SHIMMERING GLIMPSES OF THE SPIRIT WORLD: ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECOVERY AND RELOCATION OF TWO HISTORIC CEMETERIES (9CH875 AND 9CH1168) AT HUNTER ARMY AIRFIELD

The identification of two previously unrecognized burial areas within federal property on Hunter Army Airfield (HAAF) in Chatham County, Georgia prompted the survey and relocation of the Area 1 Cemetery (8CH 1168) and Area 2 Cemetery (8CH875), in accordance with the Scopes of Work entitled Graveyard Clearance, Hunter Army Airfield and Cemetery Relocations at Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia, issued on September 18, 2006 and August 15, 2007 respectively. The features, human remains, and artifacts from these cemeteries are summarized in this two-volume report. Previous investigations emphasized that while archaeological deposits in Chatham County are known to be present on HAAF, their mortuary components have only marginally been addressed. Previous mortuary relocation projects in HAAF and in Chatham County have not addressed the moved cemeteries as anthropological phenomenon and subsequently have received only cursory interpretation. Ground Penetrating Radar studies of 9CH 1168 identified several hundred potential graves and 23 potential anomalies at 9CH875. Subsurface examinations at 9CH1168 identified 734 features of which 36 were positively identified as potential mortuary structures in the southeastern quadrant of the project area. Subsequent excavation verified that 40 individuals were present. The remaining features were identified as trees and bush molds, post and fence line molds, and construction related nonmortuary, features. At 9CH875, 356 features were identified, Three hundred thirty of these contained human remains for a total of 346 individuals. Both cemeteries contained the remains of African-American communities from the post-Emancipation late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Historical research suggests that Area 1 was deed linked to the First Zion Baptist Church of Belmont; it represents individuals who lived on the old Belmont Plantation grounds. The people buried in Area 2 were interpreted to have been more closely allied to the City of Savannah. In general, those from Area 1 were healthier than those from Area 2. An examination of the material remains demonstrated that both cemeteries followed the Southern Folk Mortuary Tradition and there was considerable evidence that lowland African-American funerary traditions were practiced. 9CH875 was modeled as an informal cemetery. A review of local African-American funeral practices helped place much of the material remains in a comprehensible behavioral context. All mortuary-related materials and human remains recovered from the project areas were re-interred at Belmont Cemetery on HAAF.