The Sweetwater Creek Rock Shelter is located in Sweetwater Creek State Park, Douglas County, Georgia. It overlooks Sweetwater Creek. The site was excavated by Ray Crook, Georgia State University, in 1986. The deposits are badly mixed, containing materials dating from the Archaic into the historic period (Ray Crook, personal communication 1986). The materials were recovered in artificial 10 cm levels down to 80 cm below datum. During excavation materials were recovered primarily with 1/8-inch mesh. In a few cases (10), water screening was used. Lot numbers 120, 167, and 168 were recovered using 1/4-inch mesh. A list of the proveniences examined appears in the Appendix.
The vertebrate assemblage was identified by Gwyneth Duncan using the comparative skeletal collection of the Zooarchaeology Laboratory, University of Georgia. Bones of each identified taxon were weighted and counted. Notations were mad~ of evidence for age, symmetry, and modifications. Minimum Numbers of Individuals (MNI) were estimated for each of the five artificial levels. Where possible skeletal elements were measured in order to determine the original size of animals utilized at the site. Measurements follow those suggested by Driesch (1976).
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