Archaeological Reconnaissance at the Drudi Tract, Tybee Island, Chatham County, Georgia

This report summaries the preliminary archaeological study by The LAMAR Institute of a vacant lot on Tybee Island in Chatham County, Georgia. The study property, which is located at 25 Taylor Street is shown in Figure 1, as indicated by the green arrow. The project area is located on the northwestern end of Tybee Island, which is a barrier island at the mouth of the Savannah River. This site was recorded in the Georgia Site File as Site 9CH1208. The report includes a brief review of the history of the study area, photographic documentation of three enigmatic artifact finds, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey, and systematic shovel testing of the property. Some preliminary interpretations of these data are offered in the final chapter. Clearly more study of the Drudi Objects and their associated archaeological context at 9CH1208 is warranted. The study of the objects themselves should include extensive chemical and mineralogical analysis of samples from each of the three objects. Meanwhile, these objects should be carefully conserved to prevent further degradation caused by exposure to the elements. The GPR survey results identified a very large oval anomaly in the central portion of Drudi's lot. This anomaly continues onto the Tybee Lighthouse property, although most of it appears to be on Drudi's property. The GPR survey was followed by systematically aligned shovel tests. These tests contained cultural material. None of the artifacts appeared to date any earlier than the 19th century. The shovel tests produced a limited variety of artifacts that probably date to the mid-late 19`h through early 20th centuries. Cultural material was encountered in all 12 shovel tests. It was recovered at maximum depths from 55-140 cm below ground. The shovel tests were unable to adequately probe at depth of 1 m or more, so the potential for very deep deposits was not determined. Archaeological testing should be conducted on Drudi's property to better understand the nature of this GPR anomaly. The archaeological tests should also attempt to establish the site stratigraphy and determine the presence or absence of buried artifact deposits or features. At least four test 2 m by I m units should be placed on the lot for this purpose. At least two of these should target the GPR anomaly. The other two should be placed on other areas of the lot, or their locations should be chosen based on the results from the testing of the GPR anomaly. Standard archaeological excavation techniques should be used for these excavations. The excavation project should conform to established Georgia standards for archaeological survey and testing projects, as outlined by the Georgia Council of Professional Archaeologists (GCPA 2007). These standards may be found online at http://georgia-archaeology.org/GCPA/standards for survey/. The mysteries unearthed on Tybee Island and discovered by Frank Drudi at 9CH1208 demand explanation. Drudi's hypothesis is that these objects were placed on Tybee Island by Spanish explorers in the 1520s. The objects were placed there as a navigational marker and to establish claim on the property for the Spanish monarch and for the Spanish explorers. His hypothesis cannot be discounted based on the present evidence (Figure 27). This report does not provide the answers as to the age and function of these curious objects, although it serves to validate and verify Mr. Drudi's find and to provide baseline data for future studies in the vicinity. The further identification of these finds is left to the task of Spanish scholars.