This Late Archaic site was primarily a soapstone bowl quarry & workshop, but also contains boulders with engraved design elements.   There are numerous examples of bowl preforms and bowl extraction scars on a number of the rocks.   The area was inhabited throughout the Woodlands and Mississipian periods.   There are two distinct areas of rock features within the site.   It is located on private property. Area B (9TO294) - Early 2019:

Boulder X, with frontal view of an excellent attached bowl preform.

The same boulder, showing the preform at left, and several bowl extraction scars.

Side view of the Boulder X preform. This bowl was close to the point where it would be detached from the parent rock.

Bowl preform on Boulder Y This rock was completely encased in shrubbery.   There are at least three other preforms or removal scars, but the bushes were too thick to shoot them.

Bowl preform on Boulder Z Not as far along in the manufacturing process as the previous examples...

Boulder Z from the opposite side Two (of three) cupules are visible on the left side.

A nicely rounded bowl preform on Boulder C

Looking down on the Boulder C preform

A rainy day revealed a better view of the cupules on Boulder C

Closer view of cupules on Boulder C I don't know if the straight lines are natural or man-made...

Boulder E contained two bowl preforms and a bowl removal scar

Boulder F with single cupule; keys for size reference.

This rock (Boulder W) has reported cupules, but I think at least some of these holes are natural.

Another boulder with a bowl preform taking shape.

One end of this boulder was partly covered in dirt.   Scratching at the clay, it appears to have a bowl preform that was in the early stage of production.

Update - December 2019: An archaeological team is performing data recovery and mitigation measures on site.   As they have cleared some of the landscaping and brush from the property, several new features have been found, a couple of which I have pictured here:

This bowl preform was previously covered by brush and was not noted in the Phase I and II surveys of the site. Since it will not be impacted by construction, it has not yet been cleaned for the current data collection effort.

Carved petroglyph (?) This appears to be a combination of natural and man-made features.

A bowl preform found in one of the test pits, at a depth of about 5-6 inches. This shows how several centuries of falling leaves will add to the soil levels.

Boulder X, cleaned of moss since my earlier photos I am working with GDOT on behalf of the Towns County Historical Society to have at least one of these quarried boulders (that will be impacted by construction) moved to a publicly accessible site nearby in the county.

Boulder Y was almost completely covered by shrubs when I previously photographed it.

In addition to the bowl preform, several extraction scars are now visible.

Boulder Y, a few days later, from another angle

Boulder Y, cleaned

Update - February 2020: A previously undocumented boulder was found, containing three bowl preforms. More importantly, it also exhibits a faint pecked hand print petroglyph.

Boulder, showing three bowl preforms.

Boulder from the opposite side, showing the faint hand print.

Utilizing side lighting and post-processing, I was able to enhance the relief of the hand print.

Update - March 2020: A stone tool and more...

A grooved axe / hammer stone uncovered at the site

A more recent carving from the historic period - H.L.V.

A recently uncovered boulder, showing several bowl removal scars.

To gather more data on how soapstone bowls were made, the plan was to have an ancient tool artisan recreate the bowl manufacturing process, using period methods and tools.

I made several visits here in 2021 and 2022, showing the site to some individuals and small groups.   I knew of a bowl removal scar that I hadn't photographed, and finally shot it on a visit in Feb. 2023 with Alan C.

Bowl extraction scar

While here, I took an updated pic of one of my favorite bowl & cupule rocks. It hasn't taken long for the moss to re-grow on these rocks...

Click here for a rendering of the soapstone bowl production process.

All Text & Images: Copyright 2019-2020.