Archeological Investigations of the Tarver (9JO6) and Little Tarver (9JO198) Sites, Jones County, Georgia

Data recovery was conducted on the Little Tarver site (9JO198) and on a portion of the Tarver site (9JO6), to the north of the city of Macon in southwestern Jones County, Georgia. Together the two sites occupy most of a broad ridge that overlooks the confluence of Town Creek and the Ocmulgee River. The sites were previously tested and determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The Tarver sites are to be impacted by the construction of infrastructure related to a new water treatment plant. This facility will replace the old water treatment plant, which was severely damaged during flooding associated with tropical storm Alberto in 1994. The construction is financed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and must therefore comply with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The Tarver site will be impacted by two new roads. Road A will impact only a small portion of the site that has not been previously mitigated. As a result, data recovery focused primarily on Road B. The 30 in wide right-of-way for this road was first investigated with shovel tests, test units, and backhoe trenches. Next, four large blocks were excavated with the assistance of heavy equipment. As a final measure, the entire non-wooded portions of the Road A and B rights-of-way were mechanically stripped. Virtually the entire Little Tarver site will be severely impacted by the construction of a raw water pumping station and associated roads and parking areas. Preliminary investigations on this site commenced with the excavation of additional shovel tests, extending the grid that had been initiated during testing. Next, a series of 2 by 2 in test units were hand excavated across the site. Finally, a large block was excavated with the assistance of a backhoe. The most intensive occupation on both sites is attributed to the historic Creek occupation, dating from around 1690 to 1715. Features associated with this occupation include the remnants of a probable summer house, a few large pits, and a number of burials. Data recovery produced extensive information on historic Creek architecture and trade, and makes an important contribution to our knowledge of the history and archeology of the area. The excavation of several Early Mississippian features on the Tarver site also contributes significant, new information to our understanding of Georgia prehistory. Radiocarbon assays from these features provide the first absolute dates for the Vining phase placing it firmly in the range of A.D. 900-1200. In addition, the features produced an extensive collection of Vining phase pottery that suggests interaction with the fully developed Mississippian societies at Macon Plateau. Data recovery also produced material associated with Archaic and Woodland occupations of the two sites. However, these components included very few features, which limited the amount of information that could be acquired.