“My Heart Is Still in My Old House”: Archaeological Investigation at Hartstene’s Chinquapin Hill Plantation (38BU1768) Beaufort County, South Carolina

Brockington and Associates, Inc., conducted Phase III archaeological data recovery
excavations at 38BU1768 in July and August 2003. Archaeological site 38BU1768 is located in
the Palmetto Bluff Phase I Development Tract, Beaufort County, South Carolina. These
investigations were conducted under the Treatment Plan approved by South Carolina Department
of Archives and History on October 23, 2002, and in partial agreement of the stipulations of the
Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) among the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), the
South Carolina Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM), and Palmetto
Bluff, LLC.
Site 38BU1768 contains the remains of the Hartstene settlement of Chinquapin Hill
plantation along the May River. Poplin (2002) conducted a systematic survey of 38BU1768
during a Phase I survey of the Palmetto Bluff Phase I Development Tract. The site was
recommended eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) following subsequent
testing of the site by Poplin (2002). A preservation area was defined in the northeastern portion
of the site, which contained a dense concentration of artifacts and cultural deposits considered
potentially useful for answering research questions regarding the past lifeways at Chinquapin
Hill plantation. The current data recovery excavations were focused within the preservation area
of 38BU1768.