Kenimer site

Last updated
Kenimer site
9Wh68
USA Georgia location map.svg
Archaeological site icon (red).svg
Location within Georgia today
Location Sautee Nacoochee, Georgia,  White County, Georgia, Flag of the United States.svg  USA
Region White County, Georgia
Coordinates 34°40′58.73″N83°40′49.94″W / 34.6829806°N 83.6805389°W / 34.6829806; -83.6805389
History
Founded900 CE
Periods Late Woodland period Napier Phase
Site notes
Excavation dates1997
Archaeologists Mark Williams Archaeology Field School, Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia
Architecture
Architectural styles earthworks
Responsible body: Private

The Kenimer site (9Wh68) is an archaeological site near Sautee Nacoochee, Georgia in White County. The site contains two earthwork mounds located on top of a natural hilltop. [1]

Contents

Site description

The Kenimer site is located on an erosional remnant hill just to the north of and overlooking the Nacoochee Valley. It overlooks the junction of the Chattahoochee River and Sautee Creek, which is about 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) to the southeast. Mound A, the largest of the site's two mounds is 150 feet (46 m) above the level of the flood plain of the rivers and approximately 1,450 feet (440 m) above sea level. Georgia State Route 17 is positioned 300 metres (980 ft) to the north of Mound A. [1]

Because the mounds are located on an irregularly shaped natural hill their exact dimensions are hard to determine and vary from side to side. The summit of Mound A is approximately 46 metres (151 ft) square. On its high northeastern side, it is more than 10 metres (33 ft) in height, and, on its western side adjacent to Mound B, it is 6 metres (20 ft) in height. Mound B is located to the west of Mound A and is oriented with both mounds' northwestern edges in a straight line. The summit is approximately 12 metres (39 ft) square. The elevation varies on each side but is generally not much over 1 metre (3.3 ft) in height. [1]

The fact that the site is located on top of and utilizes an existing natural hill as part of its bulk is unusual. Another well known example of this in southeastern US archaeology is the Emerald Mound located near Natchez, Mississippi. [1]

Excavations

The site was mapped and test excavations were performed in the summer of 1997 under the direction of Mark Williams as part of the Archaeology Field School of the Department of Anthropology for the University of Georgia. Researchers found minimal debris from human habitation at the mounds, leading the archaeologists to conclude the site was used only for a short time and probably for ceremonial purposes since the surrounding topography would make it hard to have a village site adjacent to the mounds. Because of its unique features, it is possible the site was constructed to resemble the platform mounds of the Macon Plateau area, such as Ocmulgee site, located roughly 100 miles (160 km) to the south by peoples "that did not understand the construction history or social/religious context of such features." [1]

Some pottery and lithic debris were found at the site. All the ceramic pottery sherds found at the site dated to the Late Woodland period Napier Phase, circa 900 CE. The lithic debris found at the site was all locally available quartz and Ridge and Valley chert from the northwestern Georgia area. A small greenstone celt was found during a posthole test on the summit of Mound A. [1]

Napier phase ceramics were defined by archaeologists Jesse D. Jennings and Charles H. Fairbanks, who studied Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park. Named for the Napier site, near present-day Macon, Georgia, Napier Complicated Stamped ceramics are found in north-central Georgia between the Chattoochee, Oconee, and Flint rivers. This Late Woodland to early Mississippian period–pottery was tempered with grit. [2]

Controversy

In December 2011, architect Richard Thornton writing for the content farm Examiner.com claimed that the mound was of Mayan origin. [3] Mark Williams, an archaeologist at the University of Georgia who has spent three days surface collecting at the site, [4] wrote, "The Maya connection to legitimate Georgia archaeology is a wild and unsubstantiated guess on the part of the Thornton fellow. No archaeologists will defend this flight of fancy" and via his Facebook page: "This is total and complete bunk," and "There is no evidence of Maya in Georgia." [5]

In 2010, archaeologist Johannes Loubser wrote in a peer-reviewed journal article that the excavations at the Track Rock archaeological site on the opposite side of the mountain from the Kenimer site had been halted when graves had been discovered, and the site was probably precontact. [6] Thornton used excavations performed by Loubser as "evidence" for his theory. Upon learning this, Loubser responded, "I think that [Thornton] selectively presents the evidence. ... But he's a better marketer than I and other archaeologists are. When you make a claim like that, you have to back it up with hard evidence. There's a lot of opinion out there." [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

Etowah Indian Mounds United States historic place

Etowah Indian Mounds (9BR1) are a 54-acre (220,000 m2) archaeological site in Bartow County, Georgia, south of Cartersville. Built and occupied in three phases, from 1000–1550 AD, the prehistoric site is located on the north shore of the Etowah River.

Pinson Mounds Archaeological park

The Pinson Mounds comprise a prehistoric Native American complex located in Madison County, Tennessee, in the region that is known as the Eastern Woodlands. The complex, which includes 17 mounds, an earthen geometric enclosure, and numerous habitation areas, was most likely built during the Middle Woodland period. The complex is the largest group of Middle Woodland mounds in the United States. Sauls' Mound, at 72 feet (22 m), is the second-highest surviving mound in the United States.

Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park National monument in the United States

Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park in Macon, Georgia, United States preserves traces of over ten millennia of culture from the Native Americans in the Southeastern Woodlands. Its chief remains are major earthworks built before 1000 CE by the South Appalachian Mississippian culture These include the Great Temple and other ceremonial mounds, a burial mound, and defensive trenches. They represented highly skilled engineering techniques and soil knowledge, and the organization of many laborers. The site has evidence of "17,000 years of continuous human habitation." The 3,336-acre (13.50 km2) park is located on the east bank of the Ocmulgee River. Macon, Georgia developed around the site after the United States built Fort Benjamin Hawkins nearby in 1806 to support trading with Native Americans.

Wickliffe Mounds Archaeological site in Kentucky, US

Wickliffe Mounds is a prehistoric, Mississippian culture archaeological site located in Ballard County, Kentucky, just outside the town of Wickliffe, about 3 miles (4.8 km) from the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Archaeological investigations have linked the site with others along the Ohio River in Illinois and Kentucky as part of the Angel phase of Mississippian culture. Wickliffe Mounds is controlled by the State Parks Service, which operates a museum at the site for interpretation of the ancient community. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is also a Kentucky Archeological Landmark and State Historic Site.

Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park Park in Tallahassee, Florida

Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park (8LE1) is one of the most important archaeological sites in Florida, the capital of chiefdom and ceremonial center of the Fort Walton Culture inhabited from 1050–1500. The complex originally included seven earthwork mounds, a public plaza and numerous individual village residences.

Moundville Archaeological Site Archaeological site in Alabama, United States

Moundville Archaeological Site, also known as the Moundville Archaeological Park, is a Mississippian culture archaeological site on the Black Warrior River in Hale County, near the modern city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Extensive archaeological investigation has shown that the site was the political and ceremonial center of a regionally organized Mississippian culture chiefdom polity between the 11th and 16th centuries. The archaeological park portion of the site is administered by the University of Alabama Museums and encompasses 185 acres (75 ha), consisting of 29 platform mounds around a rectangular plaza.

Spiro Mounds United States historic place

Spiro Mounds is an archaeological site located in present-day eastern Oklahoma that remains from an indigenous Indian culture that was part of the major northern Caddoan Mississippian culture. The 80-acre site is located within a floodplain on the southern side of the Arkansas River. The modern town of Spiro developed approximately seven miles to the south.

George Hubbard Pepper was an American ethnologist and archaeologist. He worked on projects in New York, the Southwest and, most notably, the Nacoochee Mound in northeastern Georgia. His work with Frederick W. Hodge was sponsored by the Heye Foundation, Museum of the American Indian, and the Bureau of American Ethnology

Nacoochee Mound Archaeological site in Georgia, US

The Nacoochee Mound is an archaeological site on the banks of the Chattahoochee River in White County, in the northeast part of the U.S. state of Georgia. Georgia State Route 17 and Georgia State Route 75 have a junction near here.

The Pisgah phase is an archaeological phase of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture in Southeast North America. It is associated with the Appalachian Summit area of southeastern Tennessee, Western North Carolina, and northwestern South Carolina in what is now the United States.

The Summerour Mound site (9FO16) is an archaeological site located in Forsyth County, Georgia. It was formerly on a floodplain of the west bank of the Chattahoochee River in northern Georgia. It is now flooded under the Buford Reservoir, also known as Lake Lanier.

The Little Egypt site was an archaeological site located in Murray County, Georgia, near the junction of the Coosawattee River and Talking Rock Creek. The site originally had three platform mounds surrounding a plaza and a large village area. It was destroyed during the construction of the Dam of Carters Lake in 1972. It was situated between the Ridge and Valley and Piedmont sections of the state in a flood plain. Using Mississippian culture pottery found at the site archaeologists dated the site to the Middle and Late South Appalachian culture habitation from 1300 to 1600 CE during the Dallas, Lamar, and Mouse Creek phases.

The Joe Bell site (9MG28) is an archaeological site located in Morgan County, Georgia underneath Lake Oconee, but prior to the 1970s, it was located south of the mouth of the Apalachee River on the western bank of the Oconee River. The junction of these two rivers could be seen from the site. This site was first visited by Marshall Williams in 1968 at the suggestion of the site’s landowner, Joe Bell, who had discovered various artifacts while the site was being regularly plowed. Because of Interstate construction, Marshall Williams and Mark Williams discovered this site during surface surveys and excavations of the plowed areas. The site was excavated and analyzed by Mark Williams as part of his PhD dissertation. During the 1969 excavations, four areas within the site were designated for excavation. In Areas 1-3 various five foot square units were excavated. No excavations were done in Area 4 in 1969. Large quantities of small potsherds were discovered during these excavations, and they ranged from the Duvall Phase in Area 1 to Bell Phase in Areas 2-4. As part of the 1969 excavations, a road grading machine took off the topsoil of twelve strips on the site. This uncovered Features 1 and 2, and they were completely excavated. In 1977, the site was revisited by Marshall Williams and Mark Williams. Since various plans threatened this site, major excavations took place from June 15, 1977 until September 16, 1977 by Mark Williams. Most of the work centered on Area 2 or the Bell Phase portion of the site. The Bell Phase portion of this site was probably no more the 1.5 acres (1 ha). Because of time constraints, only 17 of 55 features were excavated, and no more than a handful of the 1100 posts were excavated. A few trips were made back to the site the following year with the help of volunteers, and approximately 80% of the area stripped by heavy machinery was mapped. Some of the features were trash features that consisted of a circular pit filled with food residues and pottery sherds. Evidence of a large circular structure or rotunda was found at the site. It was the social, political, and religious center for the inhabitants. A large quantity of the features was small, circular, semi-subterranean structures that were probably used as sleeping quarters on cold nights. Another structure found was warm weather structures. One major trash feature was found that had been deposited in a single episode and was burned during or after deposition. Numerous sherds were found in this pit, and many reconstructable vessels were present. Ethnohistoric literature of the Southeast suggests that this feature was formed during a Busk or Green Corn ceremony. The ceremony has been described as the physical cleansing of the town.

The Chauga Mound (38OC1) is an archaeological site once located on the northern bank of the Tugaloo River, about 1,200 feet (370 m) north of the mouth of the Chauga River in present-day Oconee County, South Carolina. The earthen platform mound and former village site were inundated by creation of Lake Hartwell after construction of the Hartwell Dam on the Savannah River, which was completed in 1962.

The Dyar site (9GE5) is an archaeological site in Greene County, Georgia, in the north central Piedmont physiographical region. The site covers an area of 2.5 hectares. It was inhabited almost continuously from 1100 to 1600 by a local variation of the Mississippian culture known as the South Appalachian Mississippian culture. Although submerged under Lake Oconee, the site is still important as one of the first explorations of a large Mississippian culture mound. The Dyar site is thought to have been one of the principal towns of the paramount chiefdom of Ocute, perhaps Cofaqui.

King Archaeological Site

The King Archaeological Site (9FL5) is a protohistoric Native American archaeological site located on the Coosa River in Floyd County, Georgia. It is one of 5 large contemporaneous village sites located in a 20 kilometres (12 mi) section of the river. The site was a satellite village associated with the Coosa chiefdom centered on the Little Egypt Site located upstream.

The Lamar mounds and village site (9BI2) is an important archaeological site on the banks of the Ocmulgee River in Bibb County, Georgia, several miles to the southeast of the Ocmulgee mound site. Both mound sites are part of the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, a national park and historic district created in 1936 and run by the U.S. National Park Service. Historians and archaeologists have theorized that the site is the location of the main village of the Ichisi encountered by the Hernando de Soto expedition in 1539.

Mound 34 is a small platform mound located roughly 400 metres (1,300 ft) to the east of Monks Mound at Cahokia Mounds near Collinsville, Illinois. Excavations near Mound 34 from 2002 to 2010 revealed the remains of a copper workshop, although the one of a kind discovery had been previously found in the late 1950s by archaeologist Gregory Perino, but lost for 60 years. It is so far the only remains of a copper workshop found at a Mississippian culture archaeological site.

The White Site is a prehistoric archaeological site located northeast of Hickman in Fulton County in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Discovered in the 1980s, it was occupied during a long period of time by peoples of multiple cultures, and it has been named a historic site.

Annis Mound and Village site Archaeological site in Kentucky, US

The Annis Mound and Village site is a prehistoric Middle Mississippian culture archaeological site located on the bank of the Green River in Butler County, Kentucky, several miles northwest of Morgantown in the Big Bend region. It was occupied from about 800 CE to about 1300 CE.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Williams, Mark (1999). "Archaeological testing at the Kenimer Site, 9WH68" (PDF). University of Georgia.
  2. "Napier Complicated Stamped". Laboratory of Archaeology. University of Georgia. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  3. Ferguson, David (22 Dec 2011). "1,100-year-old Mayan ruins found in North Georgia". The Raw Story .
  4. Williams, Mark. "Archaeological Testing at the Kenimer Site" (PDF). Lamar Institute. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  5. 1 2 Bill Torpy (2012-01-04). "Squabble over presence of ancient residents in Blairsville". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Archived from the original on 2014-07-26.
  6. Loubser, Johannes. "An Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Appraisal of a Piled Stone Feature Complex in the Mountains of North Georgia" (PDF). Society for Georgia Archaeology. Retrieved 24 March 2013.