G.S. Lewis-East

early and late archaic occupations along the Savannah River, Aiken County, South Carolina

Edición de la obra G.S. Lewis-East

G.S. Lewis-East is the name given to the eastern aspect of site 38AK228 on the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken and Barnwell counties, South Carolina. The redredging of water intake canals on the SRS prompted data-recovery operations at G.S. Lewis East in 1984. Block excavations totaling 376 m² resulted in the recovery of dense assemblages of Early and Late Archaic artifacts in roughly 60 cm of stratified alluvial sands. The Early Archaic component consists of a nearly pure Kirk Corner-Notched assemblage dominated by hafted bifaces, biface performs, and the debris of flaked-stone tool production. Formal and expedient unifaces, adzes, flake cores, microliths, fire-cracked rock, and other tool classes attest to a variety of activities at Lewis-East. Although poor organic preservation precluded the recognition of architectural features, the density and diversity of inorganic remains suggest the site was utilized for long-term and/or repeated habitation during Kirk times (ca. 9000 rcybp). The subsequent Late Archaic component consists of an array of stemmed hafted bifaces along with the by-products of biface production, soapstone cooking stones, fire-cracked rock, and polished stone objects. Coupled with the complete absence of Late Archaic pottery, crossdating of the stemmed hafted bifaces from Lewis-East with other sites in the region suggests an occupation span of ca. 5500-4200 rcybp. Like the Kirk component, the Late Archaic component generally lacks organic remains, but clusters in the distribution of inorganic remains enable some inferences to be made about the spatial arrangement of activities and possible habitation structures in the block. Both the Early and Late Archaic occupations resulted in clustered distributions of stone artifacts indicative of possible circular or arcuate arrangements of domestic structures. Both components provide key data on the organization of Archaic settlement in the middle Savannah region and beyond.