Data Recovery Investigations on a Portion of Site 9GE922 on Reynolds Plantation, Known as the McDermott Lot, Greene County, Georgia

This report documents the results of data recovery investigations on a portion of site 9GE922 located in Greene County, Georgia.  Site 9GE922 is a large multicomponent site with components dating to the Archaic, Woodland, and Late Mississippian periods. The greater site area contains two Late Lamar farmsteads. The smaller of the two farmsteads is the subject of this report. The work was conducted at the request of Reynolds Plantation, a golf and residential community, located on present-day Lake Oconee in Greene and Putnam Counties, Georgia. The site area actually lies on a privately-owned tract of land and funding for the project was provided by the property owner, Kay McDermott. The archaeological field investigations were conducted pursuant to Georgia law OCGA 12-3-621(b) during the months of January and February 2001. 

The site is located in southwestern Greene County, Georgia, on the west side of Richland Creek, a major tributary of the Oconee River (Lake Oconee). The McDermott lot project area lies a short distance west of Richland Creek and overlooks the floodplain of a minor tributary stream. The site area is located within a part of an upland ridge system that has remained relatively isolated during the nineteenth and twentieth century. Prior site disturbance includes plowing dating to the nineteenth and possibly early twentieth centuries and logging.

The field work consisted primarily of machine stripping using a backhoe equipped with a smooth bucket. Stripping defined slightly less than one hundred subsoil-intruding features within an area approximately 12 meters wide and 30 meters long.  The area containing the features corresponded to the crest of a narrow ridge projection. Additional excavation consisted of two small hand excavated units within small blocks measuring 1 x 2 and 2 x 2 meters.

The excavations on the McDermott Lot defined a small Late Lamar farmstead dating to the early Bell phase or possibly the transition between the Dyar and Bell phases. A total of three rectangular structures were defined in the field along with posts and small pits associated with several activity areas. One large midden-filled pit (daub pit) was also recorded. The site lacks a large circular structure which is typically associated with Late Lamar farmsteads.  Pottery included relatively high proportions of stamping in association with fine lined incised pottery of the type Oconee Valley Incised. One charred peach pit was also recovered. The site is characterized as a small Late Lamar farmstead that was occupied for only a few years by a small family group.