SECRETARY'S REPORT 57 



Alabama-Georgia. — From January 19 to June 13 a series of test 

 excavations was carried on at 10 sites in the area to be flooded by the 

 Walter F. George Dam and Lock project. Six of tlie sites were in 

 Georgia and four in Alabama. Because the season was unusually wet, 

 work Avas limited for much of the time to sites in the sandy bottoms. 

 Ai each location a number of pits 10 feet square were sunk through 

 the deposits to sterile subsoil. At one of the sites in Georgia the main 

 occupation appeared to have been Early Mississippian, although there 

 was a thin surface overlay of the late Creek potsherds. There were 

 some indications that Weeden Island peoples had been there for a 

 time, and in the bottom levels decomposed flints similar to those which 

 occur in abundance on the Macon Plateau were present. The various 

 materials from the site suggest a long period of occupation or several 

 occupations at intervals covering a considerable span of years. At 

 two of the Georgia sites there were large plowed-down mounds with 

 indications of village areas. One of them presumably dates from the 

 Archaic period, and the other, in addition to Archaic materials from 

 levels below the mound, also gave evidence of Weeden Island affilia- 

 tions. Several of the sites contained Woodland materials, and one of 

 those in Alabama presumably was the location of the Yuchi village 

 mentioned by William Bartram and Benjamin Hawkins in their re- 

 ports on travels through the Creek country in the 18th century. Dur- 

 ing the field season collections were made from a total of 48 sites, 26 of 

 which had not been previously investigated. Field lots of specimens, 

 most of which were excavated, numbering 1,680, were added to the 

 previous 1,086 field lots collected in the 1958 and 1959 seasons. Tliis 

 makes a total of 2,766 field lots for the three seasons of investigations 

 along the Chattahoochee. 



In addition to the work of the River Basin Surveys parties there 

 were cooperative projects by the University of Georgia, the Univer- 

 sity of Alabama, and Florida State University. At the end of the 

 fiscal year the University of Georgia was excavating a large platform 

 mound near Stark's Landing in Georgia. The University of Alabama 

 was digging in a village site adjacent to a large mound near Upper 

 Francis Landing in Alabama. The Florida State University party 

 was beginning investigations at the Spanish Fort of Apalachicola and 

 the adjacent aboriginal village near Holy Trinity, Ala. 



Missouri River Basin. — The Missouri Basin Project, for the four- 

 teenth consecutive year, continued to operate from the field head- 

 quarters and laboratory in Lincoln, Nebr. Dr. Robert L. Stephenson 

 served as chief of the project throughout the year. Activities in- 

 cluded surveys, excavations, analysis of materials, and reporting on 

 results. During the summer months efFort-s were mainly concerned 

 with excavations. Analyses and the preparation of reports received 



