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An Archaeological Assessment of Three Sites in the Oconee National Forest

Report Number
1190
Year of Publication
1988
Abstract

During the winter of 1985-86, three sites in Compartment 169 of the Oconee National Forest, Greene County, Georgia, were disturbed by logging operations and subsequently partially excavated by a relic collector. The following report contains a brief description of the site areas, an analysis of Lamar ceramics, the results of archival research for the historic site, and discussion of how the sites relate to larger settlement systems. Two sites date to the late Mississippian Lamar period. One is a 50 by 80 m habitation site that probably contained multiple structures. The primary occupation was early Lamar, Duvall phase; however, a late Lamar, Dyar phase component is also represented. Present investigation of this site centers upon a midden deposited around an outcrop of granite boulders. The second Lamar site is a ceremonial "boulder cache" site. This site is a small boulder outcrop containing partially cremated human remains and numerous Lamar vessel fragments. The third site consists of the remains of an historic mill site. Early maps indicate that the mill was present at the location in the 1790s. Archival evidence indicates that the mill was in use throughout the first quarter of the nineteenth century. The mill site today is recognizable by an excavated raceway and partially preserved dam foundations.