Archaeological Testing of Two Sites On The Chattahoochee River, 9HS30 and 9HS31, Harris County, Georgia

Phase II archaeological site testing was conducted on 9HS30 and 9HS31, located along the eastern banks of the Chattahoochee River in Harris County, Georgia. The sites were previously tested and 9HS30 was recommended Eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places while 9HS31 was recommended Not Eligible (Gardner 1988). Site 9HS30 is situated on a broad, upland ridge immediately overlooking the Langdale Dam and site 9HS31 is situated about one mile south, on a small, narrow ridge above the Crow Hop Dam. The sites are to be impacted by ground disturbing activities associated with the removal of the two aforementioned dams by Georgia Power. This project is part of Georgia Power's efforts to comply with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) decommissioning requirements for the Langdale and Riverview Projects, proposed by Georgia Power Company. There is currently no concept map for where the construction impact areas will be, but a large portion of site 9HS30 and the entirety of 9HS31 are most likely to be severely impacted. As a result, testing efforts focused on exposing sub-plowzone soils at both sites by means of close interval shovel testing and the excavation of multiple 1 meter by 2 meter test units. The occupations at site 9HS30 are currently hypothesized to have been intensive and spanned a great deal of time, from the Middle Archaic all the way to Proto- historic; the occupation(s) at 9HS31 appears to have been light, brief, and likely associated with the Archaic and Mississippian Periods. There were no cultural features identified at either site during the current investigations. At 9HS30, the excavation of over one hundred shovel tests expanded the site boundaries slightly; it is theorized that the site would extend much further across the broad landform, though private property is located immediately adjacent (east). Upon excavating three 1 meter by 2 meter test units concentrated within the grid west portion of the site, it was determined that this site has the potential to contain intact buried cultural features affiliated with a number of occupations; a large quantity of lithic debitage was recovered, consisting of large quartz core fragments as well as smaller flakes, suggesting this site may contain significant information regarding lithic resource procurement and reduction. Additionally, various ceramic types were recovered from across the site, and included plain, finely incised, complicated stamped, and brushed wares, suggesting Woodland, Mississippian, and contact period domestic habitation. At 9HS31, fourteen shovel tests were excavated followed by the excavation of two 1 meter by 2 meter test units. The results of these investigations did not yield any new or significant information. All of the shovel tests and the test units indicated an eroded and deflated landform that had been heavily disturbed, likely from historic agricultural practices and silviculture. Artifact density and diversity was extremely low at the site as well. These factors suggest this site is unlikely to contain intact buried cultural features.