Archaeological Data Recovery at 38Ab387 and 9Eb368, Richard B. Russell Lake

Data recovery was conducted at two ridge top sites in the Richard B. Russell Multiple Resource Area. The data recovery was prompted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, who recognized that the sites were eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places and were to be adversely impacted by road and house construction associated with the development of two state parks. The predominantly prehistoric site 38Ab387 contained six prehistoric components and an early to mid-nineteenth century component within a 140 by 30 m section of narrow, terraced ridge top. The artifact density approximated that of many previously excavated floodplain sites. Artifact density, tool diversity, and the presence of ceramics indicate that this upland site, over 4 km from the Savannah River, was not simply an upland extraction station, but rather was an occupation site repeatedly utilized through time. The predominantly historic site 9Eb368 dates primarily to the second half of the nineteenth century. The house, which probably burned very late in the 1890s, was not readily apparent on the surface due to a lack of visible foundation remains. However, subsurface remains gave a good indication of the general location of the structure. The site was a small farmstead probably occupied by a tenant farm family, although archival data could not conclusively identify the occupants of the site. Two other possible structures were found to be associated with the house.