Intensive Archaeological Survey of Selected Timber Stands for the East Side LSA Project, 1,865 Acres on the Chattooga River Ranger District, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, Habersham, Rabun and Stephens Counties, Georgia

Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc. (SAS) of Athens, Georgia conducted an intensive cultural resources survey of 755 ha (1 ,865 ac) of timber land on the Chattooga River Ranger District of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. The project, known as the East Side Large Scale Assessment (LSA) Project, was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Forty-six timber stands scheduled for harvest were surveyed in 24 ranger district compartments in Rabun, Habersham and Stephens Counties, Georgia. The primary goal of the survey was to locate all cultural resources that could be impacted by the scheduled timber harvests. Cultural resources were recorded and evaluated under national Register of Historic Paces (NRHP) criteria. Archival research was conducted prior to commencement of fieldwork in early May, 2010. We conducted fieldwork with a three-person survey crew and surveyed the timber stands in late May and June, 2010. We recorded 83 archeological sites and 17 occurrences (isolated artifacts) within the project area (Table 1). Four archeological sites were previously recorded. Archeological site density was approximately one site per 9.0 ha (22 .5 acres), and cultural resource density (sites and occurrences combined) was one cultural resource per 7.5 ha (19.6 ac). By area, cultural resources cover approximately 0.9 percent (6.6 ha) of the project area. Fifteen sites are recommended potentially eligible and one site eligible for listing on the national Register. These 16 sites will require additional archeological investigation if potential adverse effects cannot be avoided (Table 2). A total of 111 prehistoric (n=8 l) and historic (n=27) components were identified from the 83 sites and 17 occurrences. Three sites do not have an identified component and all are unidentifiable rock mounds. Prehistoric components consisted of the following: 61 Unidentified Lithic (UD Lithic), 3 Early Archaic, 3 Middle Archaic, l Late Archaic, l Late Archaic-Early Woodland, 4 Unidentified Archaic, 1 Early Woodland, 1 Middle Woodland, 2 Late Woodland, 1 Unidentified (UD) Woodland, and 3 Woodland/Mississippian (unidentified ceramic). Historic components consisted of the following: 5 Nineteenth-Twentieth Century and 22 Early-Middle Twentieth Century.