Pieces of Chocolate: Site Structure and Function at Chocolate Plantation (9MC96), Sapelo Island, Georgia

The origin of Chocolate Plantation (9MC96) as a historic and as an archaeological entity involves a complex narrative. Located on the west side of Sapelo Island, directly adjacent to the Mud River (Figures 1 and 2), Chocolate is situated in an area that proved to be suitable for both prehistoric and historic habitation, a claim that will become abundantly clear in this report. In fact, although this site possesses numerous substantial tabby ruins, it was first defined in the Georgia State Site File on the basis of prehistoric remains, and its very name may be derived from a protohistoric Native American settlement. Several decades of research on Sapelo Island have demonstrated the presence of extensive human habitations spanning millennia; the present study provides an unambiguous sense of both the multicomponent nature and longevity of cultural components at 9MC96. This report presents basic data on the presence (and absence) of archaeological resources generated from excavating and screening a large number of survey units on a systematic grid constructed over the entire c. 3.7 hectare site. Due primarily to the presence of numerous and extensive antebellum tabby structural foundations, previous archaeological approaches have understandably been concentrated on those remains. Complementing earlier work, the present study provides baseline survey data for the entire site, rather than a structure-oriented subset.作为兼具历史遗存与考古实体双重属性的巧克力种植园（Chocolate Plantation，编号9MC96），其起源承载着一段复杂的叙事脉络。该遗址坐落于萨佩洛岛（Sapelo Island）西侧，紧邻泥河（Mud River）（见图1、图2），所处区域经证实适宜史前与历史时期人类居住，这一论断将在本报告中得到充分佐证。尽管该遗址留存有大量规模可观的贝灰三合土（tabby）遗迹，但它最初被纳入佐治亚州遗址档案时，其判定依据仅为史前遗存，且该遗址的名称或许源自一个原历史时期的美洲原住民定居点。萨佩洛岛数十年的考古研究已证实，这里存在跨度达数千年的大规模人类居住遗迹；本研究则明确揭示了9MC96遗址的多组分文化遗存属性及其存续时长。本报告呈现了在整个约3.7公顷的遗址范围内搭建的系统性网格中，通过发掘与筛分大量调查单元所获取的考古遗存（及无遗存区域）的基础数据。由于该遗址留存有大量规模宏大的美国内战前贝灰三合土建筑基址，此前的考古研究自然将重点聚焦于这类遗迹。本研究作为对既往工作的补充，针对整个遗址开展了基线调查，而非仅针对建筑遗存子集展开研究。