Archaeological Data Recovery at Riverfront Village (38AK933): A Mississippian/Contact Period Occupation

In 2004, Brockington and Associates, Inc., was asked by the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) to carry out Phase II Testing for the Georgia Avenue Extension Project (GAEP) in North Augusta. The GAEP was an undertaking that entailed design and construction of new roadway associated with the City of North Augusta’s planned riverfront revitalization. More than one year earlier, the city teamed with the Leyland Alliance (a private development partnership) to design and build a planned mixed residential and commercial community known as Hammond’s Ferry situated on the second terrace of the Savannah River. To carry out the planned revitalization, the city and private partnership sought federal funding to help clean up some hazardous waste areas, and to build or modify the primary roadways accessing the planned community. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provided matching funds and defined the Area of Potential Effects (APE) for the undertaking (including both the hazardous waste cleanup area and the proposed GAEP roadway design and modifications), which would be subject to federal regulations. The GAEP undertaking was to be overseen and implemented by the SCDOT.
The City of North Augusta anticipated that a Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of the APE would be required and they hired the Chicora Foundation (Chicora) to carry out the investigation. At this time, the SCDOT had not initiated the GAEP undertaking itself. In the meantime, Chicora (Trinkley 2004) identified five archaeological sites (38AK931, 38AK932, 38AK933, 38AK934, and 38AK935) within the approximately 115 acre APE. Brockington was asked to conduct a Phase II investigation at several of these sites, and to make recommendations for NRHP-eligibility and mitigation. The Phase II report (Whitley 2005a) redefined the five site boundaries as nine non-overlapping sites (38AK493/931, 38AK932, 38AK933, 38AK934, 38AK935, 38AK936, 38AK937, 38AK938, and 38AK939) with specific identified historic or prehistoric components, plus NRHP-eligibility and mitigation recommendations for each. Two of the sites (38AK493/931, and 38AK933) were recommended as being NRHP-eligible and mitigation options were presented.
The Riverfront Village Site (38AK933) is an archaeological locality that exceeds 9.5 acres in size and is located on the second terrace of the Savannah River within the city limits of North Augusta, Aiken County, South Carolina. This report presents the findings of a multi-stage investigation initiated with Phase I Survey and Phase II Testing in 2004 and 2005, and Phase III Data Recovery excavations completed in the winter of 2005 and spring of 2006. Analysis of the more than 92,000 artifacts and the spatial information gathered from over 4500 features and other contexts, took place from 2006 through 2011. Phase III Data Recovery for 38AK493/391 (highlighting specifically the Wood Pottery component) was presented in a separate report (Marcoux et al. 2009). The information presented herein fulfills, in part, the stipulations of the Memorandum of Agreement signed in 2005. Those stipulations also entail preservation of a portion of the site for future investigations, compliance with the requirements of tribal consultation, and the development of an educational component.

2004年，布罗金顿联合公司（Brockington and Associates, Inc.）受南卡罗来纳州交通部（South Carolina Department of Transportation, SCDOT）委托，开展北奥古斯塔市佐治亚大道延伸项目（Georgia Avenue Extension Project, GAEP）的第二阶段测试工作。佐治亚大道延伸项目是一项伴随北奥古斯塔市规划中的滨河复兴计划的新建道路设计与施工工程。早在一年多前，该市便与莱兰联盟（Leyland Alliance，一家私人开发合伙企业）合作，设计并建造了一处规划中的商住混合社区——哈蒙德码头（Hammond’s Ferry），该社区坐落于萨凡纳河的第二阶地。为推进这项复兴计划，该市与私人开发合伙企业申请联邦资金，用于清理部分危险废弃物区域，以及修建或改造通往该规划社区的主要道路。美国联邦公路管理局（Federal Highway Administration, FHWA）提供了配套资金，并明确了该工程的潜在影响区域（Area of Potential Effects, APE），涵盖危险废弃物清理区域与拟议的佐治亚大道延伸项目道路设计及改造内容，该区域需遵守联邦法规。佐治亚大道延伸项目由南卡罗来纳州交通部负责监督与实施。
北奥古斯塔市预判需对潜在影响区域开展第一阶段文化资源调查，遂聘请奇科拉基金会（Chicora Foundation, Chicora）开展相关调研工作。彼时，南卡罗来纳州交通部尚未启动佐治亚大道延伸项目本身。在此期间，奇科拉基金会（Trinkley 2004）在这片约115英亩的潜在影响区域内，识别出5处考古遗址（38AK931、38AK932、38AK933、38AK934及38AK935）。布罗金顿受委托对其中数处遗址开展第二阶段调查，并就遗址是否符合国家历史遗迹名录（National Register of Historic Places, NRHP）资格要求及文物保护缓解措施提出建议。第二阶段报告（Whitley 2005a）将原5处遗址的边界重新划定为9处互不重叠的遗址（38AK493/931、38AK932、38AK933、38AK934、38AK935、38AK936、38AK937、38AK938及38AK939），各遗址均明确了历史或史前文化遗存，并针对每处遗址提出了符合国家历史遗迹名录资格的判定及文物保护缓解措施建议。其中2处遗址（38AK493/931与38AK933）被推荐为符合国家历史遗迹名录资格，并给出了文物保护缓解方案。
滨河村落遗址（38AK933）是一处面积超过9.5英亩的考古点，坐落于南卡罗来纳州艾肯县北奥古斯塔市境内的萨凡纳河第二阶地上。本报告呈现了2004年至2005年间开展的多阶段调查成果，包括第一阶段调查与第二阶段测试，以及2005年冬季至2006年春季完成的第三阶段数据恢复发掘工作。研究团队于2006年至2011年间，对超过9.2万件出土遗物以及从4500余处遗迹与其他遗存中获取的空间信息进行了分析。针对38AK493/391（重点呈现了木质陶器遗存）的第三阶段数据恢复发掘成果已在另一篇报告（Marcoux et al. 2009）中发表。本文所呈现的信息，部分满足了2005年签署的《合作备忘录》中的条款要求。该条款还包括为未来调查保留部分遗址、落实部落咨询相关要求，以及开发教育推广模块。