- Collection:
- New Georgia Encyclopedia
- Title:
- Cane Island site
- Creator:
- Wood, W. Dean
- Date of Original:
- 2002-08-08
- Subject:
- Woodland culture--Georgia
Woodland Indians--Georgia
Woodland Indians--Antiquities
Indians of North America--Georgia
Forest plants--Georgia
Archaeological sites - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Greene County, 33.57878, -83.16666
- Medium:
- articles
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- text/html
- Description:
- Encyclopedia article about the Cane Island archaeological site in Georgia. The Cane Island archaeological site is one of Georgia's earliest Native American farming villages. It now lies beneath Lake Oconee in Greene County, between Greensboro and Eatonton. In 1978 and 1979 the University of Georgia's Department of Anthropology excavated portions of the site before it was flooded by the Georgia Power Company. The team found that Native Americans had lived along this portion of the Oconee River for at least 10,000 years. During what archaeologists call the Middle Woodland subperiod (ca. 300 B.C.-A.D. 600), the island was home to a small village of Native Americans whose economy relied primarily upon hunting, fishing, and gathering. One of the most important findings to come out of the excavations was evidence of early plant domestication from one of the village households. Archaeologists recovered fragments of charred corn and squash as well as microscopic grains of corn pollen. Two stone hoes probably used to tend crops were also found at the same household. This Middle Woodland farming community was radiocarbon-dated to about A.D. 245, making it one of the earliest such sites in Georgia.
GSE identifier: SS2H2 - Metadata URL:
- https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/cane-island-site/
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- If you wish to use content from the NGE site for commercial use, publication, or any purpose other than fair use as defined by law, you must request and receive written permission from the NGE. Such requests may be directed to: Permissions/NGE, University of Georgia Press, 330 Research Drive, Athens, GA 30602.
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: "Cane Island Site," New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved [date]: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org.
- Original Collection:
- Forms part of the New Georgia Encyclopedia.
- Holding Institution:
- New Georgia Encyclopedia (Project)
- Rights:
-
