Learning from Disturbance: A Late Woodland-Early Mississippian Site in the Georgia Piedmont

Summary

Between 2012 and 2014, the University of Georgia field school in archaeology undertook investigations at Raccoon Ridge, a highly disturbed Late Woodland-Early Mississippian site in the Georgia Piedmont. Systematic surface collections and shovel tests were used extensively to define the site’s geographical footprint. Geophysical survey, including shallow magnetic gradiometry and susceptibility, together with phosphate analysis were also utilized. Anomalies detected with these methods were investigated by test excavation, with mixed results. Following the 2014 season, our findings have revealed a more intricate picture, as the site is more highly disturbed than anticipated. Ultimately, what we thought was a single large site was determined to consist of two separate occupations. The importance of disturbed sites, whether existent on private or public lands, is discussed here. Conclusions regarding this site and the findings of each season are compiled briefly to address how the investigation of sites that may be overlooked or written-off because of extensive destruction, intentional or otherwise, can contribute to the archaeological record.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage