The Grand Strand Frontier: Native American Occupation at the Fairway Site (38HR258), Horry County, South Carolina

Summary

Site 38HR258 is a prehistoric site located on the east side of a small interior wetland on Little River Neck. A preliminary assessment of site components indicated that (Ceramic) Late Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian/Proto historic components were present. The most intensive component at 38HR258 is the Middle Woodland occupation, and research questions focused primarily on this component.

Field investigations employed a series of methods meant to successively refine areas of particular interest and were oriented to retrieve data specific to the research questions discussed above. Specific tasks included site mapping, the excavation of a grid of 50 by 50 cm ( 19.7 by 19.7 in) units across the site core area, the excavation of a series of 2 by 2 m units, machine scraping of selected areas, and feature excavations.

The Fairway site provides a good illustration of life on Little River Neck during prehistory. Habitation at the site began in the Middle Archaic subperiod, when small groups were still mobile. The Late Archaic evidence from the site is relatively scarce, suggesting more ephemeral settlement of the area during this time. The Woodland period saw a dramatic increase in the intensity of

occupation at the site. Settlement at the Tidewater site during this time may even have been permanent. The Woodland peoples practiced an adaptive strategy, utilizing all environmental zones in the vicinity. This flexibility would have allowed for long term settlement without population pressure severely limiting available resources. During their stay at the Fairway site, the Woodland

people built structures (as evidenced by numerous postmolds), established site patterns (definable activity and disposal), and went about their daily life. During the Mississippian period, populations at the Fairway site were reduced as they increased at more inland sites. Mississippian cultures may have moved further inland in search of adequate agricultural land. Overall, the Little River Neck

provided a rich and varied environment that was amenable to human habitation for over 5,000 years, and continues to be today.

Cite this Record

The Grand Strand Frontier: Native American Occupation at the Fairway Site (38HR258), Horry County, South Carolina. Bobby G. Southerlin, Dawn Reid, Connie Huddleston, Marian Roberts, Irvy R. Quitmeyer, David Lawrence, Lesley Ramer. Brockington and Associates, Inc. 2000 ( tDAR id: 391035) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8SX6F2R

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Spatial Coverage

min long: -79.08; min lat: 33.613 ; max long: -78.607; max lat: 33.951 ;

Record Identifiers

Brockington and Associates, Inc., report number(s): 0933

Notes

General Note: Curation facility: South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology

File Information

  Name Size Creation Date Date Uploaded Access
tidewater-38hr258-dr.pdf 73.96mb May 2, 2013 10:48:20 AM Public