Chauga Mound
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.
Location within Georgia today | |
| Location | Westminster, South Carolina, Oconee County, South Carolina, USA |
|---|---|
| Region | Oconee County, South Carolina |
| Coordinates | 34°36′30.42″N 83°10′0.34″W |
| History | |
| Founded | Middle Archaic |
| Abandoned | 18th century |
| Periods | Jarett Phase (1100 to 1200) Tugalo Phase (1500 to 1600) |
| Cultures | South Appalachian Mississippian culture |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1953, 1958, 1959 |
| Archaeologists | Joseph R. Caldwell, Carl Miller, Arthur R. Kelly, Robert S. Neitzel |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural styles | platform mound, plaza |
| Architectural details | Number of temples: 1 |
While the site was found to have been occupied in the Middle Archaic era, the platform mound and village portion of the site were built in the twelfth century by peoples of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture (a regional expression of the Mississippian culture). The village was abandoned for a period in prehistory, and then reoccupied in the sixteenth century.
It may have been occupied by the historic Cherokee in the last and fourth phase, as they were known to have a historic village named Chauga. Evidence dates their occupancy into the early eighteenth century. The Cherokee had their homeland in a large area of what are now known as western Virginia, western North and South Carolina, northeastern Georgia, and eastern Tennessee.