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The Cultural Resources of Blackbeard National Wildlife Refuge, McIntosh County, Georgia

Report Number
2435
Year of Publication
1980
County
Abstract

This study presents the results of archaeological and archival investigations of Blackbeard National Wildlife Refuge, McIntosh County, Georgia. Fiscal Year 1978 construction plans necessitated a field survey to locate and assess cultural resources and the impact of proposed changes in the physical environment on these. Plans, as they presently stand, will not impact any of the newly identified sites. However, awareness of the location of cultural resources is critical in changing long-standing practices of shell midden borrowing for construction or road fill. A survey, however partial, is imperative for future planning. A total of 40 sites are reported for Blackbeard Island. Six new sites were identified by this study. In view of the present state of archaeological knowledge of the coastal area, the chronological periods represented by these sites, and appreciation of the cultural development of aboriginal inhabitants of Blackbeard Island, all are National Register eligible. Archival work was oriented at providing a chronological assessment of events on Blackbeard Island from the European contact to the present day.