Archeological Investigations at 9LC24, Lincoln County, Georgia, Archaeological Investigations at Indian Cove (9LC24) 1985

Summary

This report presents the results of archeological data recovery at 9Lc24, Lincoln County, Georgia, a multi-component site on Clarks Hill Lake characterized by seven rock piles. Complete excavation of six of the rock piles, testing with small test units, a 5 by 5 m block excavation, and extensive soil chemistry testing were employed to fully understand the function and culture chronology of the site. Excavation results showed that the rock piles were of historic origin and represented farmers' efforts to consolidate quartz rock onto an existing 15 m wide vein of quartz. Excavation showed that a portion of this vein contained high quality quartz and was heavily exploited by aboriginal people as a quarry/workshop, perhaps mostly during the Late Archaic period. The quarry assemblage contained cores, percussion flakes, bifacial thinning flakes, preforms, and bifaces. Small amounts of chert and metavolcanic cultural material were also present. A special quarrying tool, the 'hoe-pick' was observed and described. The site also supported a Late Archaic and late eighteenth/ early nineteenth century occupation. The soil chemistry results showed high levels of calcium, phosphorus, and potassium at the rock pile/ground surface interface, which were the criteria established to be indicative of human burial. Since the rock piles clearly contained no burials, the utility of soil chemistry for determining the presence of completely decomposed burials is questioned.

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): US Army Corps of Engineers Mandatory Center of Expertise for the Curation and Management of Archaeological Collections, St. Louis District

Principal Investigator(s): Thomas Gresham

Sponsor(s): US Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District

Repository(s): US Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District

Prepared By(s): Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc.

Submitted To(s): US Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District

Record Identifiers

Contract No.(s): DACW21-85-M-01071

Notes

General Note: The digital materials in this collection were processed by the Veterans Curation Program (VCP), and include the artifact catalog, artifact report, finding aid, original investigation report, scanned asset key, and select artifact photographs. Additional digital materials held by the VCP include additional artifact photographs, archives database, box inventory, correspondence, document folder listing, initial data collection, and notes. For additional information on these materials, refer to the finding aid.

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