Archaeological Investigations at the Beaverdam Creek Site (9EB85), Elbert County, Georgia

Author(s): James L. Rudolph; David J. Hally

Year: 1985

Summary

This report summarizes excavations by the University of Georgia at the Beaverdam Creek mound and village in the Savannah River valley in Elbert County, Georgia. The excavations were conducted as part of large-scale investigations of prehistoric and historic sites in the Richard B. Russell Reservoir, which were funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District.

The Beaverdam Creek site was occupied around A.D. 1200-1250. We have used the pottery from the site to assign it to the Beaverdam phase of the Savannah culture, a subdivision of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture.

The Beaverdam Creek mound was quite small, only 1.5 m high, and was badly vandalized, but it contained the remains of several buildings built atop each other. At first the buildings were earth lodges, large rectangular structures with dirt heaped up along the outer walls. Later, the earth lodges were replaced by free-standing buildings raised up on earth platforms. Each of these buildings probably served as the center for political and religious activities of a group of Indians living in villages scattered throughout the valley.

Cite this Record

Archaeological Investigations at the Beaverdam Creek Site (9EB85), Elbert County, Georgia. James L. Rudolph, David J. Hally. 1985 ( tDAR id: 436454) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8TB19NQ

Keywords

Culture
Archaic • Early Archaic • Early Woodland • Late Archaic • Late Woodland • Middle Archaic • Middle Woodland • Mississippian • PaleoIndian • Woodland

Material
Ceramic • Fauna • Human Remains • Macrobotanical

Site Name
38AB100 • 38AB101 • 38AB12 • 38AB125 • 38AB13 • 38AB170 • 38AB171 • 38AB175 • 38AB22 • 38AB26 • 38AB266 • 38AB277 • 38AB288 • 38AB302 • 38AB303 • 38AB305 • 38AB306 • 38AB329 • 38AB9 • 38AN100 • 38AN126 • 38AN140 • 38AN8 • 38OC1 • 9BR1 • 9EB1 • 9EB13 • 9EB16 • 9EB17 • 9EB18 • 9EB19 • 9EB20 • 9EB207 • 9EB208 • 9EB209 • 9EB21 • 9EB219 • 9EB259 • 9EB260 • 9EB281 • 9EB283 • 9EB286 • 9EB320 • 9EB328 • 9EB348 • 9EB382 • 9EB384 • 9EB387 • 9EB388 • 9EB414 • 9EB424 • 9EB431 • 9EB465 • 9EB466 • 9EB62 • 9EB76 • 9EB79 • 9EB80 • 9EB81 • 9EB82 • 9EB83 • 9EB85 • 9EB86 • 9EB89 • 9EB91 • 9EB92 • 9EB93 • 9GE10 • 9GE5 • 9HA102 • 9MU102 • 9MU103 • 9ST1 Show More

Site Type
Funerary and Burial Structures or Features

Investigation Types
Data Recovery / Excavation • Heritage Management

General
Collections Management • Lithic

Geographic Keywords
Beaverdam Creek Mound • Elbert County (County) • Georgia (State / Territory) • Savannah River Valley

Spatial Coverage

min long: -82.637; min lat: 33.732 ; max long: -82.206; max lat: 33.962 ;

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

Contributor(s): Elizabeth J. Reitz; Joyce Subler; Paul S. Gardner; David S. Mathews; Robert N. Tyzzer; Paul A. Webb; Robert L. Blakely; Suzanne K. Fish

Lab Director(s): Karen G. Wood

Principal Investigator(s): David J. Hally

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

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

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

Prepared By(s): University of Georgia, Department of Anthropology

Submitted To(s): US Department of the Interior, National Park Service Archaeological Services Branch-Atlants

Record Identifiers

Contract Number(s): CX 5000-0-4043

UGA Laboratory of Archaeology Report No.(s): 667c2

Notes

General Note: The digital materials in this collection were processed by the Veterans Curation Program (VCP), and include the finding aid, original investigation report, oversized materials spreadsheet, and scanned asset key. Additional digital materials held by the VCP include the archives database, correspondence, document folder listing, initial data collection, interim report, journal articles, a map, newspaper articles, notes, oversized labels, progress reports, records removal sheet, research proposal, and a safety plan. For additional information on these materials, refer to the finding aid.

File Information

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