Data Recovery Excavations at Wood Pottery (38AK493/931)

Between May 23 and June 3, 2005, Brockington and Associates, Inc., conducted archaeological data recovery investigations at the Wood Pottery locus of site 38Ak493/931 (Federal Aid Number: STP-UR02 [008], State File Number: 2.156B, PIN 30611) in Aiken County, South Carolina. These investigations were carried out under the Treatment Plan approved by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT), and the South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) in fulfillment of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) among these parties. The two-part mitigation plan approved for 38AK493/931 included (1) interpreting and presenting historical information related to the Thirteenth Street Industrial Complex in a series of weatherproof signs placed along the nearby greenway trail, and (2) undertaking data recovery excavations at the Wood Pottery Company kiln locality. The data recovery investigations carried out on the Wood Pottery component of 38AK493/931 were specifically aimed at recovering information related to the production history of the Wood Pottery Company and the technology employed in manufacturing. The areas targeted for excavation totaled approximately 350 square meters (3,750 square feet) and corresponded to the kilns and surrounding work space depicted on the 1904 Sanborn map. The remains of two kiln bases and two subsurface pit features were encountered during the project, and investigators recovered an artifact sample totaling approximately 3,000 specimens. The archaeological and archival research conducted on the Wood Pottery Company indicated that it was a very apt example of the changes associated with the industrialization of southeastern stoneware manufacturing. These changes included a shift to the use of Albany slip instead of alkaline glaze, modifications to basic vessel forms, and experimenting with new forms of firing technology. The completion of both parts of the mitigation plan is sufficient to mitigate the adverse effect that proposed land-disturbing activities will have on this National Register of Historic Places eligible site. Land-disturbing activities at site 38AK493/931 should be allowed to proceed as planned.