Interim Report for Archaeological Mitigation of Kings Bay Naval Submarine Support Base, 1981

This report presents an overview of the archaeological research conducted at Kings Bay, Georgia, during the summer of 1981. The work was conducted under a contract between the U. S. Navy and the University of Florida to mitigate three archaeological sites which will be impacted by construction activities an Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base. Those three sites were determined eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places because previous research had indicated their significance in understanding the region's prehistory and history. This report presents preliminary findings based upon only about four weeks of analysis following the fieldwork. Many of the ideas expressed here could change after analysis has been completed. The sites investigated were: The Devil's Walkingstick Site (9Cam177), The Kings Say Site (9Caml7l), and the Kings Bay Plantation Site (9Caml72). The latter site is superimposed upon the Kings Say Site, but was considered separate for management purposes. These two sites were located along short of Kings Say, while the Devil's Walkingstick Site was located along the North River, a milt to the west (Figure 1). The goal for the project was to obtain the best data possible within the constraints of time and funding. To this and a general research design was formulated to provide a framework for research questions. Basically, this research design sought to provide data in the following areas: who lived at these sites, when did they live there, what were they doing there, where were they living within these sites, how did they live there, and why did they live at Kings Say. These general questions then were refined into much more specific questions. For example, do differences in species and quantities of shellfish recovered at those sites indicate different seasons of collection, different years of occupation, different family preferences, or different cultures? Many of these specific research questions are examined in the following site descriptions, while others will be in the final report.