In mid-December 2017 Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc. conducted a Phase I archeological survey of 33 acres of wooded land at the south end of the Thomasville Regional Airport, land that is needed for a rerouting of Airport Road that will allow for airport improvements.
We understood that in addition to building the road, the entire 33 acres will be cleared of trees and planted in grass. Several adjacent and nearby parcels had been archeologically surveyed previously as part of the improvement project, and no archeological sites were found. This result and our archival research that showed no former house sites on the subject tract indicated that archeological sites were unlikely to occur on the tract.
Visual inspection and the excavation of 103 shovel tests on 30-m intervals throughout the tract failed to encounter an archeological site. However, a single small Coastal Plain chert flake was found in one shovel test, which was surrounded with eight additional shovel tests that were all sterile. We recommend that this isolated find is not eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. Therefore, we recommend that the proposed undertaking will have no effect on archaeological resources and should be granted clearance to proceed.
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