Sixth Addendum Phase I Archaeological Survey for the Widening of SR 133

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) plans to widen and improve State Route (SR) 133 between Albany and Moultrie under PI Numbers 0000473, 0000475, 0000519, 0000520, and 0015478. The SR 133 Area of Potential Effect (APE) follows SR 133 through Worth, Dougherty, and Colquitt counties from the intersection with South Mock Road on the north to south of Highway 319. Prior archaeological surveys of the SR 133 project corridor have been completed (Amrine 2020; Carpenter and McQuinn 2018; Keith et al. 2019; Koch et al. 2006; Martin et al. 2014; McMahon 2019; Sipes and Lovett 2011). This design change falls outside the previous survey coverage and is located in Worth County between Shanklin Road and Carlton Road (PI No. 0000519). The portions of the current APE that extend beyond previous survey coverage are referred to herein as the “Addendum Survey Area.”

Through a Menu of Services (MOS) contract and on behalf of the GDOT, New South Associates, Inc. (New South) conducted a Phase I archaeological survey of the Addendum Survey Area. This survey was pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), as amended (16 USC 470), and was intended to identify and evaluate the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligibility of archaeological resources in the project’s APE. The Phase I survey involved investigating the Addendum Survey Area with systematic shovel testing. In addition, two previously recorded sites (Sites 9WO36 and 9WO71) were revisited as part of the survey. GDOT provided a shapefile of 36 preplotted shovel test locations to New South. The preplotted shovel test locations were determined with reference to previously surveyed areas and the locations of known site boundaries. Shovel tests placed inside or immediately adjacent to the previously recorded site boundaries were spaced at intervals of 15 meters or less, while those not within or near site boundaries were spaced at 30-meter intervals.

No new sites were identified as a result of the survey. The boundaries of Site 9WO36 and Site 9WO71, both previously recorded, were expanded. Located outside of the Addendum Survey Area but within 10 meters of it, Site 9WO36 was relocated by the current survey, and as a result, the boundary was expanded to the west. The site was previously evaluated as lacking data potential within the survey area (Koch et al. 2006). This recommendation did not change during a revisit for the fourth SR133 addendum survey (McMahon 2019). New South agrees with this assessment. However, because the site may extend outside the current APE, and this portion has not been evaluated, the NRHP eligibility of Site 9WO36 remains unknown. An Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) should be implemented to protect the unknown portions of the site.

Site 9WO71 was relocated, and its boundary was slightly expanded to the southwest. The known portion of this site was previously evaluated as lacking significant data potential (Martin et al. 2014), and based on the current findings, New South agrees with this assessment; however, the site’s NRHP status is unknown, because it has not been fully delineated. Portions of this site that may be present outside the current APE should be protected from the proposed project-related activities through implementation of an ESA.