Archaeology Under the Moon(shine)

Abstract

The hills of north Georgia have a long tradition of illicit liquor manufacture, or moonshining. Although moonshining sites are scattered across the region, few remain visible and fewer still have been documented or studied archaeologically. During the fall of 2016 and spring of 2017, UNG students explored one previously unreported still site located in Lumpkin County. This paper discusses methods employed to study the site and presents preliminary results of the investigation. This paper demonstrates the significance of an important but invisible component of north Georgia’s cultural heritage, contributing to the region’s archaeological record.