Phase III Investigations at Three Sites (9CB127, 9CB549 and 9CB567) in the Riverwood Plantation Development Tract, Columbia County, Georgia

From 20 to 31 January 2003, Brockington and Associates, Inc. conducted limited Phase III archaeological investigations at three sites located in the Riverwood Plantation development tract in Columbia County, Georgia. The tract, totaling some 1,200 acres, is situated along the west bank of the Savannah River, between Kiokee Creek to the north and Yuchi Creek to the south. The present investigations are a result of Phase II testing conducted by Brockington and Associates, Inc., from November 2001 to February 2002 (Charles 2002). Phase II testing of 16 sites in the development tract resulted in four of the sites (9CB127, 9CB545, 9CB549 and 9CB567) being recommended eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Site 9CB545 will be preserved in place and is not part of the current investigations. The proposed development was redesigned to limit adverse impacts to the three sites. Earth disturbing activities will be limited to the peripheral areas of 9CB127, 9CB549 and 9CB567. Since these sites will largely be preserved, the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office (GASHPO) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) agreed two 2-by-2-meter (6.6-by-6.6-ft) units at each site were sufficient to mitigate adverse impacts. The northern portion of 9CB 127, a multicomponent site yielding Late Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian materials, will be affected by proposed development. Investigations correspondingly focused on this portion of the site. A Late Archaic shell midden identified in the central/southern portion of the site during Phase II testing will not be affected by proposed development. A gas pipeline right-of-way runs through the southern portion of 9CB549, a multicomponent site containing Late Archaic through historic aboriginal (Yuchi) materials; current development plans will be restricted to areas north of this pipeline. Investigations therefore were limited to a small area immediately north of the pipeline, where Phase I and II investigations identified relatively dense cultural deposits (Charles 2002; Price and Elliott 1999). Site 9CB567, a late-eighteenth-/early-nineteenth-century occupation site with a small late-nineteenth-/early-twentieth-century component, will eventually be impacted by the proposed development. The only immediate threat, however, is the construction of an access road across the northern edge of the site. Phase III investigations focused on this portion of the site, although a more substantial data recovery will be conducted before the remainder of 9CB567 is impacted. Site 9CB127 did not yield intact subsurface cultural features. Site 9CB549 also did not yield intact subsurface cultural features. Site 9CB567 yielded one cultural feature (Feature 603), a double posthole, from an excavation unit. A single sherd of plain creamware recovered from the feature fill suggests that these posts are associated with a structure from the early (Germany family) occupation. Once development plans are ready to be implemented, additional data recovery at 9CB567 will undoubtedly yield valuable information concerning the lifeways of these historic settlers.