped for access to ground penetrating radar machines, each member of the search is equipped with metal detectors, marker flags, digging tools and artifact bags which will be marked with identification and location information.
P.J. Faircloth uses a metal detector to look for artifacts in Blue Lick's Battlefield State Resort Park Wednesday afternoon. -- Terry Prather/Staff
The GPR equipment was not available, officials said.
What they had to work with appeared highly functional; as they located a potential artifact, they flagged, dug and identified the find.
"Any time we work in parks, there are a lot of picnic items, like pop tabs; when we go to farmlands we find farming debris and more artifacts," said Dan Sivilich, BRAVO president.
An organized and authorized effort is required when searching for artifacts on state park property.
"It is illegal to remove artifact from a historic site without proper authorization," Tierney said. "These guys really know what they are doing; they do it the proper way for official documentation and on top of it they just love what they are doing. Many of them are retired. Dan (Sivilich) said these are the best of the best. We have to pry them off the search at the end of the day."
Other than one such projectile in the present museum collection, the metal balls are the first found on the site which indicated a location which was part of the battle at Blue Licks in 1782.
"The location and trajectory appear to indicate the shots were fired from the area of where the pool is now; a little different from what we thought was the direction of the main battle. It may have been part of the retreat battle," Tierney said. "What we are wanting to find is where one column (of troops) suffered a large amount of casualties and where Trigg's men were. That will give us a pretty good indication to where the other columns were."
Combined cooperation and financial assistance from the Kentucky Humanities Council, Robertson County Tourism and MSU made the archeological endeavor possible, said Tierney.
"We really appreciate the Robertson Tourism Commission stepping up like it did. Their input really made this happen by providing funding to house and coordinate the project," Tierney said.
Once the items are cataloged, each will eventually be prepared for inclusion in the Pioneer Museum display, which also includes a three dimensional map of the battleground terrain created in 2007 by MSU students for the 225th commemoration of the battle.
"We will be pinpointing the find locations on the map. It may change the way we think about where the battle was actually concentrated," said Tierney.
On Tuesday, two more musket balls were found bringing the early total to eight.
"That is about 800 percent more than we had to begin with," said Tierney. "
Searches will continue today, weather permitting, and the group is planning to meet this evening and compare findings later in the day.
A final report on the findings will be used to assist officials in eventually getting the battlegrounds, one of only a few recognized as a Revolutionary War site, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, said Mandz.
For information call Tierney at 859-289-5507.
kenb
By WENDY MITCHELL, Staff Writer
Thursday, April 3, 2008 2:08 AM EDT Print this story | Email this story
BLUE LICKS BATTLEFIELD STATE RESORT PARK -- On Aug. 19, 1782, musket fire and other sounds of battle filled the hills on the northern side of the Licking River at Blue Licks Spring as pioneers battled British and Native American troops for the right to exist in "Kaintuckee."
After 225 years, nature has reclaimed the bloodied soil and buried remnants of the battle under layers of fertile earth which is now part of the Kentucky State Park system.
History minded individuals, led by Morehead State University Associate Professor of History Dr. Adrian Mandz, students and the Battlefield Restoration and Archaeological Volunteer Organization, based in New Jersey, have converged on Blue Licks Battlefield State Resort Park this week to participate in the first extensive archeological exploration of the park.
BRAVO and leader Dan Sivilich have been featured on History Channel and Discovery Channel television programs.
"We covered the re-enactment area Monday and the area from the Pioneer Museum to the campground of the Buffalo Trace and found six musketballs. One appeared to be a dropped musketball 50 calibre or so, another you could see marking where it was probably tamped down the barrel about 40 calibre," said Paul Tierney, park naturalist. "The other four appear to have hit rocks, ricocheted and impacted the bank."
Though the group had hoped for access to ground penetrating radar machines, each member of the search is equipped with metal detectors, marker flags, digging tools and artifact bags which will be marked with identification and location information.
P.J. Faircloth uses a metal detector to look for artifacts in Blue Lick's Battlefield State Resort Park Wednesday afternoon. -- Terry Prather/Staff
The GPR equipment was not available, officials said.
What they had to work with appeared highly functional; as they located a potential artifact, they flagged, dug and identified the find.
"Any time we work in parks, there are a lot of picnic items, like pop tabs; when we go to farmlands we find farming debris and more artifacts," said Dan Sivilich, BRAVO president.
An organized and authorized effort is required when searching for artifacts on state park property.
"It is illegal to remove artifact from a historic site without proper authorization," Tierney said. "These guys really know what they are doing; they do it the proper way for official documentation and on top of it they just love what they are doing. Many of them are retired. Dan (Sivilich) said these are the best of the best. We have to pry them off the search at the end of the day."
Other than one such projectile in the present museum collection, the metal balls are the first found on the site which indicated a location which was part of the battle at Blue Licks in 1782.
"The location and trajectory appear to indicate the shots were fired from the area of where the pool is now; a little different from what we thought was the direction of the main battle. It may have been part of the retreat battle," Tierney said. "What we are wanting to find is where one column (of troops) suffered a large amount of casualties and where Trigg's men were. That will give us a pretty good indication to where the other columns were."
Combined cooperation and financial assistance from the Kentucky Humanities Council, Robertson County Tourism and MSU made the archeological endeavor possible, said Tierney.
"We really appreciate the Robertson Tourism Commission stepping up like it did. Their input really made this happen by providing funding to house and coordinate the project," Tierney said.
Once the items are cataloged, each will eventually be prepared for inclusion in the Pioneer Museum display, which also includes a three dimensional map of the battleground terrain created in 2007 by MSU students for the 225th commemoration of the battle.
"We will be pinpointing the find locations on the map. It may change the way we think about where the battle was actually concentrated," said Tierney.
On Tuesday, two more musket balls were found bringing the early total to eight.
"That is about 800 percent more than we had to begin with," said Tierney. "
Searches will continue today, weather permitting, and the group is planning to meet this evening and compare findings later in the day.
A final report on the findings will be used to assist officials in eventually getting the battlegrounds, one of only a few recognized as a Revolutionary War site, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, said Mandz.
For information call Tierney at 859-289-5507.
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