The Murder Creek site (9PM1133) is a prehistoric site that may have been used for seasonal camping during the Early Archaic (8000 – 6000 B.C.) period lasting until the Late Lamar Bell Phase (A.D. 1570 – 1640) of the Mississippian period as a family farmstead(Wynn 1998: 4). The site has been subjected to heavy amounts of looting in the past. Surface collections in March 1998 by Forest Service personnel discovered prehistoric artifacts on and near the loose dirt piles close to the looter holes on the site. Test excavations and additional surface collecting took place in November 2011 with Forest Service personnel and an anthropology intern at Kennesaw State University. Shovel test units were excavated in the area where the looting originally occurred. The test units revealed that archaeological deposits are present to a depth of at least 40cm. Twenty-seven shovel tests were conducted on the open ridge and surrounding forest, recovering material similar to that found during surface collections left by looters in 1998. The prehistoric artifacts found at the site include projectile points, knives, chert and quartz tools and flaking debris, mussel shell fragments, petrified crinoid stems, a hammer stone, a soapstone bowl rim fragment, and large quantities of pottery sherds. The archaeological deposits at the site appear to be of the Early Archaic, Middle Archaic, Late Archaic, Late Woodland, and the Late Mississippian periods. The site contains significant archaeological resources and meets 36 CFR 60 criterions (d) for eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places (Wynn 1998: 5).
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