Archeological Delineation of the Freeman Cemetery in Arcade, Jackson County, Georgia, GDOT Project STP-2434(2)

The Freeman Cemetery is a small, family burial ground located in the sparsely developed southeast portion of the town of Arcade (Figure 1), in south central Jackson County. The Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) is considering moving the cemetery to facilitate the widening of U.S. Highway 129. To gather information for the decision-making process, DOT contracted with Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc. (SAS) to archeologically delineate the extent of graves, i.e., the boundary of the cemetery, in accordance with Georgia Code Section 36-72-5(2). This code section states that the number and location of graves believed to be present is to be determined by use of "minimally invasive" techniques. While some debate exists in the archeological community about the definition of minimally invasive, it generally refers to remote sensing techniques and probing. On July 20, 1995, SAS archeologists Thomas Gresham and Robert Benson visited the Freeman Cemetery to archeologically delineate it by visual inspection and the systematic use of a 9 mm diameter metal probe to detect grave shafts with no surface markings.

The cemetery is located 80 m (263 ft) south southwest of the intersection of U.S. Highway 129 and the driveway to Mr. Charles Segars' home (Figure 2). Mr. Segars owns the land upon which the cemetery is situated. The cemetery is also 116 m (380 ft) due south of the intersection of U.S. Highway 129 and a county road the angles into the highway from the west (Figures 1 and 2).