Volume I Lower Towaliga Reservoir Data Recovery Excavations at Six Prehistoric Sites Within the Proposed Henry County Water Supply Reservoir System, Henry and Spalding Counties, Georgia

As required by the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has requested that the Henry County Water Authority conduct data recovery excavations at nine prehistoric sites within the proposed Henry County Water Supply Reservoir system as a component of the Clean Water Act, Section 404 permitting process. Under 33 CFR Part 325, the USACE must process Section 404 permit applications with respect to Section 106 of the NHPA. The proposed Henry County Water Supply Reservoir system consists of three Reservoir impoundments (Lower Towaliga, Upper Towaliga and Long Branch Reservoirs) with associated retention and access structures, The system is located in the Towaliga River Drainage Basin in Henry and Spalding Counties, 15.0 kilometers south to southwest of McDonough, Georgia. In November 1988, April and May 1990, and February 1991, Law Environmental, Inc., (Mr. Robert S. Webb, Principal Investigator) conducted a cultural resources assessment of the proposed Henry County water supply reservoir system, totaling 530 hectares. A total of 77 cultural resources, 13 isolated finds, five isolated rock piles, and two dated beech trees were detected during the field survey. The cultural resources assessment was performed to locate and identify cultural resources within the proposed Reservoir system and assess their significance by National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) criteria [36 CFR Part 60.4(d)). The assessment also provides an evaluation of the effects that the project may have on cultural resources within impact areas. The prehistoric resources encountered during this assessment include semi-permanent residential sites, season-specific residential bases, short-term camps and short-term resource-extractive locations, primarily dating to the Archaic and Woodland periods. Several of the prehistoric sites yielded artifacts that date to the Mississippian and Protohistoric periods, suggesting the possible presence of farmstead or hamlet sites. Historic resources date to the late 19th century and 20th century and include liquor stills, house sites, and mill sites. Based on survey findings and comments from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 17 cultural resources were tested to determine National Register eligibility status. Testing resulted in the detection of intact cultural remains at 11 of the 17 archeological resources. Based on the materials recorded, these 11 resources were considered eligible for the National Register. Two sites within the Reservoir system will be preserved in place (Sites 9SP16 and 9SP17), while the remaining nine sites were subject to data recovery. Six of these sites (Sites 9HY41, 9HY42, 9SPI5, 9SPI9, 9SP20 and 9SP21) are located within the Lower Towaliga Reservoir component of the water supply system and are the subject of this report (Volume 1). The other three investigated sites (Sites 9HY36, 9HY38 and 9HY39) are located in the Upper Towaliga Reservoir and are documented in Volume 2. After the implementation of a project Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and the development of a USACE/SHPO-approved data recovery plan, Law Environmental conducted data recovery excavations at sites within the Lower Towaliga Reservoir between April 5 and July 23, 1993. A total of 482 square meters of excavations were conducted at the six sites within the Lower Towaliga Reservoir, including seven 5.0 by 5.0-meter blocks, one 4.0 by 6.0-meter block, one 4.0 by 4-meter block, two 3-meter wide trenches, fifteen 2 by 2-meter blocks and seven mechanically stripped (backhoe) areas. Archeological data indicate that the Lower Towaliga Reservoir was most intensively occupied on a seasonal basis (fall and early winter) during the Late Archaic period. Radiocarbon samples recovered from 21 Late Archaic features give a date range of 3,030 + 90 to 3,950 + 60 BP. Within 7 the project area, Late Archaic activities focused on a wide range of resource procurement activities and "gearing up" activities. Although temporary, Late Archaic assemblages and feature frequency imply intensive use. Middle and Early Archaic groups also inhabited the project area, but on a less frequent basis than those of the Late Archaic. A Middle Archaic radiocarbon date of 6,390 + 200 BP was obtained from a pit feature. The occasional recovery of Woodland period ceramics indicate limited use of the six investigated areas during the Middle and Late Woodland periods.