Discovery
of an Early Prehistoric Site in the Cooper River
By Doug Boehme
I discovered the prehistoric underwater
site, known as 38BK1766, in the Cooper River, Berkeley County, in the summer of
1994 while sport diving. The site consisted of a rich scatter of a wide variety
of Native American tools found in a 200 to 300 foot stretch of the river. The
tools range in age from Paleo to Woodland, and include a more diverse assemblage
than just projectile points normally discovered in the local rivers. The site
appears not to have been heavily collected by divers in the past and represents
an excellent opportunity to document an interesting site.
I quickly realized that this might be a
significant discovery and contacted Lynn Harris, head of the Sport Diver
Archaeology Management Program of the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology
and Anthropology. After visiting the site, Lynn concluded that the distribution
pattern was consistent with deposition patterns of the river, rather than the
material being in situ. She encouraged me to maintain careful records on the
site and enter it into the state’s site file.
I subsequently made numerous visits to the
site over the next two years, collecting under the provisions of the South
Carolina Underwater Antiquities Act of 1991, cataloging materials recovered, and
finally submitting a site file report. The help of professionals such as Dr. Al
Goodyear, Tommy Charles, and Dr. Ken Sassaman was invaluable in identifying and
cataloging these artifacts.
No in situ material was determined to be
present. No stratigraphic information was available, which limits the scope of
this investigation primarily to artifact analysis. Dozens of hours of diving on
the site confirmed the intitial conclusion that artifacts had been redeposited
from their original position by the action of the river. Almost all artifacts
were found in gravel deposited by the river in narrow strips running across the
river channel, providing information about fluvial and depositional processes.
I discovered one exception to this in a
small, fairly dense, scatter of artifacts near the bank. This scatter contained
a number of heavier objects such as banner stones, baked clay objects, and a
grooved axe. This material may point to an in situ site on the bank. Until this
area can be investigated, the bulk of information about this site must be
gleaned from analysis of the raw material and typology of the artifacts
discovered.
The time frame of occupation is a relatively
easy question to answer. The projectile points recovered can be rather
accurately dated by their shape and manufacture. Occupation seems to run from
Paleo to Woodland. Middle Archaic seems to contain the heaviest concentration.
There were no Mississippian tools found. My personal diving experience and
communication with other divers indicates that Mississippian stone tools are
somewhat uncommon in the Cooper River. This contrasts with the Mattassee Lake
project which took place twenty to twenty-five miles from this site. A number of
triangular Mississippian points were recovered during the project. Paleo was the
most lightly represented era with only one specimen; however, considering that
only four hundred Clovis points have been registered in the state, this is a
significant representation.
The raw materials used to make these tools
have the potential to provide information about trading patterns of the
inhabitants. The materials include:
Orthoquartzite--This is a rather coarse
material resembling sandstone. The grade and workability of this stone vary
greatly, but in general it is difficult to work and often erodes badly once in
the ground or river. The main attraction of this material is that it can be
obtained within a twenty to fifty mile radius. That fact probably accounts for
it being the most common raw material on site.
Coastal Plain Chert--This is a flint-like
material which varies in color from tan to gray to white to orange. The majority
of chert found was an orange Allendale Chert from in and around Allendale
County, South Carolina. This is a high-quality, attractive, and easily worked
material which was likely in demand given the distance it had to be imported.
Quartz--This is a white, glassy-looking
rock which comes from upstate South Carolina. It is difficult to work and most
artifacts are rather small.
Mingo Chert--This rock is found in various
locations along the South Carolina coast. It ranges in color from very
translucent to rather dark and contains contrasting colored inclusions.
Rhyolite--This material is a farily
homogeneous gray, often exhibiting darker bands running through it. This rock is
found predominantly in North Carolina.
Comparison with the Mattasee Lake project
shows that this site has less orthoquartzite, rhyolite, and white chert, while
having more Allendale Chert. Only those tools which could be securely typed
within their time frame were used. It should also be noted that a significant
number of orthoquartzite flakes, as well as a small mumber of Allendale Chert
flakes, were found on the site.
Artifacts recovered from the site include a
Clovis projectile point approximately 10,000 to 11,500 years old. A paleo Clovis
is a small, thin lancelote point made from orthoquartzite. The fluting on both
sides, and grinding of the base and lateral sides near the base (presumably to
prevent the sharp edge from cutting the binding material) is characteristic of
Paleo technology (figure 1).
Dalton points have many similarities to
Clovis, lacking fluting and lateral grinding. Note the serrated edges of the
specimen in figure 2. Daltons are Late Paleo from 9,500 to 10,000 years ago. The
flake knife or prismatic blade is of the same time frame as Dalton, although
they have been found in both Paleo and Early Archaic assemblages. This blade was
made from a single flakeoff a prepared core (figure 3).
A Kirk Blade is
typical of Early Archaic tools. It is a well made stemmed blade exhibiting basal
grinding. Many examples found on site have been resharpened unifacially,
resulting in a bevelled appearance to the blade edge. This is characteristic of
Early Archaic. The time frame for Early Archaic is 8,000 to 9,000 years ago.
The Middle Archaic assemblage shows more diversity
in form. The Morrow Mountain points are thick blades with a heavy ridge down the
middle on one side. They have a weak, rounded stem.
The Guilford is a large, heavy, rather
crudely made lancelote blade. A smaller version with a concave base and small
“ears” on the base (termed Santee Lancelote by Tommy Charles) were a common
point type for this site. Time frame for Middle Archaic is 5,000 to 8,000 years
ago.
The Late
Archaic was associated with a reversion to stemmed points such as the Savannah
River and Broad River points. These are robust, often crudely, made blades with
a straight stem and broad blades. They range from 3,000 to 5,000 years old, and
a Late Archaic-Early Woodland blade with many similarities to the Savannah
River, with a narrower blade and a less well defined stem.
Woodland points show
many similarities to the better made Savannah river points with corner notching.
Woodland ranges from 1,500 to 3,000 years ago.
Baked clay objects are presumed to be clay replacements for
cooking stones. They are crudely made by hand and basked in a fire. They were
found both tempered and untempered. Many were found at Charlestowne Landing and
were dated at approximately 4,000 years ago.
A full grooved ax from the Middle Archaic
period is shown in figure 4.
The bannerstone is thought to have evolved
from a weight used on an atlatyl throwing stick to an elaborate tool of unknown,
presumably ceremonial, function. Figure 5 shows a Southern Notched Ovate
bannerstone. Many similar bannerstones were found in Warren County, Georgia,
this being one of the more elaborate forms dating to about 3,800 to 4,200 years
ago. Five other bannerstone halves or fragments were found in four different
styles ranging form 4,200 to 8,000 years ago.
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This investigation can be
of value to archaeologists in a number of ways. It can provide a
base line of data to compare this site with other sites. It may suggest
that a site on land exists in close proximity to this site, which could
provide a wealth of information on the peoples inhabiting this area.
Researchers on this terrestrial project would have an idea on what to
expect, providing comparative information about the assemblage like to
be found on land. Analysis of the raw materials on both sites provide
information on trading and procurement patterns of different time
periods. Several of the more unusual artifacts, such as the Southern
Notched Ovate bannerstone and the Clovis point, have already been of
use to SCIAA researchers in the various research specialty areas.
It may also serve to encourage sport divers
who encounter rich archaeological sites to go beyond normal quarterly reports
and thoroughly document the site.
