Investigations at Late Discovery Sites 9Ro112 and 9Ro113, Big Haynes Reservoir

On September 8, 1995, Ms. Virginia Lange contacted Garrow & Associates to report the existence of an archaeological site within the flood pool of Big Haynes Reservoir, which is currently under construction. William F. Stanyard, Archaeologist, spoke with Ms. Lange and her brother, Mr. Fore, on that date. Mr. Stanyard arranged to visit the site with Ms. Lange on September 9, 1995, pending approval of the Conyers-Rockdale Big Haynes Impoundment Authority. Mr. Robert Zoeckler, of Maddox, Starnes & Nix, was then contacted and informed of the situation. During that conversation, Garrow & Associates was directed to visit the site and determine its status. Mr. Stanyard met with Ms. Lange on September 9 and was shown artifacts said to have been collected from two sites. The artifacts that had been removed from the sites were photographed. Ms. Lange and her son led Mr. Stanyard to a small ridge, where artifacts were observed eroding from the surface. A small pile of artifacts that Ms. Lange indicated were collected from this area was also observed in the approximate center of the site. The material shown to Mr. Stanyard and observed by him in the field is attributable to the Late Archaic period. Woodland artifacts in the possession of Ms. Lange are said to have come from an adjacent ridge in the southern portion of the site. Mr. Stanyard did not observe any artifacts in the field in the southern area. Mr. Stanyard was then directed to a second site 100 m north of Black Shoals Road on the west side of Big Haynes Creek. He visited that site by himself. Earlier, Ms. Lange had shown him artifacts attributable to the Early Woodland period that she indicated came from that landform. Soil probing at both sites suggested the possibility that intact soils existed on one or both of these landforms. On September 11, 1995, Mr. John Nix and Mr. Zoeckler of Maddox, Starnes & Nix and Mr. David Crampton, Review Archaeologist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, were contacted by Barbara A. Garrow, Project Manager, and informed of Mr. Stanyard's initial findings. All parties agreed that shovel test investigations should be conducted at these sites to assess their National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligibility status. The remainder of this document details the results of those investigations. All illustrative figures are in Appendix 1. On September 11,1995, Mr. Stanyard and a Senior Field Technician visited the two previously unrecorded archaeological sites within the Big Haynes Reservoir that were brought to Garrow & Associates' attention by Ms. Virginia Lange on September 9, 1995 (Figure 1). These locations have been designated 9R0112 and 9R0113. Shovel test fill was screened through 1/4 inch mesh hardware cloth. Artifacts from shovel tests and surface collections were placed in bags labeled with the project name, site number, provenience, excavator's name, and date. The general site setting, recent disturbances, and soil conditions were photographed. Site 9R0112 is located on two adjacent east-west ridges situated approximately 15 m west of Big Haynes Creek (Figure 2). It is located about 500 m south of Haralson Mill Road on the west side of the creek (Figure 1). The vegetation has been stripped and bulldozed (Figure 3). A recently bulldozed road cuts through the site from north to south. Five shovel tests were conducted at 9R0112; only one contained cultural material (Figure 2). The only artifact recovered from the positive shovel test is a diabase flake fragment. Two other diabase flake fragments were collected from the surface. The material piled near the center of the site by Ms. Lange and Mr. Fore during a previous visit was collected as well. These artifacts include two Savannah River hefted bifaces, one unidentifiable quartz hefted biface fragment, one large diabase biface, two battered quartz cobbles, one battered piece of granite, five diabase core fragments, seven pieces of diabase debitage, five pieces of quartz debitage, three pieces of Ridge and Valley chert debitage, one piece of Coastal Plain chert debitage, and one piece of quartz fire cracked rock. The artifacts that are said to have come from the northern portion of the site and that were shown to Mr. Stanyard by Ms. Lange include one diabase Savannah River hefted biface, one diabase grooved (full or three-quarter) ax fragment, two soapstone bowl sherds, and one Stallings Island Punctated ceramic sherd (Figure 4). One large plain rim sherd with a sharply out-flared lip is in the possession of Ms. Lange. She informed Mr. Stanyard that it came from the southern portion of the site. This area is badly disturbed (Figure 5), and no artifacts were observed on the surface during our investigation or during Mr. Stanyard's visit on September 9,1995. Although a large quantity and wide variety of cultural material attributable to a Late Archaic occupation was present on the surface of 9R0112, there is no evidence that intact cultural deposits are present or that cultural features still exist. Soil profiles indicate that the brown (1OYR 4/4) sandy loam A horizon is shallow (4-16 cm thick) and underlain by a yellowish red (5YR 5/8) saprolitic subsoil that extends to a maximum depth of about 45 cm. Topsoil has been removed by recent bulldozing, and several pockets of disturbed soils were also caused by bulldozing (Figure 6). Further, the nature of the saprolitic subsoil, which is very sandy and well drained, makes finding intact cultural features very unlikely. Based on the above evidence, Garrow & Associates recommends 9R0112 as ineligible for the NRHP under Criterion D. We also recommend that no further work with regard to cultural resources is necessary before construction continues. Site 9R0113 is located approximately 100 m north of Black Shoals Road on the west bank of Big Haynes Creek (Figure 1). It is located on an east-west ridge that terminates at Big Haynes Creek (Figure 7). The vegetation has been stripped and bulldozed (Figure 8). Three shovel tests were conducted at 9R0113; none contained cultural material. A reddish yellow (5YR 6/8) clay subsoil was reached between 4 and 17 cm below the surface; the A horizon consists of a dark brown (1OYR 3/3) sandy loam (Figure 9). Three Dunlap Fabric Impressed sherds and two simple stamped sherds were collected from the surface, indicating that the site was occupied during the Early Woodland period. The soils have been extensively disturbed by bulldozing (Figure 10), and the presence of stratigraphically intact cultural deposits is extremely unlikely. Subsoil is exposed in most areas of the site, and no cultural features were observed. The extensive mechanical disturbance also makes the existence of intact cultural features very unlikely. The information potential of 9R0113 is very limited, given the degree of disturbance this site has recently undergone. Therefore, Garrow & Associates recommends 9R0113 as ineligible for the NRHP. We also recommend that no further cultural resource investigations at this location are necessary before construction continues.