Phase I Archaeological Resources Survey of the 500-acre Initial Facilities Area for Chattahoochee State Park

From December 12, 2008, to January 17, 2009, Brockington and Associates, Inc. conducted a Phase I archaeological resources survey for a 500-acre (ac) initial facilities area for the proposed Chattahoochee Bend State Park, located along the Chattahoochee River approximately 24 kilometers (km) (15 miles [mi]) northwest of Newnan, Georgia (Coweta County). The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) contracted Brockington to complete the survey in compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. This project is intended to identify and document archaeological resources within the property boundaries, and assess eligibility for inclusion of encountered archaeological resources on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) according to the criteria set forth by 36 CFR Part 63. This survey included an archaeological reconnaissance and shovel testing survey completed within the parcel and the relocation and re-assessment of numerous registered and unregistered cultural resources known to be located within or very near the project area. Survey transects were laid out in a 30 meter (m) (100 foot [ft]) grid across the entire project area. Pedestrian survey and additional testing at known or potential site locations supplemented shovel test pits excavated within the grid.

Brockington personnel examined over 2,600 shovel test locations during the survey.

During the course of the Phase I survey Brockington archaeologists attempted to re-locate and assess 16 previously registered sites (9CW30 through 36, 9CW38, 9CW41 through 44, 9CW47, and 9CW100 through 102) which had been identified in a survey for the Wansley Yates power line by West Georgia College in 1976. These sites were all lithic scatters or isolated finds with the exception of 9CW100, which contained both historic and prehistoric materials, and 9CW102, a scatter of historic ceramics. Based on coordinates provided by Georgia Archaeological Site Files (GASF), the datum or center point of each of these sites was re-located in the field and nine shovel tests at 5-m intervals were excavated around the location at a 10-m radius in order to identify and assess site deposits. While Brockington personnel identified historic materials associated with Site 9CW100, subsurface testing and surface inspection failed to produce artifacts at any of the other IS a site. The presumption is that destruction of these sites took place during either the installation of the Georgia Power transmission line or trail construction and logging. Site 9CWIOO is a historic, late nineteenth or early twentieth century house site that is ineligible for inclusion on the NRHP. During the survey, several unregistered field sites (FS) identified by Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc. (SAS), during their earlier reconnaissance of the proposed state park (Pluckhahn 2003), were re-located and assessed using the same methodology as for the West Georgia College sites. Brockington personnel registered twelve of these sites with the GASF as archaeological sites: 9CW321 was initially identified as a surface scatter of historic ceramics located along the Wansley-Yates Power line. This small site was re-located, but has no subsurface integrity. It is considered ineligible for the NRHP. 9CW322 was identified based on archival research by SAS (Pluckhahn 2003) as the former location of Bowens Ferry, at the end of Bud Davis Road on the banks of the Chattahoochee River. A single glass shard was identified in 2003; no additional cultural materials were identified during the Phase I archaeological survey. As a known historic locus, Site 9CW322 was registered with GASF as a matter of course, however, given the lack of physical evidence of the ferry operation, it is considered ineligible for the NRHP. 9CW323 was originally identified as a house site based on historic map research (Pluckhahn 2003). During the site revisit, this area was found to have ..., been recently logged and evidence of the well and 7" chimney noted by SAS was gone. However, along with the historic materials, quartz stone tools and debitage were identified during the subsurface testing. Most of these materials came from disturbed road deposits. Due to the recent disturbance of this multicomponent site, it is considered ineligible for the NRHP.

• 9CW324 was originally identified by SAS (Pluckhahn 2003) as an isolated quartz artifact on the surface of a tree fall. During additional shovel testing, four pieces of quartz debitage were identified around this location. However due to the limited size (100 square [sq] meters [1,076 sq ft]) and density of this site, it is considered ineligible for the NRHP.

• 9CW327 was originally identified by SAS (Pluckhahn 2003) as a scatter of stone with historic vegetation and a single whiteware sherd at an area identified as a house site on historic maps. Additional testing by Brockington identified loose brick, historic ceramics and glass in an area recently disturbed by trail improvements. This site has been severely impacted by the use of the logging road and is ineligible for the NRHP.

• 9CW328 was identified as a house site based on historic map research (Pluckhahn 2003). Although this area has been recently cleared and is now obscured by several large brush piles, a scatter of historic artifacts and a collapsed well were identified at the site. However, recent impacts to this site make it ineligible for the NRHP.

• 9CW329, first identified as a house site based on historic map research (Pluckhahn 2003), is the scattered stone foundation and chimney of a small home site, approximately 20x20 m (66x66 ft) in size. A few scattered historic artifacts and pieces of corrugated metal roofing were found near the foundation. Due to the poor conditions of the structural remains and lack of intact cultural deposits, this site is considered ineligible for the NRHP.

• 9CW331 was originally identified by SAS (Pluckhahn 2003) as a house site containing chimney remains, an open well and historic vegetation. The site was re-located on a hilltop clearing along an unmaintained access road. In addition to the well, a scatter of historic materials as well as modern trash was identified in the locus. However, in the absence of structural remains and the recent date of most of the artifactual finds, this site is considered ineligible for the NRHP.

• 9CW332 was originally identified by SAS (Piuckhahn 2003) as a house site containing chimney remains, near the location of the prehistoric scatter at Site 9CW101. During the current site revisit, a few possible building stones were noted on the surface and pieces of a porcelain doll were collected This site has been recently impacted by trail construction and timbering and is considered ineligible for the NRHP.

• 9CW325, 9CW326, and 9CW330 were identified by SAS (Pluckhahn 2003) as small scatters of quartz lithics on the surface of a logging road. Brockington collected a few additional pieces of debitage during the site revisits; however, no material was collected from any undisturbed deposits. Due to the disturbed nature of these sites, they are ineligible for the NRHP. In the course of the Phase 1 survey, Brockington also re-located and assessed five SAS field sites (Pluckhahn 2003) which failed the accepted criteria (Georgia Council of Professional Archaeologists [GCPA] 2003) to be registered as individual archaeological sites:

• FS-26 was identified as a single metavolcanics tool found on the surface of the Georgia Power transmission line corridor. Additional testing produced no other artifacts in this area, and the locus is considered an ineligible, isolated find.

• FS-44 was identified as a single quartz lithic and a possible pottery sherd located approximately 60 m (200 ft) north of Bud Davis Road; no additional artifacts were identified by Brockington. As only one definite artifact was identified by SAS (Pluckhahn 2003) FS-44 is considered an ineligible, isolated find at best and thus not registered by Brockington with the GASF.

• FS-59 was identified as a 4x0.5 m (13xl.6 ft) pit feature (1.5 m (5 ft] deep) thought to be a feature related to mineral prospecting when identified by SAS (Pluckhahn 2003). During the site inspection and subsurface survey, this feature was not identified, nor was any other cultural material found in this area, although the site could have been obscured by recent logging activities.

• FS-76 was identified less than 30m (100ft) Brockington and Associates iii west of the coordinates for Site 9CW100, and was determined to be part of this known multicomponent site. No prehistoric materials, however, were identified during the site revisit. This ineligible house site was found to contain the remains of a razed house and filled in well as well as a scatter of historic debris that has been bulldozed into small berms.

• FS-78 was originally identified by SAS (Pluckhahn 2003) as a possible outbuilding site containing stone pier remains, located approximately 60 m (200 ft) north of the historic ceramic scatter at Site 9CW102. During the current site revisit, no evidence of a historic archaeological site was identified and this locus was not registered with GASF. In addition, Brockington identified four new prehistoric sites (9CW333 through 336) and nine isolated artifact finds (IF#1 through IF#9). Newly identified sites include:

• 9CW333 is a lithic scatter located on a small terrace above a wetland near the south-central project area boundary. Subsurface lithic debitage was collected from two shovel tests 20m (66ft) apart. Given the small density of this non-diagnostic scatter, it is considered ineligible for the NRHP.

• 9CW334 is a scatter of prehistoric lithics collected from a 50 m (164ft) stretch of the park access road. While several bifacial quartz tools and a possible quartzite hammerstone were identified, all artifacts were found in disturbed contexts along the side of the road and not in situ within intact cultural deposits; this site is ineligible for the NRHP.

• 9CW335 is a small pottery scatter located on a small terrace above a drainage near its confluence with the Chattahoochee River. Prehistoric ceramics were collected from two shovel tests 20m (66ft) apart. Given the small density of this scatter, the site is considered ineligible for the NRHP.

• 9CW336 is a 70x55 m (230x180 ft) scatter of prehistoric pottery and lithics located on a terrace above the Chattahoochee River. The boundaries of the site are partially marked by an old property line. To the north and east of this boundary, the area has been logged and replaced with planted pines. This disturbance has likely truncated the site. However, the presence of likely Middle Woodland period artifacts from intact subsurface deposits within the undisturbed portion of the site indicates this site as potentially eligible for the NRHP.

Isolated finds were largely prehistoric lithics, both debitage and tools; however, small prehistoric (IF#7; IF#9) and historic (IF#6) pottery finds were also included. These finds were located largely on the surface of exposed subsoils or disturbed contexts. Additional shovel testing at these locations failed to produce more cultural materials and these isolated finds are all considered ineligible for the NRHP. In conclusion, Brockington has identified and registered 16 archaeological sites with the GASF; fourteen additional loci are isolated cultural finds and/ or SAS field sites that lack confirmation in the field. Brockington has also re-located and re-assessed 16 previously identified archaeological sites within or just outside the current project area. Of these, only the historic ceramic scatter located at Site 9CW100 could be re-identified; all the other 15 sites are presumed destroyed by the construction of the utility line and associated access roads. Of the 46 cultural resources identified within or very near the initial facilities area of Chattahoochee Bend State Park, only Site 9CW336 is considered potentially eligible for the NRHP. Most site locations, as were most of the landforms within the 500-ac project area, were found to have been heavily impacted by erosion and disturbances caused by timbering, trail improvements and the construction of the Wansley-Yates transmission line. Brockington recommends that impacts to Site 9CW336 be avoided in future undertakings pending a Phase II evaluation of the site to determine its eligibility for the NRHP. Given the depletion of and disturbance to the soil column throughout the project area, additional undiscovered cultural resources that are intact and eligible for the NRHP are not likely to exist within the project area. Outside of recommendations regarding Site 9CW336, Brockington recommends that development of this 500-ac tract proceed without further cultural resources investigations.