The Reedy Creek Site (44HA22) is a pre-Columbian archaeological site located in Halifax County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, near the town of

South Boston South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformati ...

. The site was first inhabited in the

Late Archaic period In the classification of the archaeological cultures of North America, the Archaic period in North America, taken to last from around 8000 to 1000 BC in the sequence of North American pre-Columbian cultural stages, is a period defined by the ''a ...

from 2000 to 1000 B.C. Later, from 900 to 1400 A.D., a village was located at the site. Archaeological excavations at the site have revealed animal bones and seed and nut remnants, providing evidence as to the diet of the region's native inhabitants.

Excavations In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

published in 1982 revealed burials, pottery, and the remnants of a settlement. The excavation, which only included selected portions of the site, discovered nine graves (one empty), in which skeletons were found in flexed positions; no

grave goods Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a ...

were associated with the burials. The excavators recorded pottery of the Clements series, from 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 ...

, and from the Clarksville series, from the Late Woodland period. During the latter occupation, the site seems to been palisaded, as the excavators discovered lines of postmolds of regular depths and placed at regular intervals. No precise date could be ascertained for the Clarksville village, although similar sites indicate that palisades were first built in the region circa AD 1400. The site was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on April 26, 1978.

References

Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Halifax County, Virginia {{HalifaxCountyVA-NRHP-stub

See also

References