Phase I Intensive Cultural Resources Survey of Wetland Preservation Buffers Around Eleven Creek Crossings of the Proposed Fall Line Freeway

To minimize future impacts to important waterways and to accommodate the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) proposed wetland preservation buffers around each water crossing traversed by the proposed Fall Line Freeway (FLF) from Gordon to Sandersville, Georgia. The preservation buffers require an environmental impact statement, which includes a Phase I intensive cultural resources survey. Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc. (SAS) contracted with the GDOT to implement the cultural resources survey. Bridges or culverts will be constructed at each of the following crossings (from west to east along the proposed FLF route): Little Commissioner Creek, Lake Tchukolaho, Beaver Creek, Black Creek, Little Black Creek, Reedy Creek, Oconee River, Buck Creek (two channels), Town Creek, Gumm Creek, Bluff Creek, Big Branch and Buffalo Creek (two channels)(Figure l). A preservation buffer will not be necessary at Lake Tchukolaho because it has a developed shoreline and a Phase I intensive cultural resources survey has already been conducted for the Oconee River crossing (Braley 1996). The proposed wetland preservation buffers at the remaining creek crossings are approximately 150 m (500 ft) wide, extending from the proposed FLF right-of-way edge into the floodplains and including approximately 30 m (50 ft) of the adjacent toe slopes or terraces that descend onto the floodplains. A total of eleven archeological sites and three prehistoric artifact occurrences were recorded during the intensive cultural resources survey (Table 1). Five of these sites will require additional protection if any ground disturbing activities are planned (Table 2). Among the five sites that require protection, four are prehistoric sites that are recommended potentially eligible to the NRHP. The fifth site is a twentieth century cemetery (Gumm Hill Church Cemetery) where the wetland buffer zone infringes upon the cemetery's southern corner. All four of the potentially eligible prehistoric sites were recommended as such primarily because site boundaries could not be completely determined due to limits imposed by the project survey area. One particular site, 9BL27, is very likely to be a part of 9BL129. 9BL129 was recorded during the proposed FLF ROW Phase I intensive cultural resources survey and was later test excavated (Gresham and Pluckhan 1999). The testing phase investigation determined 9BL129 as eligible to the NRHP. Though 9BLI27 is very likely to be a part of 9BL 129, additional excavation is necessary to physically link these two artifact scatters. Presently, there are no plans for any ground disturbing activities within the respective FLF creek crossing, wetland buffer zones and none of the sites recorded on this project are imminently threatened. Should there be any changes to the proposed Fall Line Freeway route such that the new route threatens any of the potentially eligible sites that were recorded on this project, then additional excavation will be required to resolve their NRHP eligibility status.