John P. Rogan

John P. Rogan conducted the first [cite journal |last=King |first=Adam |year=2003 |month=December |title=Over a Century of Explorations at Etowah |journal=Journal of Archaeological Research |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=279-306 |issn=1059-0161 |doi=10.1023/A:1026393421806 ] archaeological excavations on the Etowah Indian Mounds near Cartersville, Georgia for the Smithsonian Institute [cite news |title=PREHISTORIC RELICS IN THE SOUTH. |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F05E5D81530E433A25756C1A9629C94629FD7CF |work=The New York Times |date=April 15, 1883 |accessdate=2008-10-11 ] working under Cyrus Thomas during the early 1880s. [cite book |title=Time Before History |last=Ward |first=H. Trawick |coauthors=R. P. Stephen Davis |year=1999 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |isbn=9780807847800 |pages=p. 7 |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=RMFrAAAAMAAJ&q=%22John+P.+Rogan%22&dq=%22John+P.+Rogan%22&num=100&client=firefox-a&pgis=1 |accessdate=2008-10-11] He discovered the famous copper eagle dancer plates, which were later named the Rogan plates. Rogan tested seven other archaeological sites in Georgia in Bartow, White, Habersham, Forsyth, Rabun, Elbert, and McIntosh counties. He had been hired by Cyrus Thomas, his cousin, and both were from Bristol, Tennessee. He was apparently fired about 1885 for making fake artifacts to sell to the government. (such as the Bat Creek Stone).

References

*Cyrus Thomas: "1894 Report on Mound Explorations in Eastern United States".