POLLEN, STARCH, PHYTOLlTH, PARASITE, AND MACROFLORAL ANALYSES FOR THE 2ND AVENUE ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES, COLUMBUS, GEORGIA

Excavations of historic features located on Blocks 10 and 15 for the 2nd Avenue Columbus,
Georgia, site yielded samples that were examined for pollen, starch, phytoliths, and/or macrofloral
remains to provide information concerning plants processed and used. Parasite analysis of
possible privy fill will lend insight into the health of the historic site occupants. The temporal focus
for this study is approximately 1828 to the 1860s. One specific question to be addressed by these
analyses is whether or not Feature 229 on Lot 191 was a privy or a pit. Other general questions
regard the relationships between early traders and settlers and the Creek Indians, who lived in this
area prior to the establishment of Columbus and who were slowly pushed across the
Chattahoochee River into Alabama during the town's early years. Some samples represent
features used by and middens accumulated by African American slaves and later servants. White
textile mill workers lived in a tenement on Lot 191 beginning in 1852, while city leaders, including
Henry Benning, lived on Lot 194 between approximately 1866 and 1874.