Archaeological Investigations at Yourhaney Plantation (38GE18)

ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT YOURHANEY PLANTATION39FIELD METHODOLOGYThe field work at Yauhannah Bluff occurred in two phases. Phase I consisted of the removal of theclay cap on a portion of the site and the ground penetrating radar (GPR) investigation andinterpretation. Phase II consisted of New South’s excavations.PHASE IPrior to the excavation of the artifact bearing deposits, New South had the clay cap on the easterntip of the site removed by a backhoe. During Adams and Botwick’s fieldwork, this cap was foundto average about 0.5 feet in depth, although this fill became deeper closer to the slough by the oldferry crossing. It was estimated that this area was approximately 75 feet by 75 feet in size.After the cap was removed, an area measuring approximately 250 feet by 250 feet would beexamined using ground penetrating radar (GPR). New South used the services of GeneralEngineering Geophysics, LLC of Charleston for this work. The transects were at an interval of fivefeet. This interval was believed to be sufficient to relocate many of Michie’s test units, thefoundations of substantial buildings, some large pit features, and some post holes. Although not allfeatures would be captured at this interval, it was believed that it would give us an idea of wherethey were concentrated.PHASE IISince the area of interest was in the location of Jim Michie’s test excavations, New SouthAssociates established the grid using his datum and his grid alignment. Given the extensive testingperformed by Michie on this portion of the site, New South Associates did not believe thatadditional hand excavated test units were necessary. However, prior to mechanical stripping NewSouth excavated approximately five shovel tests at 50 foot intervals. These tests were not screenedsince the purpose of these tests was to collect soil columns to be used for obtaining OCR controlsfor dates on nearby features. New South consulted with Mr. Douglas Frink who analyzed thesamples and he had agreed that this was a suitable approach given that we would not have handexcavated soils from units above these features and that the soils are relatively uniform incomposition across the site.Based on the information from the GPR survey in comparison to the results of Jim Michie’s testing,the areas believed to contain the bulk of the historic features were mechanically stripped using ahydraulic excavator with a flat blade. The stripped areas were shovel cleaned and featuresmarked with pin flags as they were encountered. Features were then mapped in using a transitand placed on a project map showing the stripped area and features in relation to the datum andnatural features.All trench features (eg. trench and post foundations and continuous sill foundations) believed to benon-agricultural were excavated, as well as all large pit features. A sample of post holes wasexcavated to consist of as many as 150. Those that appeared to be associated with structureswere chosen first, while seemingly random posts were sampled. It was estimated that New Southwould excavate approximately four trench features, 30 pit features, and 150 posts for a total of184 features. If more than four trench features and more than 30 pit features were found, theadditional amount would be subtracted from the post holes excavated.