Between 16 and 19 January 2018, and on 14 March 2018, Brockington conducted a Phase I archaeological survey of proposed improvements along SR 23/US 25/US 301 at SR 196, in Tattnall County, Georgia. Construction will include creation of a roundabout at the main intersection and realignment of the roads leading to the intersection. This archaeological survey was carried out on behalf of Thomas & Hutton and Georgia Department of Transportation in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966 (as amended) concerning the management of historic properties (i.e., sites, buildings, structures, objects, or districts listed on or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places [NRHP]) affected by the proposed road construction activities. This report covers archaeological resources only; historic resources are covered in a separate document (Reynolds 2017).
The proposed project consists of improvements to SR 23/US 25/US 301 at its intersections with SR 196, Mile Field Road (County Road 322), and Baxter- Durrence Road (County Road 508) immediately south of Glennville, Georgia. The main improvement and purpose of the project is a proposed roundabout to be constructed near the present intersection of SR 23/US 25/US 301 with SR 196 and Mile Field Road. The project corridor covers a total of approximately 4,534 linear feet (1,387.9 meters) and consists of four segments. The first segment is approximately 2,720 feet (829 meters) along the roadway of SR 23/US 25/US 301. The remaining three segments (SR 196, Mile Field Road, and Baxter-Durrence Road) cover a portion of the roadways and some land adjacent to the roadways.
Background research and archaeological field survey were used to identify potentially significant resources within the project’s Environmental Survey Boundary (ESB), which for the purposes of this report is considered to be the reasonable maximum extent of road improvement project design alternatives including: all existing and required right-of-ways (ROW) and easements, staging, demolition of existing infrastructure for new alignments, driveway and side street tie-ins, displacements/remnant parcels, and project beginning and end points. Background research identified no previously recorded archaeological sites within the ESB of the project corridor or within a 1.0-kilometer radius.
Archaeological field survey included systematic 30-meter-interval shovel testing and visual reconnaissance within the project corridor. The field survey identified three previously unrecorded archaeological sites (9TT66, 9TT117, and 9TT118), all of which are historic artifact scatters. All historic components date to the late nineteenth and/or twentieth century.
Two of the three newly recorded archaeological sites (9TT66 and 9TT118) do not contain substantial archaeological deposits and are therefore recommended not eligible for the NRHP. No additional management considerations are warranted for these archaeological resources.
One of the three newly recorded archaeological sites (9TT117) extends beyond the project’s ESB, and consequently the site was not fully delineated; therefore, the NRHP eligibility of 9TT117 is currently unknown. Except for a possible well feature, the research potential for the portion of 9TT117 within the ESB is low because it does not appear to contain substantial cultural deposits within good contexts that are related to late nineteenth/early twentieth-century occupations (lacks significant data potential). However, it is not known whether the possible well feature contains important information. Therefore, we recommend avoidance of 9TT117 during the proposed undertaking. Avoidance may be possible considering the location of this site just beyond the impacts depicted in the Project Design. If avoidance is not feasible, then we recommend additional testing to determine the data potential of the possible well feature and provide a definitive NRHP eligibility recommendation. Additional testing would include excavation of one to three adjacent 1-by-1-m units to explore the function and characteristics of the feature and determine whether it contains significant data potential that contributes to the NRHP eligibility for the site.
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