The Belmont Neck (38KE6)
The Belmont Neck site was the earliest of the mound centers to be occupied in this portion of the Wateree Valley. Occupation ranges from A.D. 900 - 1300, spanning the early Etowah, Belmont Neck, and Savannah II ceramic phases. A single-mound center, it appears that the mound was built on top of a low, natural ridge. In the 1800s, an overseer's house and associated slave cabins were placed on top of this ridge and mound. A family photograph from the 1930s shows the frame house with brick piers and chimney on top of a remnant of the prehistoric mound.
Only limited archaeological investigations have so far been conducted at the Belmont Neck site. These include a surface collection in 1985 when it was a plowed field, systematic shovel test pits and a 1 x 2 m test unit in 1998, and a second 1 x 2 m test unit in spring of 2001. The Mississippian component occupies an area of about 9.7 acres. Cable (2000) hypothesizes that the town had two distinct residential sectors separated by a central plaza and the small platform mound.
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© Gail E. Wagner, 2014. The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of the page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of South Carolina. Page last updated 13 Sept. 2014.