Mitigation Plan for Archeological Site 9TE34, Terrell County, Georgia

Site 9TE34 is a large, multi-component site on a prominent sandy ridge on the southwest side of Kinchafoonee Creek. Late Archaic through Early Mississippian occupations have been documented, and cultural material extends to about 70 cm below surface over most of the site. The site is bisected by State Route 49, and a portion of the site south of the highway has been destroyed by grading and highway construction. Four test units yielded chert flakes and tools, ceramics, an apparent midden zone and one basin shaped feature at about 80 to 115 cm below surface. The buried midden zone and pit feature in Test Unit 3 is especially noteworthy, as such features are rarely encountered in the sandy soils of the upper coastal plain. The feature is unusual for being so deep. It contained ten plain sherds. The midden zone, immediately overlying the feature, contained mostly plain sherds, but a few Etowah sherds as well. The midden is described as extending from about 25 to 85 cm below surface. It appears to have a thinner darker zone within this thick midden zone. The extent of the midden is not known, but based on 10-m interval shovel testing, probably is not larger than 18 m in diameter. If it is related to a house, it probably is less than 10 m in diameter. Although formal analysis has not been conducted on the materials recovered during testing, it appears that an Early Mississippian Averett component dominates Test Unit 3, and is substantial over the entire site. All of the levels of Test Unit 3 were relatively rich in chert flakes, pottery and organic remains, in particular well-preserved animal bone.

As is often the case at sandy upper coastal plain sites, stratigraphy at 9TE34 is somewhat puzzling, in some respects seeming to be good, and in other respects seeming disturbed. The 50-cm depth of an Early Mississippian midden, below the surface and near surface depth of Late Archaic materials indicates disturbance, while the intact nature of the midden and the underlying feature indicate good integrity. The midden and large feature in TU 3 is the most remarkable aspect of this site and will be the focus of mitigative data recovery. However, at this time we do not know the precise nature of the midden, whether it is really a large feature, a single house midden or an extensive midden.