The Visibility of Sound: Acoustic Archaeology in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Waterfalls are documented among Indigenous peoples as settings for the intergenerational transfer of knowledge and locations sacred to life transitions. Eastern Woodlands ethnographic literature identifies waterfalls as places where life emerges in the presence of danger, requiring the acknowledgement of those who travel near them. In the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains, ceramic-bearing Middle and Late Woodland sites near named waterfalls are associated with small sites located outside the topographic parameters of modeled site locations and containing non-local or unique objects. Sound mapping with calibrated decibel meters, survey-grade GPS, and inverse distance weighted interpolation demonstrate a correspondence between the location of the small sites and natural sound magnification. The small sites and the deposited objects may represent the offerings of travelers made aware of the sacred/dangerous place by the sound of the waterfall. Acoustic archaeology is introduced as a practice that takes into consideration sensory experience as central to place identity.

The fauna of caves and other subter-ranean habitats of North Carolina, USA

Over 1,500 caves have been documented in North Carolina, however, cave fauna in the Blue Ridge Mountains and Piedmont regions of North Carolina have been overlooked historically compared to the cave-rich karst terrains in the Appalachian Valley and Ridge and Interior Low Plateau to the west. Here, we provide the first comprehensive faunal list of caves and other subterranean habitats in the state based on over 40 years of periodic surveys and compilation of literature, biodiversity databases, and museum records. We report 475 occurrences from 127 caves, springs, and wells in 29 counties, representing 5 phyla, 17 classes, 43 orders, 90 families, 124 genera, and at least 164 species. Vertebrate fauna comprised 32 species, including 4 fishes, 9 salamanders, 1 lizard, 4 snakes, 2 birds, and 12 mammals (8 bats). Diverse invertebrate groups included spiders (11 families and 18 genera), springtails (7 families and 9 genera), segmented worms (3 families and 8 genera), and snails (6 families and 9 genera). At least 25 taxa are troglobites/stygobites (cave obligates), including 5 species of cave flatworms, 5 cave springtails, and 5 cave amphipods. Most troglobitic/stygobitic fauna documented in this study are endemic to North Carolina. Counties with the greatest cave biodiversity include Rutherford, McDowell, Swain, Henderson, Polk, and Avery counties. Over 20 species documented are of conservation concern, including 14 troglobites and 3 federally-listed bats. Although not as diverse as adjacent states, caves and other subterranean habitats in North Carolina support a diverse community of invertebrates and vertebrates. Our review serves as a base line for future cave biological surveys in the state and highlights the importance of subterranean habitats for North Carolina biodiversity.

Range limitation of the Peaks of Otter salamander (Plethodon hubrichti) due to competition with the eastern red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) in sympatry

The Peaks of Otter salamander, Plethodon hubrichti, is a montane species found at altitudes above 442 m within a 117 km2 area of the Blue Ridge Mountains in central Virginia, USA. In areas where this species is sympatric with the eastern red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) it seemed likely that P. hubrichti populations were either depressed or eliminated. The habitability of areas beyond the current range boundaries for P. hubrichti is supported by several disjunct populations in areas sympatric with P. cinereus. From 2009 to 2012 we tested whether P. hubrichti was negatively impacted by competition with P. cinereus by removing P. cinereus from treatment plots at three sympatric field locations. The number of surface-active (SA) P. hubrichti increased significantly more on treatment plots than on corresponding reference plots, whereas the number of SA P. cinereus decreased significantly more on treatment plots than on reference plots. The removal of every one P. cinereus from the treatment plots led to an increase of 0.69 P. hubrichti. These results emphasise the importance of conserving mature hardwood forests along the perimeter of the P. hubrichti distribution, where it is sympatric with P. cinereus, so as to prevent future range contraction of this vulnerable species.

Tony Earley

Tony Earley was born in San Antonio, Texas, and grew up in North Carolina near the Blue Ridge Mountains. He graduated from Warren Wilson College in 1983 and earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of Alabama. Since 1997 he has taught writing at Vanderbilt University....

Mark Powell

Mark Powell was born and reared in Walhalla, South Carolina, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He earned a BA in English from the Citadel, an MFA from the University of South Carolina, and studied theology at the Yale Divinity School. After teaching at Florida’s Stetson University and other colleges, Powell came to the mountains to teach creative writing at Appalachian State University....

Jonathan Williams

Poet and publisher Jonathan Williams was born in Asheville, North Carolina. He studied at the experimental Black Mountain College, located near Asheville, as well as at Princeton University and the Chicago School of Design. As an adult, Williams and his partner, Thomas Meyer, divided their time between North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains and England. In addition to writing poetry, Williams founded the Jargon Society in 1951. Jargon published avant-garde poetry and fiction, photography, and folk art....

Thomas Jefferson

Both as a private citizen living at the foot of the eastern slope of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains and as a public architect of nationhood, Thomas Jefferson witnessed and wrought extraordinary changes in a burgeoning nation. In 1774, Jefferson purchased 157 acres of land in Virginia, including Natural Bridge, for 20 shillings. This private purchase demonstrated Jefferson’s interest in protecting and utilizing the American landscape, echoed later in the public acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase, which Jefferson oversaw in 1803 as the third president of the United States. Jefferson’s particular dedication to Virginia is further evidenced by Monticello, his lifelong home and farm; Poplar Forest, his private retreat; and the University of Virginia, which he established and designed....