Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter
Keywords
Purrysburg, archaeology, Swiss Settlement
Abstract
An archaeological reconnaissance of the colonial site of Purrysburg, on the Savannah River in Jasper County, South Carolina, has been conducted intermittently through the year 1979, with the goal of locating structural or other artifactual remains of the original Swiss settlement established here in 1733. Work was restricted to a surface search with only limited subsurface testing. Brick outcroppings occurred at various locations but their date could not be ascertained without extensive excavation. Artifact scatters including datable ceramics were common and suggest a peak in occupation between 1790 and 1820, well after the initial Swiss settlement. Early and middle 18th Century materials are present but are rare and thinly scattered, with no obvious concentration. It is suggested that the site is in violation of the "Carolina Artifact Pattern" and that the "inordinate neatness" (South 1977: 77) of the Swiss resulted in a far cleaner, hence artifact free, site than is typical of British colonial sites. By the turn of the century Purrysburg had been more or less absorbed into the cultural milieu of British Carolina and this distinctive trait had been lost.
Recommended Citation
Lepionka, Larry
(1980)
"Purrysburg, An Archaeological Survey,"
Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter: Vol. 16:
Iss.
2, Article 4.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_newsletter/vol16/iss2/4