My parents are in Eastern NC so the area's been inhabited for a VERY long time. There is a small family cemetery on site, but only 3 of the graves are marked with headstones. However, there are a few large round rocks near the cemetery, and ONLY in that area. My dad says they were ballast rocks for ships and thinks they mark the graves of slaves but we don't want to dig them up.
Can anybody tell me what kind of burial slaves were typically given? Were the graves usually marked? Or might it be something else entirely? I don't have a picture right now but it isn't hard to imagine, really. I think each rock is 6 - 10" in length and they are all very smooth.
Not asking you to dox yourself at all, but depending on the county it might be worth contacting the county historical society and/or the local newspaper, to see if they have archives going back to the early era of when the area was settled. If I remember correctly, UNC in Chapel Hill has a newspaper archive, and some of the older newspapers in the state have microfilm going back farther than you would think and from predecessor papers as well. (I worked at the Wilmington Morning Star/Star-News for awhile out of college and our archives were back to the 1860s.) If you can get an idea of which family owned the land, you may be able to research tax bills or something similar to see what (and who) they owned.