Archaeological Investigations on the Middle Plateau, Ocmulgee National Monument, Bibb County

Established in December of 1936, OCMU is a testament to the long and rich occupational history of the North American continent. Encompassing more than 700 acres, the park is divided into two units. The Main Unit which is composed of several Mississippian mounds, a reconstructed earth lodge and the remains of a historic trading post, is situated adjacent to the city of Macen in central Georgia (Figure 1), while the Lamar Mounds and Village Unit is located three miles to the southwest (NPS 1982,1990a). During the fall of 2001, excavations were conducted at OCMU by personnel from SEAC in anticipation of the construction of a pedestrian bridge which would span the existing railroad tracks (Figure 2). The pedestrian bridge was designed to replace the existing crossway which required visitors to the park to physically cross the train tracks. The new bridge would serve to remove visitors from direct harm by raising the crosswalk above the tracks themselves and would be constructed in such a way that it would create ground disturbance within the North Plateau to the north of the tracks as well as damage to the Middle Plateau to the south of the tracks and just north of the historic trading post which was occupied from 1680 until 1719. The original test excavations were conducted during the fall of 2000 under SEAC Accession Number 1501 and were the subject of a subsequent report (see Kidd et at. 2004). The additional excavations which were conducted during September and December of 2001 are the subject of this report. Initial investigations conducted during the fall of 2000 indicated that the area to be impacted by the bridge abutment within the North Plateau had previously been disturbed by the construction of the railroad. The area to be impacted on the Middle Plateau was a different story however, as the presence of intact features and strata were noted. With the recognition of clearly defined features two additional trips were conducted in order to complete the data recovery. In September of 2001 afield crew composed of R. Steven Kidd, Katherine McClure, Jessica McNeil, volunteer Heather L. Mustonen, and Principal Investigator Jill Y. Halchin conducted investigations which focused on removal of the plowzone from six additional units. A 50 x 50 centimeter shovel test was located within one of the units and excavated to one meter below the surface, confirming the presence of an aceramic horizon. The following December a second trip was conducted. This crew was composed of John E. Comelison, Tammy Cooper, Charles F. Lawson, Rachel Horlings, R. Steven Kidd, Katherine McClure, Jessica McNeil, Robert T. Moses, Jay T. Sturdevant, and Principal Investigator Jill Y. Halchin. Nine additional excavation units were opened and all units (including those opened the previous year) were excavated to between 50 and 70 centimeters below the ground surface. The results of the investigations revealed the presence of more than 30 features and several occupational strata. The artifacts recovered indicated the presence of an intensive historic trading post era occupation, a Macon Plateau phase occupation, and an apparent Archaic period occupation. All investigations were completed during this trip and the pedestrian bridge was eventually constructed.