"Archaeological Testing at the Old House Site

The Old House Site is located on the western margin of little St. Simons Island in Glynn County, Georgia (Figure 1 ). The remains of a poured tabby, tabby brick, and clay-lined chimney (Plate 1) stand along the marsh edge bordering Old House Creek, a tidal creek emptying into the Hampton River to the south. Initial testing on the site began in 1991 by Morgan R. Crook, Jr. and students from Georgia State University {Figure 2, Area "A'). A trench oriented east/west was excavated to the south of the chimney to determine the width of the structure and to recover any cultural materials that could identify construction materials and temporal associations of the structure associated with the chimney. A topographic map of the site (Figure 2} was made to locate any subtle rises or depressions that might indicate other cultural remains in the area. Analysis of historic ceramics collected from the testing and surface collections from the site in 1991 was completed by Nicholas Honerkamp of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. See Appendix 8 for a complete list of diagnostic ceramics cataloged in 1991. Additional testing was done in the spring of 1994 under the supervision of Morgan R. Crook, Jr. with students from West Georgia College. One test trench, Area "8" (Figure 2), was placed perpendicular to the exposed chimney to locate the southern wall of the structure, and to assign temporal associations to the circular shell midden located on the southern section of the site. Additional test pits were placed on a concentration of tabby and brick debris located to the southeast of the standing architecture (Figure 2, Area "C'). Area "D" was placed near the southern edge of the site, surrounding a small, regular depression. Support for archaeological testing at the Old House Site has been partially provided by student labor in association with archaeological field methods classes through Georgia State University in 1991, and West Georgia College in 1994. Additional funding for archaeological and archival research (Harris, 1994) was provided by the Georgia Archaeological Survey Fund and contributions made to the West Georgia College Foundation which is supported by private donations. The GASF funds projects that focus on the training of students in archaeological research and related fields of study.