Three Sites on Sandy Run: Phase II Evaluation of Sites 9Cam183, 184, and 185 at Kings Bay, Georgia

A program of testing and evaluation for three sites on a creek called Sandy Run in the Cherry Point area of the Naval Submarine Support Base at Kings Bay was conducted by the Jeffrey L. Brown Institute of Archaeology, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Sampling strategies varied among the sites but all testing employed 1 x 2 m excavation units sifted through quarter-inch mesh screen. Assemblages included ceramics and lithics from early prehistoric nonshell deposits, ceramics, lithics, and faunal remains from later prehistoric surface shell middens, and a wide range of late 18th/early 19th century domestic and agricultural artifacts from the sheet midden at a historic site. Datable, interpretable features were defined in each site. All three sites were found to contain significant cultural remains in a good state of preservation with little evidence of modern disturbance. The Frohock Point Historic Site, 9Cam 183, was the home of the John King family in the period 1791 to 1823. The administrative center of this small plantation, associated domestic activity areas, and a possible slave quarters area were defined. The Frohock Point Prehistoric Site, 9Cam184, was found to be a large, diffuse prehistoric site with Late Archaic, Transitional, and Savannah period components well-represented. The Mallard Creek Site, 9Caml85, is a Swift Creek period site, underlain by a Late Archaic component, which shows a settlement pattern contrasting with that of the Swift Creek component at the Kings Bay Site. The previously determined eligibility of each site for the National Register of Historic Places was confirmed by this study. Preservation is strongly recommended as the preferred alternative for managing these cultural resources. Preservation will balance the large amount of site destruction, through research and construction, that has taken place at Kings Bay since 1977 and will ensure that at least some of the cultural resources in this area will be available for study in the future. In the event that preservation is not feasible, further archaeological research will be required; goals and foci appropriate for each site are outlined.