Archaeological Reconnaissance Survey Proposed Wastewater Treatment Facilities Town of Meigs, Georgia Our Project Number Es-749

The purpose of this project was to conduct a brief archaeological reconnaissance within the areas to be impacted by construction of the various components proposed in the Meigs 201 Facilities Plan. The necessity of this survey had been determined through a project review conducted by the Office of the State Archaeologist of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The Earth Systems Division of SSI conducted this project at the request of the project engineers, Holland, Dubeau Associates of Albany, Georgia. The project proposal prepared by the Earth Systems Division of SSI read in part as follows: "The archaeological reconnaissance survey will consist of a brief pedestrian survey of the study site and is geared to detect the more visible archaeological resources present on the property. This will provide a preliminary assessment of the archaeological potential of the study tract, and will not be intended to provide complete identification or assessment of the resources present. The results of this reconnaissance will be presented in a project narrative report. The project as described in this proposal did not include a literature search, and was intended to detect archaeological sites that could present a barrier to continuation of the project. The project authorization was received on December 4, 1976, and the field reconnaissance was conducted by the author on December 9, 1976. The archaeological reconnaissance quickly revealed that no prehistoric or historic archaeological resources are present within the study site. The study site is drained by ephemeral streams, and is situated at the headwaters of these streams. Floodplains in this area tend to be marshy areas that are inundated during each major wet interval. The non-floodplain soils tend to be fine sandy loams that are easily stripped of their organic content. The topography of the area is relatively flat. Map studies conducted by Earth Systems personnel prior to the survey indicated prehistorical archaeological sites in the region would more likely be located along major rivers and perhaps the perennial streams of the area, and that the areas watered by ephemeral streams would carry a very low probability for site placement. This prediction was certainly validated in the case of the study tract, but was not tested for the larger region during the reconnaissance survey.