An ancient civilization of mound builders who lived near the
Ocmulgee River just northeast of what is now downtown Macon may
have been home to more native people than originally thought.
Though the research, much of it done with a ground-scanning
instrument to roughly map underground shapes and forms, is still
under way, early analysis seems to indicate more unearthed
dwellings at the site than were previously known to have
existed. Dan Bigman, an archaeologist and doctoral candidate at
the University of Georgia, has charted 25 or so acres of the
Ocmulgee National Monument grounds since the summer. Passing
back and forth across grid sections while holding a 5-foot-wide
sensor, Bigman and his assistants have made underground scans
without disturbing the surface. It seems like we are seeing
(evidence of) a lot more structures ... than I expected, Bigman
said Monday. I was pretty blown away. He plans to wrap up his
survey later this week with hopes of returning later with other
ground-scanning equipment to furth