By REGINA FLANNERY

SMITHSONIAN

INSTITUTION BureauofAmerican Ethnology

Bulletin133

AnthropologicalPapers,No. 21

Some Notes on

a

Few

Sites inBeaufort

County, South

Carolina By

REGINA FLANNERY

TheCatholicUniversity ofAmerica

143

ILLUSTRATIONS TEXT FIGURES

PAGE

34.

Map

oftheBeaufortregion 148

35. TheChesterFieldsite 149

145

SOME NOTES ON A FEW SITES IN BEAUFORT COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA

By Regina Flannery

TheCatholic University ofAmerica

This is a

summary

account of some archeological

work

done on PortRoyalandthe seaislandsnear Beaufort, S.

C,

^byDr.

Warren

K. Moorehead, February 8 to

March

12,1933. AssistingDr. Moore- head were especially

Woldemar

H. Ritter, an architect of Boston, and

Hughes

H. Lake, of Port Royal Island. Mr. Ritter did thesurveying,supervised theexcavations,andcarefullycompiledthe dailyfield report. Mr.Lake, devotinghiswhole timeto the under- taking, was in charge of the

workmen

and assisted in the digging operations. Both Dr. Moorehead and Mr. Ritter have since died.

The

present writer participated in the

work

as a student assistant.

She is not in a position to

draw

up a complete technical report;

^

shedoes, however, wish to put onrecord something at least of the culture revealedby the excavationsin this little-studiedregion (fig.

34)^.2

The

interest of Dr. Moorehead in the archeology of Port Royal Island

had

been awakened by Mr. Ritter, who, together with Mr.

Lake,

had

done some exploratory digging in several sites during 1931 and 1932.

The

excavation of a burial

mound

on St. Helena Island prior to 1898 by

Moore

(1899)

had

been the only other archeological

work

doneintheimmediateregion.

During some20 years' residenceon his plantation, Mr.

Lake had

accumulated acollection of surface finds from Port Royal Island.

These comprise some 30 or 40 chipped-stone objects, including 1 fineblackflintpoint 7 inchesin length, 1 celt, a few decoratedbone

1Thedetailedfieldreportcontainingallnotes,maps,anddrawingsisavailable for con- sultation at theDepartmentofAnthropology,Catholic University. Afew specimens from theChesterFieldsiteare also here. Samplingsof potteryweresent to theCeramicReposi- tory for the Eastern UnitedStates atthe UniversityMuseums,AnnArbor,for analysis.

Thebulkofthepottery,other artifacts,andaUskeletalmaterialweresent to theCharleston Museum. Afewofthe choicerspecimens wereretained inthe smalllocalmuseumat the Library,Beaufort,S.C.

»Thewriter wishestoacknowledge her indebtednessto Dr.John R.SwantonandDr.

JamesB. Griffin for theirvaluablesuggestions,andtoMissGraceFowlerforher kindness indrawingtheaccompanying map.

147

148 BUREAU

OF

AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

[Bull. 133 awls, and quantities of potsherds. There is also one small pottery figurine in the shape of an animal head.

The

stone and bone ma-

terial is rather scarce as compared with the

number

of sherds.

The Lake

Plantation occupies a considerable portion of the south- ern tip of the southwestern extension of Port Royal Island, and hadbeena strategiccenter forIndianlife,with direct access todeep water aswell as tonumerous springs. In additiontothe extensive

FiGinsE^34.

—

^{MapoftheBeaufortregion.}

1,The LakePlantation. 2, CatIsland. 3,TheChesterFieldsite, site. 5,Theburialmound.

4, TheJones Island

shellheaps along the shores, theentire cultivated area of 20 or 30 acresnorth of theLake houseisstrewnwithbrokenoysterand conch

shells, etc. Indian occupation of thelocality indicated onthe

map drawn

byJacques

Le

Moyne,1564, isborneout bythearcheological evidence,although unfortunately

we

areunableto correlatethearche- ological and ethnological sourcematerials.^

8Dr. Mooreliead concluded thatthenumerousshellheapson theLakePlantationrepre- sentedtemporarycampsites towhichtheIndians returnedfrom timetotime rather than permanenthabitations. JuanRogel,S. J.,whoarrived atSt.Helena Island1569,wrote that theIndianslivedscattered for 9monthsofthe year,"eachoneto hisownplace,and cametogether onlyat certain feasts,which theyheld every2months,and thiswasnot alwaysinoneplace,butatone timehereandanother timeinanotherplace, etc." (See Swanton,1922,p.57). Thereisno evidencetodate,however,which wouldindicatewhether

Anthrop.Pap.no.21]

BEAUFORT

CO.

ARCHEOLOGY FLANNERY

149

More

than 200test pits were sunkat various points onthe

Lake

Plantation.

A

great

many

oyster, periwinkle,,and clamshells^* were found as well asa

number

of bones of deerand otheranimals,^ but, withtheexception of pottery, scarcely any artifacts. Inexcavating the larger test pits it wasnoted that the earth had been disturbed inplaces to a depth of6 feet.

But

therewerenotrueashpits,and no suggestion of a hearth orfireplace,except atone spot wherethe

House

A

s^^'^

FiGtrnE 35.—The Chester Field site.

claywasratherhardand burned to a depthof3 feetbelowthesur- face. Griffin(whose paperappearsin this Bulletin,pp. 155-168) has analyzed the potteryfrom the

Lake

Plantation andhas discussed it

m

^its wider distributions.

Ware

similar tothe types found there, with the exception of the few sherds of Stalling's Island culture ornottheIndiansreferred tousedartifacts oftlietype recovered from^tlieshell heaps.

Griffininformsmethattheavailablematerialgivesusno reasontoexpect Europeantrade goods.

*Arandomsamplingof shellsfrom oneofthe larger pitswassent to Dr.FrankC.Baker, MuseumofNaturalHistory,UniversityofIllinois,whokindlyreported as follows:"Marine species

—

^thecommonoyster,OstreavirginicaGmelin,NovaScotiasouthto Florida;along narrowclam withthinshell, Tangelus gibhusSpengler,range from CapeCodto Trinidad.

WestIndies;asmallquahogorroundclam,Venus mortoni Conrad, rangeVirginiasouth toFloridaKeys;asaltwatermussel,withcoarse radiating lines atoneend,Modiolusde- missuspllcatulus (Lam.),rangeNovaScotiasouthtoGeorgia; aperiwinkle or snailwith very thickshell,Littorina irrorata Say,rangeRhodeIslandsouthtoJamaica. Landsnails

—

ft2-inch long,elongate ovateshell,Euglandina rosea(Ferussac),found fromSouth Carolina toFloridaand Texas;a smalllandsnail,

%

inchindiameter, shell thin, theaperturewith 2 teeth or ridgesonthe base,Oastrodontagularis (Say),range S.CarolinawesttoTen- nessee,a rare shell inSouth Carolinaat least."

"Asamplingofbonesfromthesamepitwassent to Dr.GloverM.Allen, Curator,Museum

ofComparative ZoologyatHarvard,whowroteas follows:"Ihaveexaminedthe bones,and findmostofthemtobe Virginia deer,someofthe antler-bases ofmaximumsize,butIcan matchthemwith materialhere. Thereisone raccoonjaw,anda fragmentofalargeradius as large asthatof amedium-sizedcowand apparentlyindistinguishablefrom domestic cow, butcutsquareacrossnearthe end. There were no otherspecies."

150 BUREAU

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[Bull.133 type, wererecoveredbyexcavation of shellheapsatCat Island and elsewherefromthesurface asindicated onthe map. Unfortunately, none of this material was sent to the Ceramic Repository and no

more

definite statement can be

made

regardingit.

On

the samesouthwestern extension of PortEoyal Island, buton the west sidethereof, and on ground

owned

by Chester Field, is a horseshoe-shaped

mound,

theends ofwhich meetthesteepovergrown bank of

Broad

River. (See fig. 35.)

A

marsh at the foot of the bank extends halfamile orso into theriver,butis flooded at high

tide.

Whether

or notthe

mound was

atonetimecircular is impos- sible for the present writerto say. Nothing in thelay of the land suggestedthispossibility toDr.Moorehead atthetime.

At

present, however, the level space enclosed by the

mound

measures about 110 feetat itswidest pointand 55 feetfromtheriverbank tothe center inner periphery of the mound. There is a good spring about 130 feet to thesouth.

Scattered in the centralportion of the levelarea enclosedby the

mound,

seven test holes disclosed the ground disturbed to a depth of from 12 to 30 inches, but otherwise sterile.

One

test hole,

dug

byMl".Ritterin 1932, in thetruecenterofthisenclosed areashowed afire pit,24 inchesbelowthesurfaceand filledwithdebris. Inthe northeast section of the level area, another test hole, 10 feet by 10 feet,showed sanddisturbedto adepth varyingfrom 18 to30 inches, and in the southeast corner of thetest hole acompact shell deposit 12 inches thick and 16 inches below the surface.

The

artifacts re- covered from this test hole comprise some 27 potsherds, a worked

antler^ prong, several chipped flints and flakes, one-half of a round pitted stone, and some animal bones.

The

test holeon the opposite sideof thelevelspace enclosedbythe

mound

showednearthesurface a6-inch layer ofshells, below which wasdisturbed sandto a depth of 30inches.

Only

6 or8sherdsandafew animal bonesAvererecov- ered therefrom.

The mound

itself is about 25 feet wide andvaries inheight

from

3 feet above the level of the enclosed space on the south side,to 5 feetonthenorthside,orfrom 14 feet 8 inchesto 16 feet2 inches above the high-water

mark

on the bank.

As

Mr. Ritter and Mr.

Lake

hadalready excavated thecentralportion ofthe

mound

tosome extent, a trench 10 feet wide was started where the north side of the

mound

meets the riverbank and was run 25 feet east through themiddle of the mound.

The mound

is artificial, being composed largelyof oyster and other shells, interspersed occasionally with ir- regular layers of dark earth several inches thick and containing a fewshellsandsomedebris. Pockets of periwinkleshells,measuring roughlyabout 2 gallons each, occur ratherfrequently. Undisturbed

Anthrop.Pap.no.21]

BEAUFORT

CO.

ARCHEOLOGY FLANNERY

151 groundisreached onanaverageat30inches belowthe presentlevel of the enclosed area, which corresponds with the undisturbed base of the enclosed areaitself.

Kefuse occurred with equal frequency

among

the shells and in the irregular layers of earth.

More

than 1,000 potsherds were re- covered from the

midden when

^{the trench}

had

been extended 20 feet to the east. There were a large

number

of animal bones and pieces ofantler, butrelatively little stone

—

^only 8 pieces of worked

flint, several chips, 3 round rocks, and one pitted stone.

Worked

bone was represented byfour carved pointed objects^{^} and onebone scraperbrokeninto three pieces. There were alsoone antlerprong,

marked

withanincised line,and oneantler point.

The

trench

dug

by Mr. Ritterand Mr.

Lake

in thecentralportion of the

mound

was then enlarged.

The

same type of

midden

com- position as described above

was

noted. Parts of four

more

carved boneobjects, alargeflintnodule from whichpieceshadbeenflaked, and severalworked antler prongswere addedto the collection.

Of

the two testholes toward the south endofthemound, one revealed two potsherdswith drilled holes, and theother,sunk at the highest point at the south side of the

mound,

yielded about 20 sherds and about 40 small pieces of animal.bones.

The

shells were

much

de- cayed, and

more

dirt and sand were mixedtherewith than

was

the case at thenorthendof themound.

The

Chester Field site seems to indicate a permanent

camp

or village, the level space enclosed by the

mound

evidently having been reserved for the dwellings.

The

numerous animal bones sug- gest thatmeatwas animportant element in the diet of this people, although seafood was probably the staple. There was no evidence ofmaize.'^

The

importanceofthesite lies especially inthefactthatitrepre- sentsanotherlocalityoftheStalling'sIslandculture.

The

complexis

presentattheChesterFieldsite initsessentials,thoughsomeofthe items ascribed to the complex by Claflin (1931) are lacking.

The

pottery of the sitehas been analyzedbyGriffin (p. 159),

who

states thatitidentifiesthesiteasacomponentof the samecultural division as the Stalling's Island complex.

Found

in association with this type of pottery aredecorated bone-pointedobjects ofthe samegen- eraltypesasthosedescribedbyClaflin.

The

designsonthese objects are individual,notwo ofours are identical in carving, nor presum-

«Decoratedboneobjectsofthesametype areconsidered byClaflin tobe ornamentalpins.

See Claflin (1931, pp. 23-24,andpi.38,t,d,g).

''Twocachesofburned corncobswere foundin Stalling'sIsland site (seeClaflin,1931, pp.

12-13) but notassigned definitely to the true Stalling'sIslandculture. Griffininformsme byletterthatthereiseveryreasonto believe thatmaizewasnotgrownintheSoutheastat the Stalling's Island period.

405260—43 11

152

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[Bull. 133 ably are thosefrom Stalling'sIsland.

The

stone material from the Chester Field site is not so varied as that from Stalling's Island, butsofar asitgoesitagrees therewith. InneithertheChester Field nor Stalling's Island sites was there any evidence of pipes of any

sort,butworkedand

unworked

antlerischaracteristicofboth.

The

net sinkers, so numerous at the Georgia site, arelacking, so far as

we

know, fromthe Chester Fieldmidden.

The

Stalling'sIsland pottery typewasyieldedbyone other

mound

investigatedbyDr.

Moorehead

andhis assistantsin 1933. Thisshell

mound,

belonging to C. C. Jones, lies in themarshland, across the BeaufortRiver fromParisIsland.

The mound

coversabout halfof thelandleftfree athightide,andrunsparallel totheriver for about 350 feet.

The

deposit ismassed atthe southern end,being exposed 30 inches above groundleveland extendingto a depth of 30 inches belowlevelatthehighpoint,whichisonthe westernside.

The

de- posit gradually pales off toward the other side of the

mound

and ratherabruptlytowardthelandside,wherethedepositisonly afew inches thick anddoes not extend appreciably below thelevel of the ground. Severaltest pitswere sunk and one small trench wasdug.

The mound

iscomposedofcompactshells,lackingthe layersof earth as intermixed in the Chester Field midden.

The

ware is the same asthe Stalling'sIsland type.

One

decoratedboneobjectandabone comb, together with some food bones and pieces of antler, were recovered.

Anothersite,thelast onetobeinvestigated,proved tobe a burial mound, similar to that excavated by

Moore

on St. Helena Island.

This

mound

isatthe

Kempfer

placeonLadiesIsland,about 565 feet from theBeaufortEiver,onlevelsandy ground about 15 feetabove the river which runs close to the steep bluff forming the banlc.

Thereare a spring and a small water course a short distancenorth of the

mound,

but nosigns of Indian occupationin the immediate vicinity.

The

gently sloping

mound

is circular inshape, thediam- eter being about TO feet, and the highest point 41 inches above the present surrounding level.

The

ground had never been cultivated, andfourlarge live-oak trees aregrowing on themound.

A

syst:)matic excavation was

made

of the central portion of the

mound

to include anarea15 feet by 15feet, and 12test holeswere sunkatvarious otherpoints.

The mound

isartificialand composed of sandy soil.

At

alevel 48 inches below the grade at the highest part of the

mound,

or 7 inchesbelow the present surroundinglevel, is a stratum of verydark earth, heavily coloredby charcoal. This stratumis4inchesthickin thecentral area of the

mound

and grad- ually thins outuntil about 10 feet from the periphery on the east- west axisitbecomesveryfaint. Directlvinthecenter ofthe

mound.

Antheop.Pap.no.21]

BEAUFORT

CO.

ARCHEOLOGY FLANNERY

153 andrestingonthischarcoalbed,were massed

human

bones forming a compact layer over an area 12 feet by 6 feet on the north-south axis. Disposition of the skeletal remains suggests that the bones were massed onthe charcoal layerwithnoregardfororder orcom- pleteness. Skulls, jawbones, and long bones predominated, repre- sentingat least 30 or probably 40 individuals. Evidence ofcrema- tion insituon topof this layerof bones

was

notedinseveninstances.

The

remains werein a bad state of preservation but were removed as carefully as possible to the Charleston

Museum

where they await further study. Three feet to the west of the northern end of the massed bones and just below the charcoal stratum wasevidence of another cremation. Sixfeetwest of the southernendof themassed bones, and just below the charcoal stratum, was a basin or depres- sionabout 24inchesdeepand18inchesindiameter, apparently lined with claywhich

had

beenslightlyburned. Half ofthis depression wasfilledwithcharcoaland ashes.

Therewas notraceofanyartifactswiththeexceptionofoneround sandstonewithtwohollows,foundinthe charcoalstratum,underthe layerofmassed bones, ataboutthe center of the mound.

The

fact that, as Claflin notes (1931,p. 44),^itwasnot a

common

^practice-of the Stailing's Island people to place mortuary offerings with their dead

may

suggest the possibility that the

mound

on Ladies Island

may

havebeen

made

by people of Stailing'sIslandculture.

On

the other hand Claflin (1931, p. 43) ascribes a

number

of flexed burials totheStailing'sIsland people and, furthermore, concludes that^itwas customaryforthemtoburytheirdeadbeneaththe floors of their dwell- ings. Investigation ofthe Chester Field village siteshowed no evi- dence of such a practice. Itwould seemthen thatnoconclusion can atpresent be reached regarding the culture typeto which belonged thepeoplewhose burial

mound

on Ladies Island

was

investigated.

LITERATURE CITED

Claflin,Willl&mH., Jr.

1931. The Stailing's Island Mound, Columbia County, Ga. Pap, Peabody Mus. Amer.Archaeol.andEthnol.,vol. 14,No.1.

Geiffin,JamesB.

1942. Ananalysisand interpretation of theceramic remainsfrom twosites near Beaufort, South Carolina. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 133, Anthrop. Pap. No.22.

Moore,ClaeenceB.

1899. Certain aboriginal mounds of the coast of South Carolina. Journ.

Acad.Nat.Sci.Philadelphia,vol. 11, pt.2,art.3.

SwANTON,JohnR.

1922. Earlyhistory oftheCreekIndians. Bur.Amer. Ethnol. Bull.73.