Phase II Archaeological Investigation of sites 9HT34, 9HT35, 9HT39, and 9HT100 at Robins Air Force Base

The mission of Robins Air Force Base has recently been expanded to include the repair and maintenance of a portion of the B-1 bomber fleet in support of the Air National Guard. In order to execute the mission, the construction of new facilities to accommodate the new mission is anticipated. In response to these pending construction activities, the National Park Service tasked Geophex under Contract No. 1443CX502096001 to conduct a Phase II archeological investigation at Sites 9HT34, 9HT35, 9HT39, and 9HT100. The goal of the investigation was to determine if significant archeological remains were present at any of the sites and, if so, evaluate the potential for each site to be included on the National Register of Historic Places. At Site 9HT34, 10 test squares were excavated. Additionally, sampling was conducted in the wetlands west of the site. Although wetlands sampling yielded no artifacts, the test excavations resulted in mostly non-diagnostic chert debitage and a small number of Woodland or Mississippian potsherds. On the east side of the road, a cultural feature was encountered at the intersection of three adjoining test squares. Charcoal obtained from the feature has been dated to the Mississippian period. The presence of this feature suggests that additional features may be present at the site. When studied in aggregate, these features could yield information important in prehistory or history; consequently, this site has been recommended for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. At Site 9HT35, nine test squares were excavated and resulted in the discovery of 184 artifacts, the majority of which were unmodified interior flakes of chert. Other artifacts were made up of other flake types, all of chert and shatter. One fire-cracked quartzite cobble was also found at the site as well as a retouched interior flake and utilized interior flakes. However, the excavations yielded no artifact types useful in further research. Because the site appears to be absent of cultural stratification or features, it was not recommended for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. At Site 9HT39, ten test squares were excavated. This site became the most productive of the four sites and resulted in several diagnostic artifacts, including a portion of an Early Archaic projectile point, a Late Archaic Stallings Island fiber tempered sherd, and Middle Woodland Deptford potsherds. Excavations at this site provided the widest range of tools, including bifaces, a perforator bit, a blade, a sidescraper, and an Early Archaic Kirk point fragment. The excavations also resulted in a variety of cores and lithic manufacturing debris, including primary flakes. Yet due to the apparent lack of features and the absence of consistent, clearly stratified, and separate cultural levels, this site was not recommended for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. At Site 9HT100, 8 test squares were opened. Of the four sites, Site 9HT100 yielded -the smallest number of artifacts. Those that were found were all identified as flakes of Coastal Plain chert with the exception of one potsherd. This site has no cultural features, no stratified cultural deposits, and only one diagnostic artifact. As a result of the dearth of data, no historical significance could be attributed to the site and no recommendation was made to nominate the site to the National Register of Historic Places.