The Mandeville site (
9CY1) is an
archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...
in
Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman:
* Clay County, Alabama
* Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County)
* Clay County, Flor ...
in southwest Georgia in the United States. The site now lies under the
Walter F. George Reservoir, which is a part of the
Chattahoochee River
The Chattahoochee River forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida - Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chatta ...
basin.
History
The first occupations of the site were a village settlement during the
Deptford period. Occupation of the site and the construction of two mounds continue into the
Middle Woodland period
In the classification of archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BCE to European contact in the eastern part of North America, with some archaeolog ...
. Ceramic evidence also dates occupation to the Early
Swift Creek culture
The Swift Creek culture was a Middle Woodland period archaeological culture in the Southeastern Woodlands of North America, dating to around 100-800 CE. It occupied the areas now part of Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee. In ...
. The final layer of Mound A indicates it was converted to a
platform mound
Platform may refer to:
Technology
* Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run
* Platform game, a genre of video games
* Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models
* Weapons platform, a system or ...
typical of the
Mississippian period.
Excavations
The site was first visited by
Clarence B. Moore at the turn of the century. He tested the site but did not conduct any excavations due to negative results.
The site was visited by a field party from the
University of Georgia
, mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things."
, establ ...
in 1950. Some minor surface excavations were conducted.
Thorough excavations on the site were conducted during 1959-1960 by
Arthur Kelly, James H. Kellar and Edward V. McMichael before construction of the dam. The site is no longer accessible for excavation.
Site description
The site contains two mounds, a flat top mound (Mound A), and one large dome shaped burial mound (Mound B). Mound A is about by and about in height. Mound B is about by . There is also a village situated between the two mounds approximately in area.
A pre-mound village occupation, dated to the Deptford period exists beneath Mound A. Evidence for small circular houses and pits were found dated to this time.
The first layers of Mound construction are attributed to the Late Deptford Period, with subsequent cultures building upon the original. The site was abandoned during the Woodland Period and re-inhabited about 500 years later during the Mississippian Period.
Artifacts
The most significant artifacts at the Mandeville site consist of ceramics, including vessels and potsherds. Bone tools and projectile points were also found, along with flake knives. Fragments from a ceramic figurine were found, including the head and two torso fragments.
See also
*
List of Mississippian sites
This is a list of Mississippian sites. The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, inland-Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, ...
*
Dyar site
The Dyar site ( 9GE5) is an archaeological site in Greene County, Georgia, in the north central Piedmont physiographical region. The site covers an area of 2.5 hectares. It was inhabited almost continuously from 1100 to 1600 by a local variation of ...
*
Roods Landing site
References
*
External links
Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America : An Encyclopedia
{{Pre-Columbian North America
South Appalachian Mississippian culture
Archaeological sites in Georgia (U.S. state)