A Report of the Intensive Archaeological Investigations of Site 9GE1761 on Reynolds Plantation, Greene County, Georgia

This report documents the results of a second phase of archaeological investigations on site 9GE1761, located on Reynolds Plantation in Greene County, Georgia. Site 9GE1761 is a large multicomponent site with components dating to the Archaic, Late Mississippian, and Historic periods. The broad site area contains two Late Lamar farmsteads and an area with surface and subsurface remains associated with a late nineteenth century farmhouse complex. The work was conducted at the request of Reynolds Plantation, a golf and residential community, located on present-day Lake Oconee in Greene and Putnam Counties, Georgia. The site was recorded during the 1997 SAS survey for Reynolds Plantation and recommended Eligible for Nomination to the National Register of Historic Places after consultation with federal and state review agencies. At the request of Reynolds Plantation, field investigations were conducted by Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc. (SAS), during the period of August 1999 through April 2000.

The site is located in southwestern Greene County, Georgia, on the west side of Richland Creek, which is a major tributary of the Oconee River (now Lake Oconee). The site is located on elevated ground and overlooks the floodplains of minor tributary streams on the north and south. A larger tributary stream, Sandy Creek, joins Richland Creek immediately east of the site. The site area is located within a part of an upland ridge system that has been used for farming and has remained relatively isolated during the nineteenth and twentieth century. Prior site disturbance includes plowing, dating to the nineteenth and possibly early twentieth centuries, and logging. The field work consisted of systematic shovel testing on a 10-meter grid, systematic backhoe trenching on a 20-meter grid, excavation of 1-x-1-meter test units placed across the site, systematic metal detecting, and surface inspection and mapping of historic period surface features. The field work defined surface features associated with a late nineteenth century farmhouse and a number of subsoil-intruding features associated with two Late Lamar farmsteads. The distribution of identified Lamar features suggested habitation areas covering approximately 30 to 40 meters for the northernmost farmstead and a slightly smaller area for the southernmost farmstead area.

Based on the results of the SAS investigations, Reynolds Plantation has decided to preserve in place the areas containing the Historic period farmhouse remains and the areas associated with the two Lamar farmsteads. The archaeological remains found in these three areas on 9GE1761 retain significant research potential and are recommended eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.