During the period of September 10 though November 7, 2003, R.S. Webb & Associates conducted Phase III data recovery excavations at Site 9FU331. A total of 185.7 square meters was investigated through hand excavation (blocks) and mechanical excavation (trenches and stripped areas). Based on the testing data, the investigation was originally focused on the Late Prehistoric (Lamar phase). The emphasis of the study was revised when the fieldwork revealed that the Late Prehistoric occupations had been disturbed by historic cultivation. Below the disturbed zone, an intact Middle Archaic occupation zone spanning four levels within two soil strata was encountered in the main block excavation in the east part of the site. The Middle Archaic deposits produced spatially identifiable workshop areas associated with cores, bifaces, and expedient and formal tools. The radiocarbon date (6610+/- 40 yr BP) from a rock cluster feature confirmed the Middle Archaic association. Intact Late Archaic and Early Woodland features were recorded on a levee remnant at the west end of the site. The Late Archaic feature produced a charred soapstone bowl fragment dated to3670 +/- 40 yr BP. As part of the study, an intensive geomorphological investigation was made of the site. Four allostratigraphic units, formed from the terminal Pleistocene until the present time, were identified. The prehistoric inhabitants resided on natural levee deposits that were subject to periodic flooding. The most stable period was during the Middle Archaic when the height of the broad natural levee in the east portion of the site had exceeded the level of frequently occurring floods.
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