Archaeological Testing of Three Sites on the Chattahoochee River, 9HS30, 9HS530, and 9HS531, Harris County, Georgia

Under contract with the Kleinschmidt Group and on behalf of the Georgia Power Company, Southern Research conducted Phase II archaeological testing of sites 9HS30, 9HS530, and 9HS531 in Harris County, Georgia. GPC plans to surrender the licenses held with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the Langdale hydroelectric facility (the Langdale Dam) and the Riverview hydroelectric facility (the Crow Hop Dam) located on the Chattahoochee River. The dams will be removed as part of this project, which may impact these three archaeological sites. 9HS30 is situated on a broad, upland ridge immediately overlooking Langdale Dam, 9HS530 is situated along a levee below Langdale Dam, and 9HS531 is on a levee below Crow Hop Dam. Based on concept maps provided by the Kleinschmidt Group, the construction impact areas will include a staging area and improvements to an existing road that will impact portions of 9HS30, improvements to an existing road that will impact a small portion of 9HS530, and improvements to an existing road that will impact a large portion of 9HS531. 9HS30 has been previously investigated (Eggiman 2020, Gardner 1988) and recommended eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Sites 9HS530 and 9HS531 were identified as surface scatters during a shoreline reconnaissance and the NRHP eligibility determination was unknown; systematic survey and/or boundary delineation investigations were recommended to further clarify their NRHP eligibility (Wood 2020). The

current investigation was designed to determine the eligibility of these sites for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and to provide recommendations for the management of these sites in relation to the proposed dam removal activities. Phase II testing efforts focused on exposing sub-plowzone soils at 9HS30 and buried alluvial deposits at 9HS530 and 9HS531. This was done by means of close interval shovel testing at all three sites, and the excavation of multiple 1x2-meter test units at 9HS30, one 2x2-meter test unit at 9HS530, and one 2x2-meter test unit at 9HS531. At 9HS30, investigations expanded the site boundaries considerably. A moderate amount of lithic debitage was recovered from TUs 7 and 9, while TU8 yielded a large amount of ceramics and multiple bifacial tools. These concentrations indicate different activity areas of the site, as well the potential for intact buried cultural features affiliated with a number of occupations, from the Early Archaic through the Proto-historic period. Based on data collected during the current investigation, Southern Research concurs with previous recommendations that site

9HS30 is eligible for listing on the NRHP under Criterion D. At 9HS530, multiple alluvial events have buried intact deposits. The alluvial deposits contain mixed artifacts from multiple periods, including possible Paleoindian all the way through the Proto-historic period, while the deposits beneath the alluvium date primarily to the Archaic and Woodland periods. Based on the Phase II data, the intact buried deposits have the potential to yield important information about these periods, and therefore the site is recommended eligible for listing on the NRHP under Criterion D. Testing of 9HS531 revealed deeply buried, stratified soils under alluvial deposits. Fiber tempered pottery indicates a Late Archaic Stallings Island component, a pinched applique rim reveals a Late Mississippian Bull Creek Lamar phase component, and a Woodland era Swift Creek component is suggested by the presence of a sherd found on the surface. The site may contain earlier occupations as the cultural deposits likely continue below the base of excavation. 9HS531 has the potential to yield information which can significantly increase our understanding of these periods of prehistory, and therefore is recommended eligible for listing on the NRHP under Criterion D. Funding for this project was provided by Kleinschmidt Associates, on behalf of Georgia Power Company. Gretchen Eggiman served as Principal Investigator, Field Director, and author of this report. The field crew consisted of Scot Keith, Rebekah Minchew, Matthew Wood, and Elizabeth Williamson. Susanne Newberry performed multiple lab tasks, such as washing, sorting, and cataloging artifacts. Misty Dunn, Lab Manager photographed the artifacts. The author conducted the artifact analysis, with assistance from Susanne Newberry and Dean Wood. Special thank you to Joseph Charles from Georgia Power, for volunteering his time to join us in the field during test unit excavations at 9HS30.