Test Excavations at Two Sites Tanner Park and Analysis of Site 9JK17 Artifacts Jackson County, Georgia

This report summarizes mapping and test excavations at the following two sites: 1.) a rock shelter on a sharp bend in Walnut Creek and 2.) a ridge toe site known as 9JK17. Both sites are located within Tanner Park, a 55.62-acre land parcel within Jackson County, Georgia. Tanner Park is near the western corner of Jackson County, approximately eight kilometers northeast of Braselton, between Pocket Road and Walnut Creek. The surface beneath the ceiling of the Rock Shelter site, at the bottom of a vertical cliff immediately below a bend in Walnut Creek, has reputedly yielded an Eva II Early Archaic projectile point (Sid Tanner, personal communication, 2021). Site 9JK17 is located on a lower ridge toe edge that has yielded complicated stamped sherds on its surface. Whereas Wood and Hally (1976) identified the sherds as Late Mississippian Lamar in their report submitted to the University of Georgia, Teri Smith (1981) from the Georgia Archaeological Site Files at the University of Georgia later added a comment in pencil implying that the ceramics could be Line Block, dating to the Late Woodland/Early Mississippian transition period known as Woodstock (ca. AD 800-1000). The main reason for the field investigation was to determine the antiquity, cultural affiliation, and function of the two sites. Fieldwork at the two sites, which took place between November 2 and November 6, 2022, involved the mapping and excavation of the sites. Thorough surface inspection and the excavation of three shovel test pits and a one by one-meter test unit within the Rock Shelter site failed to recover any artifacts or to expose any features. Excavations showed that the deep deposit within the Rock Shelter comprise loamy silt and fine sand alluvium occasionally deposited by a flooding Walnut Creek. Due to its culturally sterile nature, the Rock Shelter is not recommended as eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places and no additional work is recommended at the site. A total of 53 shovel test pits and one test unit were excavated at Site 9JK17. Of these, 24 shovel test pits (45%) and the test unit yielded artifacts. Ceramics came from 17 shovel test pits (32%) and lithics came from 19 shovel test pits (36%), while the test unit yielded both ceramics and lithics. Apart from variations in the depth of subsoil below the ground surface, the same general soil stratigraphy was observed across the ridge toe landform (i.e., dusky red plow zone, dark yellow loamy silt, and red clayey silt subsoil) The average and modal depths of sterile subsoil below ground surface on the ridge toe are 30 centimeters (standard deviation ± 9 cm). A total of 46 ceramic sherds were recovered during the excavations. Of these, 33 (72%) show signs of decoration and 13 (28%) are plain. The following seven descriptive sherd categories were observed in the recorded sample: broad line incised sherds (n=3); punctated sherds (n=4); rim sherds (n=5); stamped and incised sherds (n=2); broad line stamped sherds (ridge >1.3 mm) (n=4); line blocked sherds (n=2); and thin line stamped sherds (ridge <1.3 mm) (n=7). The decorated sherds best fit Wauchope’s 1966 illustrations and descriptions of Late Woodland/Early Mississippian Woodstock ceramics (ca. AD 800 and AD 1000). A total of 48 lithic fragments were recovered during the excavations at Site 9JK17. Seventeen lithics are dark gray chert, reminiscent of Fort Payne chert sources in the Ridge and Valley region of northwestern Georgia (Goad 1979). Of the 25 quartz pieces recovered, eight are milky quartz, six are sugary quartz, and 11 are translucent quartz. The lithic repertoire at Site 9JK17 is typical of Woodland period sites in the Georgia Piedmont, that contain evidence of increased regionalism and reliance on localized quartz sources rather than chert from the Georgia Ridge and Valley. Two Triangular arrow heads, chipped from dark gray chert, each has a basal length of 14 millimeters, which falls in the size range of Mississippian Triangular points instead of larger Late Woodland triangular points (i.e., >17 mm). The association of the two small points with Late Woodland/Early Mississippian Woodstock sherds suggests a relatively late date for the Woodstock ceramic assemblage at Site 9JK17, around AD 1000, if not slightly later. Due to its research potential, Site 9JK17 is recommended as eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. To fully gain from the site’s research potential, it’s recommended that additional shovel test pits be excavated, as well as the excavation of the three-buy-three-meter block and removal of topsoil with a mechanical backhoe.