Archaeological Survey of Proposed Timbering at the Georgia Mountain Research and Education Center, University of Georgia, Union County, Georgia

The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences owns a 445-acre tract of farm and woodland at its Georgia Mountain Research and Education Center just south of Blairsville in Union County (Figure l). The Georgia Mountain Branch Experiment Station, as it was first labeled, was created in 1930 from a farmstead that was formerly owned by Jarretts and Christophers. The current Center wishes to harvest mature white pine, hemlock and cedar from about 14.7 acres that are predominantly comprised of these conifers, converting this to a hardwood-only forest. The project entails constructing a loading deck in the timber stand and about 500 ft of access road through the stand. Various skidder trails will be improvised by the timbering contractors to bring the logs to the loading deck. The stand is composed of three narrow, sloping ridge crests flanked by moderately steep side slopes. To ensure that the clearing and light grading of the proposed deck and access road do not damage potentially significant archaeological sites, the University contracted with Southeastern Archeological Services to conduct a Phase I archaeological survey of the proposed deck and road in accordance with the Timber Harvest Archaeology Protocol developed by the Georgia Historic Preservation Division and the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division's Forest Management Unit in 2011. On November 19, 2020, the consulting archaeologist Tom Gresham met with Scott Messer, the University of Georgia's historic preservation compliance official and two forestry persolll1el with the Georgia DNR's Forest Management Unit to verify the location of the deck and road and discuss the logistics of the timbering operation. Gresham then conducted visual inspection and shovel testing on the three ridge crests and discovered and recorded two archaeological sites, 9UN73 l and 9UN732. Both are sparse, ridge top, prehistoric lithic scatters that have been disturbed by previous logging and erosion. We recommend that neither site is eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and that the proposed construction of the loading deck and access road and the subsequent timber thinning of the stands will not adversely affect significant archaeological resources and should be granted clearance to proceed.