Lab 5

Layers of Decomposition
The top layer is composed of recently fallen material from plants and are generally brown and drying. It is very easy to see what plant it came from. As you dig through the layers the material gets wetter while also being more broken down making it very difficult to tell what the item use to be. Also, living in these lower layers can be insects and fungi which is helping to break down the material into organic soil.

Layers of Soil in the Creek Bed
The creek we visited gave us a very clear picture of the layers of soil in the region. The top had an organic layer that became sandy, then gave way to a thick layer of clay that made up the bed itself. I found it interesting that the water washed away the softer portions of the clay giving the creek bed a porous appearance in many areas.

Piedmont/Coastal Plain
The historic significance of the national park we visited interested me greatly.
The region was extremely inviting to ancient peoples for the diversity of resources available to them from the different environments. The Piedmont and then the Coastal Plain provide a slight difference in plants and animals that allowed ancient peoples to be very successful in the area. As a result, the area became sort of an ancient trade hub that created set paths throughout the region. In more recent times, this attracted European settlers to the area to set up trade post. Also, the nearby river stops being navigable at the fall line allowing boats to go up river to Macon but no farther.

Interesting Points
I was surprised that structures of the scale of the temple mound where constructed in this region of the world. When I think of ancient engineering I refer to the Egyptian, Greek, Chinese, Roman, Aztec, Mayan, and Inca civilizations and forget that builders live in this region long ago also. It was an eye opener and reminded me that all around the world are ancient structures that marvel modern engineers.