Archaeological Investigations at Yourhaney Plantation (38GE18)

144Summary of Mississippian Period Macroplant RemainsThirty liters of flotation samples were collected from three Mississippian Period Features (Table 14).These features included two indeterminate pits and one pit that contained a smashed pottery vessel.The macroplant assemblage from these features consisted of 8.52 grams of wood charcoal (0.29gm/L), 1 maize cupule, 15 indeterminate hickory/walnut shell fragments, 2 acorn shell fragments,and two other seeds (1 grape, 1 grass). The grape seed was found in Feature 15, and the grassfamily seed (this grass was neither little barley grass nor maygrass—it appears to represent a noncultigenspecies) came from Feature 137.The Mississippian component contained higher mast to wood ratios (1/52) and a lower overallnutshell density (0.013 gm/L) than the preceding Woodland Period macroplant assemblage. Thissuggests that mast consumption was less important in the Mississippian then in the Woodlandperiod. However, the 100 percent ubiquity of hickory/walnut shell and 33 percent ubiquity ofacorns highlighted the continued importance of Mast gathering to the Mississippian PeriodYauhannah Bluff inhabitants. The identification of maize suggests that the Mississippian inhabitantsmaintained gardens the site vicinity.Indeterminate Woodland/Mississippian Period Macroplant RemainsForty liters of flotation samples were collected from four indeterminate Woodland/MississippianPeriod features (Table 14). These features included a human burial and three shallow pits. Themacroplant assemblage from these features consisted of 14.84 grams of wood charcoal (0.37gm/L), 3 maize cupules, 15 hickory shell fragments, 8 indeterminate hickory/walnut shellfragments, and seven other seeds (1 blackberry/raspberry, 1 bedstraw, 1 pennyroyal, 4unidentifiable). The maize cupules were found in the Feature 80 burial shaft; the recovery of maizeindicates that the inhumation likely dated to the Mississippian Period.The blackberry/raspberry and bedstraw seeds were found in Feature 145. This feature alsocontained an extremely low density of nutshell (0.001 gm/L) and a high mast to wood ratio(1/161). The poor recovery of mast, in combination with the identification of two exclusivelysummer ripening plants, suggests that this Indeterminate Woodland/Mississippian feature wasassociated with a summer encampment. The pennyroyal seed came from Feature 134. Theseindeterminate features, like those of the Woodland Period, exhibited low mast to wood ratios(1/30), high nutshell ubiquities (100% hickory, 50% acorn), and a high overall nutshell density(0.025 gm/L).MaizeFour maize cupules were found in one definite Mississippian (Feature 137-pit) and oneIndeterminate Woodland/Mississippian (Feature 80-burial) feature. The recovery of maize cupulesindicates that maize cobs were burned as fuel and is suggestive of maize cultivation during theMississippian Period occupation, since maize was unlikely to be transported on the cob. Therecovery of maize from the Feature 80 burial shaft suggests that this feature postdates the MiddleWoodland Period occupation (maize is rare in pre-Late Woodland contexts on the South Carolinacoastal plain) and likely dates to the Mississippian Period component.