OCCURRENCE AND MANAGEMENT OF GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL RESOURCES ON THE CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH, SOUTHERN CUMBERLAND PLATEAU, SEWANEE, TENNESSEE

The 10,000 acre campus of the University of the South sits atop a finger of the southern Cumberland Plateau in the vicinity of Sewanee, Tennessee. The plateau escarpment exposes Pennsylvanian sandstones and conglomerates that form cliffs up to 80 feet in height. Numerous sandstone rock shelters are developed in these cliffs and in smaller rock outcroppings just above the main cliff line. Radiocarbon dating has established human occupation of these shelters back to 6210 +/- 40 bp. Shelters are threatened by development, vandalism, quarrying operations, and certain types of recreation. The University of the South has recently begun active management and protection of these shelters through a Natural Resources Advisory Committee. The committee is composed of science faculty and university administrators who make regulations regarding access, use, and protection of areas that contain geoarchaeological sites. This system of management serves as a model for any number of privately and publically administered lands.