The Archaeology of the Chase Site (9Ro53), Rockdale County, Georgia

The Chase site is a large multicomponent site located at the confluence of the Yellow River and Big Haynes Creek in Rockdale County, Georgia. Investigations were conducted prior to the construction of facilities at the Georgia International Horse Park, which is scheduled to be the equestrian venue for the 1996 Olympic Games. Six areas of the Chase site were machine stripped; the data presented in this report was obtained by hand excavation of features exposed from stripping, and by block excavations in the extreme southern portion of the site. The six areas yielded artifacts associated with every major prehistoric period, with the exception of the Savannah/Wilbanks phase (ca.A.D. 1200-1350). The Native American occupation of this important site began during the Paleoindian/Early Archaic transitional period (ca.8,000 B.C.) and continued until a possible Historic Cherokee occupation of cat 1800. The most extensive use of the Chase site occurred during the Middle Archaic period, Morrow Mountain components were identified at all six loci. The most intensive use is attributable to Late Archaic (Mill Branch phase) and Middle-Late Woodland (Swift Creek culture) occupations. Components associated with these occupations were limited to the southern portion of the site. Radiocarbon dates indicate that the Swift Creek occupations occurred at approximately A.D. 410 and between A.D. 670 and A.D. 710. The Mill Branch phase has been dated elsewhere to between ca.2,200 and 1,850 B.C. The Chase site appears to have been used primarily for short-term camps and special extraction activities, although there is evidence of more protracted stays during the Mill Branch and late Swift Creek occupations. The site was visited hundreds and perhaps thousands of times throughout prehistory by people who wrote their own history in the soil of Rockdale County.