Data Recovery at the 38BU1302 Shell Midden, Belfair Plantation Tract, Beaufort County, South Carolina

Site 38BU1302 is a prehistoric shell midden located in the northwest portion of the Belfair Plantation Tract, Beaufort County, South Carolina, on a terrace adjacent to the marshes of the Colleton River. This site was discovered and evaluated during an archaeological survey of the Pecan Grove tract (Adams et al. 1992). Adams et al. (1992) recommended the site as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places [NRHP]; this recommendation received concurrence from the State Historic Preservation Officer.
This NRHP eligible site was threatened by development; the site has been impacted by shore erosion, construction of the nearby spillway, and modem agricultural practices. Brockington and Associates, Inc. conducted data recovery at the site in 1995. Shovel probing and surface examination along the marsh edge encountered dense midden not recorded during the survey by Adams et al. (1992). This area of midden extends the site an additional 80 meters east and north along the marsh edge. One hundred twenty square meters of the site were excavated and four one by one meter samples of the shell midden were examined.
The ceramic assemblage indicates repeated, probably short-term, occupation from the Late Archaic through the Mississippian Periods. Short term, seasonal use of the site is inferred from the abundance of shell, low density and diversity of artifacts, and shortage of prehistoric features. The results of this data recovery investigation provide sufficient mitigation to the adverse effects to 38BU1302. This document satisfies the requirements of the SHPO approved MOA and no further archaeological search or investigation is required.