Whitfield County Archaeological Resource Survey Overview of Resource Base

The following report presents the results of preliminary research designed to identify known and probable archaeological resources in Whitfield County, Georgia. This research, sponsored by the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners, was carried out by the Coosawattee Foundation during the fall of 1998 in order to lay the groundwork for any future archaeological fieldwork that might be conducted toward this end. Research at the Georgia Archaeological Site Files (GASF) in Athens, Georgia resulted in the identification of a total of 93 archaeological sites presently recorded for Whitfield County, Georgia, as well as 18 manuscripts and reports on file relating to previous archaeological survey and excavation in the county. Of this total, 58 of these recorded sites contained evidence for prehistoric Native American occupation in the form of scattered chipped stone tools and waste materials, and two of this number additionally contained prehistoric pottery fragments dating to later culture periods. Some 45 of the 93 sites contained archaeological evidence for 19th- and 20th-century American occupation, commonly representing the remains of houses and farmsteads lacking standing structures. Only two recorded sites include Civil War fortifications, and not even a single Cherokee site has yet been recorded. In order to identify the number and probable locations of Cherokee archaeological sites, we conducted a detailed examination of Removal-era historical records at the Georgia Department of Archives and History in Atlanta, including the original 1832 land plats for what would become Whitfield County, and an 1835 census and 1836 valuation records for the Cherokees in this area. Based on this research, a total of some 428 Cherokee men, women, and children inhabited the valleys of what would eventually become Whitfield County, living in a total of 72 households distributed in 68 distinct farmsteads, some of which were loosely grouped into local communities such as Dogwood Flats, Red Hill, Big Spring, and Chattoogata Valley. From an archaeological standpoint, this means that Whitfield County undoubtedly contains at least 68 undiscovered Cherokee archaeological sites dating to the 1830s, each corresponding to an individual farmstead containing an average of 3-4 log structures each (cabins, corn cribs, stables, smoke houses, etc.), and housing an average of 6 family members. Using the 56 mapped Cherokee improvements in the 1832 survey, it should now be possible to predict the locations of most of these sites within about 1000 feet. With regard to Civil War sites, even a brief review of the more easily-accessible texts and maps relating to the movements and engagements of Confederate and Union military units, and regarding the exact positions of entrenchments and fortifications constructed during these years, makes it abundantly clear that Whitfield County possesses a large and significant archaeological resource-base relating to the Civil War. Only the smallest fraction of these numerous resources have been formally documented in the GASF, or in the county's present historical resource inventory. Finally, a review of the 11,500-year prehistory of Northwest Georgia strongly suggests that Whitfield County almost certainly possesses a much more extensive and rich prehistoric archaeological record than would be implied by the present list of 93 sites, which includes only four sites deemed even eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (only two of these even have prehistoric components). Despite several scattered archaeological surveys in Whitfield County since the 1970s, no unified systematic attempt has yet been made to develop a more comprehensive inventory of buried archaeological resources in the county, leaving only random surveys associated with pipeline construction or timber sales to fill in the gaps in Whitfield County prehistory. Based on the research undertaken for this report, the archaeological resources of Whitfield County are poorly-known at best, increasing the chances that irreplaceable archaeological sites relating to the county's history and prehistory may be affected or even destroyed by modern development. Indeed, the city of Dalton now lies squarely on top of a major concentration of Cherokee sites in the Chatoogata Valley, making it likely a large number of these sites have already been lost to urban growth. In contrast, a substantial cluster of Cherokee sites in the Dogwood Valley area along East Chickamauga Creek is still undeveloped, and may be largely intact. In view of this conclusion, archaeological fieldwork designed to identify and document as many of Whitfield County's remaining archaeological sites as possible would be advisable in order to encourage responsible stewardship of the county's rich historical and cultural heritage.