PHASE I ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY AND PHASE II TESTING OF 9BK531 FOR THE PROPOSED REPLACEMENT OF THE SR 23 BRIDGES OVER BRIER CREEK AND BRIER CREEK OVERFLOW, BURKE COUNTY, GEORGIA

Edwards-Pitman Environmental, Inc. (EPEI), under a contract with Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., conducted Phase I archaeological survey and Phase II testing of site 9BK531 for the proposed Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) projects to replace the State Route (SR) 23 bridges over Brier Creek and Brier Creek Overflow in Burke County, Georgia. Previouslyrecorded site 9BK531 was the only archaeological site identified during the Phase I survey, and subsequent Phase II testing excavations were performed to clarify 9BK531’s National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligibility. The survey and testing investigations, carried out in accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, focused on an Environmental Survey Boundary (ESB) that measures approximately 1.4 kilometers (km) (0.9 miles [mi]) in length and ranges between 90 and 175 meters (m) (295 to 575 feet [ft]) in width. When design is complete, the project’s area of potential effect (APE), consisting of project limits, required right-of-way (ROW), and easements, will likely be smaller than the ESB.

Site 9BK531 is a large precontact site with Early Paleoindian through Woodland period components, recognized as having research potential based on the landowner Johnny Williams’ artifact collections, which were recorded by the late Georgia archaeologist Jerald Ledbetter. The site spans a large area beyond SR 23, especially to the southeast, and only a small portion of the overall site was investigated for this project. EPEI’s survey at 9BK531 included systematic 15 m (49 ft) interval shovel testing/auger testing, which clarified the site boundary within the ESB alongside SR 23, and identified several locations with substantial artifact deposits that required further investigation to ascertain their integrity and information potential. Phase II testing efforts were designed in coordination with GDOT and the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), and included additional 7.5 m (24.5 ft) interval auger testing and eight square meters of test unit excavations by EPEI, as well as geophysical survey (including magnetometer and ground penetrating radar [GPR]) and geomorphological study by consultant Seramur & Associates, PC. Test units were placed on the basis of the results from auger testing and geophysical survey.

Phase II testing results were mixed within the investigated area. Conditions varied throughout the site; with some excavations revealing an absence of cultural materials, others showing fairly dense and deeply buried artifact deposits with reasonably good integrity, while yet others exhibited deposits with poor integrity (due to natural or historic/modern disturbances). No evidence of Paleoindian occupation was identified. No middens or cultural features were identified. Temporally diagnostic artifacts were rare. An Early-Middle Woodland component was identified via the recovery of Deptford pottery sherds. The overwhelming preponderance of chert artifacts, and a lack of pottery from deeper levels within certain test units, suggests that an additional component related to an earlier, aceramic culture of unknown period (likely Archaic) is present as well. A minor historic component is also present, as evidenced by the recovery of glass, whiteware, brick fragments, and other artifacts during excavation, as well as several wooden pilings from a possible older bridge under the existing Brier Creek bridge.

Based on previous reports of deeply buried stratified deposits bearing temporally diverse artifacts, including rare Paleoindian artifacts, site 9BK531, overall, is regarded as having the potential to yield significant information, and the site is therefore recommended eligible for the NRHP under Criterion D. However, within the portion of the site located within the ESB, survey and testing has revealed portions of the site with poor integrity and/or a lack of artifact deposits. The northwestern side of SR 23, in particular, has demonstrated a lack of integrity due to prior borrow pit disturbances. Of the investigated portion of the site, only a relatively small area located southeast of SR 23, measuring roughly 60-x-50 m, and, at nearest approach, approximately 10 m from SR 23, exhibited deposits of good integrity, where additional investigation may reveal additional data on the cultures that utilized 9BK531 through time, particularly the Woodland and Archaic periods. Avoidance of this area is recommended. Based on the results of survey and testing, substantial Paleoindian period deposits are not anticipated anywhere within the ESB. The information in this report will be utilized by project planners to develop a design that minimizes potential impacts to 9BK531. Once project design progresses to the point where an APE can be established, potential effects to the NRHP eligible site 9BK531 will be examined, and if the site cannot be avoided, affects will be addressed in a forthcoming Assessment of Effects (AOE) report.