An Historical Archaeological and Architectural Study of the Darien, Georgia Waterfront Cultural Resources Mitigation of State Site 9Mc367, Phase I

Archaeological investigations were conducted at the Darien Waterfront site, 9Mc367, in the spring and summer of 1990, following intensive archival research. Located on the Darien bluff, the site produced artifacts from a number of aboriginal occupations beginning about 2000 B.C. and ending about A.D. 1650. One area of aboriginal midden was found to be relatively undisturbed. Eighteenth-century artifacts were restricted to a few Euro-American ceramic sherds. Nineteenth-century utilization of the site centered around a large, row style warehouse built on the lower bluff A retaining wall and paved alley separated the rear of the warehouse from the upper bluff. Excavation revealed that the area between the upper bluff and the retaining wall had been filled with sand after completion of the tabby work. A buried layer of early-nineteenth-century refuse was found on the original bluff slope behind the retaining wall. Analysis of aboriginal and nineteenth-century ceramics and nineteenth-century nails have provided chronological and function information on utilization of the site, and the material culture provides a basis for comparisons with other contemporary archaeological collections. Analysis of faunal remains from trash deposits also provide an estimation of dietary patterns in nineteenth-century Darien. Architectural data recovered from the tabby warehouse burned in 1863, and its contents, supplemented by historical photographs and data from a nearby standing tabby structure provide an architectural model of nineteenth-century tabby commercial buildings in Darien.