Stirring Up a Hornet's Nest: - UGA Laboratory of Archaeology ...

Locus E
Locus E lies on the western ridge finger, north of Kelly Creek and immediately east of Kettle Creek. A
wood’s road runs through the center of Locus E. The locus contains the ruins of several buildings that were
probably parts of a farmstead complex. The ruins include one large brick chimney fall, two or more rock
chimney falls, and several large rock foundation stones. The deposit of metal artifacts defined the limits of
the farmstead. Locus E yielded 175 historic artifacts and one aboriginal artifact (a ground basalt celt).
Surprisingly, only one artifact in the Arms Group was discovered in Locus E. That artifact was a piece of
hardware from an 18 th century musket. The total absence of lead balls probably indicates that Locus E was
not the scene of a fire fight during the battle.
Test Unit 2, a 1 m by 1 m excavation, was placed adjacent to a brick chimney fall at Locus E. That test
revealed a shallow deposit of early 19 th century artifacts, including machine cut nails and glass. Two shovel
tests also were excavated at Locus E. One was excavated near a large granite foundation stone. That test
revealed shallow eroded soils and yielded a small quantity of glass. The other shovel test was placed in an
area of suspected midden soil. Although the organic soil deposit was thicker in this area, compared to the
previous shovel test, it yielded only a few artifacts.
Locus F
Locus F is situated on the south side of Kettle Creek on a wooded, lower ridge slope. Locus F yielded 46
metal artifacts, of which 26 (56%) fell in the Arms Group. This represents the greatest concentration of
battle debris in the study area and it is interpreted as the last stage of the battle. The primary artifacts
recovered from Locus F were lead balls. One piece of iron grapeshot was recovered from this area, which
was the only indisputable evidence for artillery found by the present survey. A light scatter of nails also
was present over Locus F, but no domestic site was indicated by the fieldwork. A small rock pile, located
south of the main artifact concentration of Locus F, contained two metal artifacts on the surface. One was a
wrought iron rod and the other was an iron plowshare. Neither artifact was collected. The rock pile and iron
rod may indicate a property marker. The plow part suggests that this vicinity had been under cultivation in
the past. The earliest extant aerial photograph (1938) shows the area as wooded, however, so the
agricultural use likely dates well before 1938. Archeological evidence indicates that Locus F was
undoubtedly where Major Spurgeon rallied the Loyalist militia and a heated battle with Elijah Clarke’s
Patriot militia detachment ensued.
Locus G
Locus G contained a light scatter of three lead balls and one other metal item. It is located in an overgrown
timber clear-cut, east of Locus B and northeast of Locus H. Locus G appears to be spatially discrete from
these other two loci. The survey conditions were less than favorable due to the thick undergrowth. This
deposit of bullets may relate to the Kettle Creek battle. If so, then it is likely associated with the advance of
Lieutenant Colonel Clarke’s Patriot militia regiment. It is interesting to note that Locus G is situated north
of a large gully that leads down to Kettle Creek. Quite possibly this gully once contained a road leading to a
ford across the creek. Traces of an old road were observed on the exposed land surface, although it was
unclear whether it was an 18 th century road cut, or a heavily eroded one associated with the recent
timbering activity.
Locus H
Locus H is a heavily wooded ridge slope and ridge saddle located just east of Locus A (the Kettle Creek
monument) and southeast of the newly constructed parking lot. Survey in Locus H yielded 31 artifacts, of
which only one was in the Arms Group. Battle evidence in this vicinity was limited to a single lead ball,
which suggests that heavy combat did not occur here. Locus H contains a scatter of machine cut square
nails that may represent a mid-19 th century fence line, or possibly an animal pen. One large cut nail was
embedded in small piece of wooden plank, which was collected. The concentration of nails at Locus H may
indicate that this area was used to contain livestock sometime during the 19 th century. This may have been
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