A Middle Woodland Household on the Etowah River: Archaeological Investigations of the Hardin Bridge Site 9BR34

Phase III archaeological investigations were undertaken at the Hardin Bridge site in Bartow County, Georgia. New South Associates conducted the work for Greenhorne & O' Mara and the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). The site had been deemed eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), and faced direct construction impacts related to the relocation of Hardin Bridge Road and the construction of a new bridge over the Etowah River. The field work included: excavation and description of three geomorphology trenches; machine-assisted removal of plow zone and manual feature excavation in a 20x30-meter block; and hand excavation of a 3x8-meter block. The detailed laboratory analyses included: a vessel-based examination of ceramic technology, form, and style; a combination and comparison of lithic mass analysis and morphological analysis; ethnobotanical identification of nuts, seeds, and wood charcoal, and zooarchaeological analysis of the limited bone assemblage. Although there may have been an ephemeral Late Archaic occupation, the major site use occurred during the incipient Middle Woodland period. Radiocarbon results suggest that this occupation occurred in the span 50 B.C.-A.D. 80. There were two major activity loci during the Middle Woodland: 1) a lithic workshop; and 2) a single-family residence and associated yard features. The lithic workshop contains upwards of o million artifacts, and saw the focused production of bifaces of chert from the adjacent quarry. The level of production and extreme spatial clustering of the remains suggests a continuously utilized workshop, where household specialists created surplus bifaces for exchange. The many features in the Block I excavation have been interpreted as representing either a 9x11-meter oval house or a 9x20-meter oval house. The associated yard area includes exterior features and a small lithic workshop, where items for domestic use were resharpened and maintained. The ethnobotanical remains suggest that the occupants were present for spring planting and summer-autumn harvesting. Early seed cultigens, wild fruits, and nuts were evidenced. The ethnobotany suggests that gardens were present in the immediate site area. The presence of large storage pits is taken as evidence of over-winter storage, supporting a contention of year-round occupation. The ceramic discard rate and the lack of extensive rebuilding of the house suggest an occupation span of 10-15 years. The Phase III data recovery excavations, analysis, and reporting have been completed in accordance with the work plan reviewed by and approved by the GDOT and the State Historic Preservation Office. The work has been sufficient to mitigate the adverse effects to the NRHP-eligible Hardin Bridge site. No further work is recommended.