Last Edit 4.6.08
| A Sulky Saga - Three Dacula boys, Austin Bannister, Tyler and Austin Moore recently found what is known as a "Sulky Hay Rake" completely buried in the sandy bottom of the Apalachee River not far from the Elisha Winn house. They had partially excavated the iron farm implement before realizing that it might be associated with historic farming at the old plantation. That is when one of the fathers contacted me through our web site asking for information. He sent me a photo of what the boys had found. I was able to identify this as a Victorian era horse-drawn hay rake. Ads for these go back to the late 1850's and through the late 1800's. The ad pictured below is from the 1880's. They were used well into the 20th century when new rakes pulled by tractors were developed. It is not possible without cleaning and careful examination of the rake to know exactly how old it is. |
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| I advised the parents that because the artifact was in the river bed it would have no archaeological context other than its location. Therefore the object could be removed without destroying an archaeological site. But before they got back to digging I urged them to find out who the owner of land is - private or county - because the artifact would belong to the owner of the property. I also suggested that the GHS and Elisha Winn house would be a good place to donate the find. |
| A article by Camie Young appeared in the Gwinnett Daily Post shortly thereafter (April 4) and Fox News 5 did a report on the discovery on April 5. One of our members, Dick Brunelle, observed that the title of the Gwinnett Daily Post article, "Historic Prize: Boys dig up archeological treasure" might convey the wrong message about how the public should respond to such finds. Dick is correct and the inferences of the article do run counter to what GARS and other SGA chapters are trying to communicate to the public. Fox news did pretty much the same thing and called this an "archaeological dig." Though my comments at the site were meant to set the record straight on what is and is not archaeology, they aired about 4 seconds of my comments in which I basically said, "They have a pretty neat find here, but a lot more digging to do." What is noteworthy, however, is that the boys and their fathers did do the right thing by contacting an archaeologist (good thing GARS is around and has a web site with contact information) before proceeding (much) further with excavation. |
| Should we expect more from the press? Probably not. They are in business to tell a good storey, which both the Gwinnett Daily Post and Fox 5 have done. The distinctions we would like to make between digging up artifacts and archaeological excavation, between treasure hunting (which these boys were not doing) and archaeological investigation don't sell newspapers or air time. But, hopefully, this local news story will open the door for informed discussion in other venues at other times. |
| Why "sulky?" I remember my mother admonishing me to stop "sulking around the house." To sulk, according to Webster, is to engage in sullen withdrawn behavior. This implies being by oneself. Thus, with a slight stretch, a single seat on a buggy or, in this case, a ride-around hay rake, makes it a "sulky" hay rake. |
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Last Edit 4.6.08 |
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