An Archaeological Survey of Patterson Island (9MC493), McIntosh County, Georgia

This report is a summary of the archaeological investigations performed on Patterson Island (official state archaeological site number 9MC493), a privately-owned back-barrier island (or hammock) in McIntosh County, GA. Fieldwork was undertaken in the summer (June 26- July 31) of 2008 as part of the dissertation project of John Turck (2011), then at the University of Georgia. Most of the information in this report comes directly from his dissertation (Turck 2011). This was in conjunction with Victor Thompson, then at the University of West Florida, and was part of his UWF archaeological field school. As such, it was designated as Sapelo Hammock Survey: 08S. This project name and number, along with provenience information, is specific to UWF, and can be found on the artifact bags and boxes. However, for analytical purposes, the UTM locations of each shovel test are considered to be the unique identifier of this material. All cultural material, shovel test forms, and field notes are stored at the Laboratory of Archaeology, Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.

We would like to thank the owners for allowing us access to Patterson Island. We would also like to thank Thornton Morris, for conveying our intentions with the owners and facilitating our work on the island. We are deeply appreciative to everyone involved. Special thanks to Mr. Jack Hoyt, caretaker of Patterson Island. Without his help, this work could not have been completed.

This research was supported, in part, by a grant in association with the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER project and the National Science Foundation Grant (NSF grant OCE- 0620959). The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GDNR), the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Department of Anthropology at the University of Georgia, the Department of Anthropology at the Ohio State University, and Department of Anthropology at the University of West Florida provided additional support. Several individuals were instrumental in supporting our fieldwork and include David Crass, Dorset Hurley, Fred Hay, and Buddy Sullivan. Chester DePratter also provided advice to us in the field- we thank him immensely for his support of this project. We would also like to thank the undergraduate students of the 2008 University of West Florida archaeological field school. John Turck would like to thank his dissertation committee, Ervan Garrison, David Hally, Steve Kowalewski, and Victor Thompson, whose support and encouragement was greatly appreciated. Finally, the authors would like to thank Steven Pennings and Merryl Alber of the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems Long Term Ecological Research project for their support of our past and ongoing research.