Data Recovery Excavations at the Hickory Ridge Soapstone Quarry, Site 9Da67

As required by the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USAGE) has requested that archeological data recovery excavations be conducted at site 9DA67 under a Memorandum of Agreement between the USACE and DeKalb Resources, Inc. This action was required as a component of the Clean Water Act, Section 404 permitting process, prior to the construction of a solid waste landfill in the area containing Site 9DA67. Under 33 CFR Part 325, the USACE must process Section 404 permit applications with respect to Section 106 of the NHPA Site 9DA67 is located on Soapstone Ridge in southwest DeKalb County, immediately southeast of Interchange 39 on Interstate 285. Site 9DA67 was recorded by professional archeologists in1976 (Dickens and Barber; Dickens and Carnes) as a soapstone quarry. The site was recommended as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The site was relocated in 1991 during a cultural resources assessment of the proposed Hickory Ridge solid waste landfill site and subsequently tested to determine the nature and extent of the site (Webb et al.1992). During November and December 1990, testing confirmed Site 9DA67 to be a ultramafic (soapstone-like stone) quarry covering about 1.1 hectares. Ultramafic quarry features, ultramafic bowl preforms and a quartz quarry where quarrying tools were manufactured were detected using National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) criteria [36 CFR Part 60.4(d)], testing confirmed Site 9DA67 to be eligible for the National Register. Law Environmental (Mr. Robert S. Webb, Principal Investigator) conducted data recovery excavations at Site 9DA67 in June 1991, July 1991, November 1992 and December 1992. The equivalent of five, 3 by 3 meter blocks and one 2 by 3 meter block were excavated. Thirty-six square meters (in four blocks) were excavated in the ultramafic quarry area, while the remaining 15 square meters (one block) were excavated in the quartz quarry.