Beaverdam Creek Archaeological Site
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The Beaverdam Creek Archaeological Site, ( 9 EB 85), 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 ...
located on a floodplain of Beaverdam Creek in Elbert County, Georgia approximately 0.8 km from the creek's confluence with the
Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the norther ...
, and is currently inundated by the
Richard B. Russell Lake Richard B. Russell Lake (known to locals as simply "Lake Russell") is a reservoir created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by construction of Richard B. Russell Dam on the Savannah River bordering Elbert County, Georgia and Abbeville County, ...
. The site consisted of a platform mound and an associated village site. Beaverdam Creek is thought to have been the center of a
Mississippian culture The Mississippian culture was a Native Americans in the United States, Native American civilization that flourished in what is now the Midwestern United States, Midwestern, Eastern United States, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from appr ...
simple chiefdom with a small resident population. The primary period of mound construction and village occupation dated to the regional Savannah period of the Middle Mississippian period, specifically 1200–1300 CE, with the site's abandonment occurring sometime after 1300. The mound was high, and its base measured by . The village boundaries were delineated as 15,000 square meters.


Excavation

*1969: The site was first observed professionally by Brooks Hutto, who reported that at least two decades of sustained looting by pot-hunters had damaged the mound and village site considerably. *1971: Joseph R. Caldwell of 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 ...
conducted an eight-week field-school at the site, but a series of unpredictable and unfortunate events, including dismal weather, pot-hunting raids by looters, and the theft of equipment resulted in a disappointing excavation season. *1973: Chung Ho Lee, following the death of Joseph R. Caldwell, wrote a report summarizing the 1971 excavations. Lee concluded that the mound was a multi-stage platform mound constructed during the Savannah period, and that ceremonial grave goods (including a copper-covered celt) were included in the mound. *1977: The Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology of the University of South Carolina conducted survey and testing that indicated a village
midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...
was present and extended some from the mound. *1979: At the behest of the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...
, the Thunderbird Research Corporation undertook to more accurately delineate the village boundaries through shovel tests, augering and limited excavation. *1980: Excavations by Gardner and Rappleye revealed early Lamar period (1375–1475 CE) material in the midden. They proposed this as the primary use period for the site. Because this conflicted with Caldwell's conclusions, they recommended to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the mound be completely excavated, the village midden be extensively tested, and that the floodplain to the north and southeast be thoroughly surveyed. *1980-1981: With funds provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the University of Georgia Research Foundation, and the Archaeological Services Branch of the National Park Service began excavations as mitigation under Section 106 of the
National Historic Preservation Act The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA; Public Law 89-665; 54 U.S.C. 300101 ''et seq.'') is legislation intended to preserve historic and archaeological sites in the United States of America. The act created the National Register of Historic ...
for the construction of the Richard B. Russell Dam and Reservoir. These excavations were led by David J. Hally and James C. Rudolph, and generated copious amounts of information concerning mound construction stages, subsistence, and social structure, as well as evidence for cooking, tool making, trash disposal, and one possible village structure.


Site description

The mound construction stages show a growing complexity in social structure and hierarchy at the site. Beginning as a midden 15–20 cm thick, the mound developed through a succession of two
earthlodge An earth lodge is a semi-subterranean building covered partially or completely with earth, best known from the Native American cultures of the Great Plains and Eastern Woodlands. Most earth lodges are circular in construction with a dome-like ...
structures, a possible flooding event, and four subsequent mound building stages. The earthlodges were superimposed square structures surrounded by significantly high earthen embankments. The interment of a high-status individual, known as Burial 2, occurred prior to the construction of the second earthlodge and after the partial dismantling of the first. These structures were covered by a layer of water-lain sand that is interpreted as a possible flooding event. Following this, four separate platform-mound building events were recorded by Hally and Rudolph. The mounds were topped by free-standing structures of possible political/ceremonial importance. During Mound Stage 2 a wide ramp was added; it appeared to have steps. There were 46 burials (16 adult females, 15 adult males, 13 children and 3 of indeterminate sex) excavated by Hally and Rudolph that exhibit marked differentiation of social status. Burial 2 was replete with grave goods. The inclusion of children into mound mortuary has been interpreted as evidence for ascribed status, and is considered a marker of increased hierarchical differentiation. Burial 2 grave goods included more than 7,000 mussel shell beads and a copper headpiece and
ear spool A plug (sometimes earplug or earspool), in the context of body modification, is a short, cylindrical piece of jewelry commonly worn in larger-gauge body piercings. Modern western plugs are also called flesh tunnels. Because of their size—which ...
s. The well-preserved food remains excavated from village midden provides for a detailing of a diversified and generalized subsistence strategy rather that a more focal strategy employed by the inhabitants. The remains included resources from the upland and bottomland forest, river shoals, and agricultural practices on the fertile floodplain, and included
maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
, squash, sumpweed, sunflower, maypops, grapes, persimmons, acorns, hickory nuts, grass seeds and greens as floral resources, as well, as faunal resources such as deer, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, beaver, turkey and riverine foods including turtle, catfish, gar, sucker and bass. The excavations conducted at Beaverdam Creek have helped to clarify two important categories of study in Mississippian-period chiefdoms; namely, how a chiefdom is quantified and what subsistence strategies were employed by a chiefdom once it has been quantified. Researchers argue that the exchange of earthlodges for structures atop platform mounds, coupled with Burial 2 and the inclusion of children, demonstrate the emergence of the site as a stratified chiefdom. The floral and faunal evidence indicate a highly diversified subsistence strategy.


Inundation

The Richard B. Russell Dam constructed on the Savannah River inundated site 9EB85 as the filling of the Richard B. Russell Reservoir began in October 1983.


See also

* List of Mississippian sites


References


External links


Photos of excavations at site
{{National Register of Historic Places South Appalachian Mississippian culture Archaeological sites in Georgia (U.S. state) Geography of Elbert County, Georgia