Archeological Excavations of 9CM167 and 9CM173 at King's Bay, Camden County, Georgia

During the winter quarter of 1978, (January-March) the Department of Anthropology conducted test excavations of two archeological sites on the U.S. Military Ocean Terminal, King's Bay (MOTKI), located in southeastern Camden County, Georgia. The project was sponsored by PLANTEC Corporation, a subcontractor for the U.S. Navy, and an economic consultant subsidiary of Reynolds, Smith, and Hills, an architectural firm of Jacksonville, Florida. On October 31, 1977, PLANTEC Corporation awarded contract (Project No. 76115-505) to Dr. Charles H. Fairbanks, Distinguished Service Professor of Anthropology at the University of Florida to conduct a research and intensive testing program designed to verify the eligibility of two archeological sites at King's Bay for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places as defined under 11 Procedures for Protection and Enhancement of Historic and Cultural Properties, (36 C.F.R. 800) part of a 1976 amendment (Public Law 94-422) to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. These sites, referred to as Mill Creek Shell Midden A (9 Cam 167) and the King Outbuilding Site (9 Cam 173) were originally proposed for inclusion on the basis of preliminary analysis of data recovered during the summer of 1977 by Robin L. Smith, survey archeologist, while conducting a cultural resource inventory of the NOTKI property (Smith and Fairbanks 1977). The preliminary analysis of survey data was necessitated by the fact that the cultural resource inventory had not, at that time, been completed and the fact that impending construction deadlines threatened both sites by allowing insufficient time for inventory completion and for assessing the total archeological and cultural resource data base. Had sufficient time been allocated, such complete assessment would have facilitated the recommendation _ of a more complete, non-salvage, long-term investigation program with clearly stated research goals and hypotheses. As a result, a Memorandum of Agreement was required under 36 C.F.R. 800 and was entered into by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (Washington, D.C.), the Department of the Army, and the Department of the Navy. Involvement of the Department of the Army was required by the fact that these sites were located on lands then currently under its jurisdiction. This agreement listed specific research requirements for the investigation of the King Outbuilding Site and was necessary before any testing program could be implemented (see Appendix A). The following is a report on this intensive testing program; the methods and techniques utilized both in excavation and analysis of excavated materials, as well as recommendations for the disposition of these sites. Furthermore, the findings of this study indicate that neither of these two sites continues to meet requirements necessary for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places pursuant to those guidelines established under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, or any other federal act or guideline.

The field portion of this testing program was implemented during the first week of January and continued until the latter part of March, 1978, under the direction of Dr. Don S. Rice with the author serving as field supervisor and being responsible for analysis and preparation of the final report. Analysis was conducted at the Archeology Lab of the Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, during a twenty-two week period following completion of the test excavations. Excavation crew chiefs were Thomas P. DesJean and Andrew L. Yaros. A crew of fifteen persons participated as excavators during the field phase of this project with eleven being students (graduate and undergraduate) from the University of Florida and four being students from Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Florida.

Because of the urgent need for constructions in the two site areas, as indicated by the sponsoring agency, it became apparent that the need for an intensive testing program without reference to other cultural resources throughout the MOTKI property must be met. Preliminary survey had suggested that the two sites might contain important scientific data. Other survey findings indicated that both sites had been extensively disturbed through the implementation of the Army's forestry management program. As. the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation was cognizant of these and other pertinent data, it issued a Memorandum of Agreement mandating that if intensive testing indicated the presence of important recoverable scientific data, further mitigation must be undertaken. This formed the rational of the project-to evaluate the extent of information that might still lie in the two sites.