The fourth annual SECHSA Conference is scheduled for September 18-20, 2015 in Augusta, Georgia. Named in honor of Frederick Louis, the Prince of Wales, the Augusta community was established in 1736 by British General James Oglethorpe. Augusta is a diverse city built on the flat slopes of the Savannah River near many neighboring Creek and Cherokee tribes. Augusta rose to prominence in the eighteenth century mainly due to burgeoning trade relationships between Europeans and Native Americans. In fact, Augusta was chosen as the second location as the state capital from 1785 until 1795. The Arsenal at Augusta posed as an important military site during the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, and Augusta continues to boast the only Confederate States of America structures built at the old Confederate Powderworks.
Historically Augusta was located along cross roads the encourage trade between Europeans and Natives, as well as acting as a gatekeeper between the eastern colony and western frontier. Geographically Augusta is situated on the border between two different physiographic areas, such as the piedmont to the north and the coastal plain to the south. Today Augusta continues to sit on the border between two states and remains one of the main metropolitan border towns between them. Augusta inspires this year's theme of "Beyond the Border." Archaeology in SECHSA's region of interest explores what is meant by borders, fringe communities, the frontier, and the space between them. This year SECHSA will focus on borderlands, fringe societies, and perimeters that demarcated boundaries between, within, and among entities. For instance, Augusta was a small communities that exerted commercial influence within the Georgia colony and into the neighboring South Carolina colony. Although settlements or communities may exist on borders their presence should not be ignored. In keeping with this year's theme, we encourage submissions that have studied the forces that impacted boundaries, borders, and the fringe as well as the small-scale impacts that reverberated throughout the southeast. Because SECHSA is primarily an opportunity to share research and exchange ideas, however, papers touching on all aspects of southeastern historical archaeology are invited.
The 2015 conference is hosted and arranged by Georgia Regents University's (GRU), History, Anthropology, and Philosophy Department, based in Augusta's summerville area "on the hill." Support for the conference will also be received from the Savannah River Archaeological Research Program (SRARP) a division of the University of South Carolina's Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology.
The conference venue will be held in GRU's University Hall, located at 2500 Walton Way, in the heart of Augusta, Georgia. Augusta is 145 miles east of Atlanta, Georgia and 76 miles west of Columbia, South Carolina. Additionally, the GRU campus is 18 miles north of the Augusta Regional Airport. Many lodging and dining options near the campus in the summerville and downtown areas are easily accessible by car.