Lawton Mounds

National Register Listing

Street Address:

Address Restricted (Allendale County)

Alternate Name:

38AL11

---

NRHP Nomination Form

Record Number:

S10817703007

Description and Narrative:

The Lawton Mounds Site consists of two low earthen flat-topped mounds and surrounding village area, enclosed by a ditch and parapet. The site is located on a heavily forested low terrace of the Savannah River. An old slough of cypress swamp separates the site from the modern river channel. The North Mound is essentially rectangular, 65 x 70 feet at the base, standing five feet above the terrace. The South Mound is 100 feet distant from the first, also rectangular, 70 x 85 feet at the base and 7.5 feet high. A ditch surrounding the mounds and village area is 15 to 20 feet wide and about 3 feet deep. The small pottery collection obtained, as well as the platform mounds themselves, indicates construction and occupation during the Savannah II period, approximately AD 1200-1300. There is no other known Savannah period village site in South Carolina, and there is no other mound site in the state so well preserved. Archaeologically, the Savannah II period is of particular interest because of evidence for the spread of strong ceremonialism into the South Carolina-Georgia area at this time. Listed in the National Register June 19, 1972.

Period of Significance:

before 1400

Level of Significance:

National

Area of Significance:

Archeology: Prehistoric

National Register Determination:

listed

Date of Certification:

June 19 1972

---