Archeological Survey and Site Testing of Proposed Improvements to US 29/SR 8, Madison County, Georgia

In early 2000, Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc., conducted an intensive archeological survey and site testing for the proposed widening and rerouting of a portion of US 29/SR 8, in Madison County, Georgia, for the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). For projects that it funds, the DOT requires consideration of potential effects to cultural resources in accordance with the standards of the Federal Highway Administration. The project begins at the intersection of US 29/SR 8 and SR 106, in the southwestern corner of Madison County. It proceeds northeasterly to an endpoint at CR 88/Irwin Kirk Road. Including two alternative bypasses for the city of Danielsville, the total project corridor measures approximately 27.8 km (17.3 mi). This total includes 5.3 km (3.3 mi) of road widening, 20 km (12.4 mi) of new location right-of-way, and 2.5 km (1.6 mi) of a combination of widening and new location right-of-way for improvements to various county roads at their intersections with US 29/SR 8. In areas where the existing road is to be widened, the highway will be upgraded from two lanes to four lanes with a 13.4 m (44 ft) median. This requires about 22 m (72 ft) of new right-of-way. Areas where the road will be rerouted will require 76.2 m (250 ft) of new right-of-way. The survey resulted in the identification of 31 archeological sites and 11 artifact occurrences (Table 1). Thirteen of the sites date exclusively to the prehistoric era, and nine contain only historic period components. Seven sites have both prehistoric and historic components. Finally, two sites contain only rock piles of uncertain (but presumably historic) origin. Based on the survey data, we recommend that five sites (9MD157, 9MD159, 9MD162, 9MD164, and 9MD167) are potentially eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. After the survey, testing was conducted on two sites (9MD155 and 9MD156) that also had been considered potentially eligible to the National Register based on the survey data. Based on the testing results, we now recommend that these sites are eligible to the National Register of Historic Places. We recommend that the other 24 sites, as well as the 11 artifact occurrences, are ineligible to the National Register because they lack significant research potential (due to an absence of integrity, feature potential, and/or meaningful artifact distributions). The seven sites that we recommend eligible, or potentially eligible to the National Register all consist of prehistoric artifact scatters representing the probable locations of Late Mississippian, Lamar Period homesteads. These sites appear similar to several Lamar house/farmsteads excavated to the south of the project corridor in the Oconee River basin (Hatch 1995; Ledbetter 1999). Based on their similarity with previously excavated sites of the same general period, we believe that these seven sites are likely to contain preserved features and yield information important to our understanding of aboriginal culture. Because of changes to the design of the proposed road widening and new construction, none of the seven eligible or potentially eligible sites will be effected by the proposed undertaking. Therefore, in regard to archeological resources, it is the opinion of the Principal Investigator that the project should be given clearance to proceed. Table 1. Management Summary Table. State Site # Field Site # Site Type Level of Work Eligibility Completed Recommendation 9MD139 FS1 prehistoric lithic scatter Survey Ineligible late 19th/20th cent historic 9MD140 FS2 late 19th/20th cent historic Survey Ineligible 9MD141 FS3 late 19th/20th cent historic Survey Ineligible 9MD142 FS4 late 19th/20th century historic Survey Ineligible isolated prehistoric lithic 9MD143 FS6 prehistoric lithic scatter Survey Ineligible 9NM144 FS7 20th century historic Survey Ineligible 9MD145 FS9 prehistoric lithic scatter Survey Ineligible isolated historic artifact 9MD146 FS8 rock pile Survey Ineligible 9NMI47 FS10 prehistoric lithic scatter Survey Ineligible 9MD148 FS 11 late 19th/20th cent historic Survey Ineligible 9MD149 FS 12 prehistoric lithic scatter Survey Ineligible late 19th/20th cent historic 9MD150 FS 14 late 19th/20th cent historic Survey Ineligible 9MD151 FS 13 late 19th/20th cent historic Survey Ineligible 9NM152 FS 15 prehistoric lithic scatter Survey Ineligible 9MD153 FS 17 late 19th/20th cent historic Survey Ineligible 9MD154 FS 16 prehistoric lithic scatter Survey Ineligible 9MD155 FS 18 prehistoric (Lamar) artifact scatter Testing Eligible 9MD156 FS 19 prehistoric (Lamar) artifact scatter Testing Eligible 9NM157 FS20 prehistoric (Lamar) artifact scatter Survey Potentially Eligible 9NM158 FS21 late 19th/20th cent historic Survey Ineligible 9MD159 FS22 prehistoric (Lamar) artifact scatter Survey Potentially Eligible 9MD160 FS23 prehistoric lithic scatter Survey Ineligible late 19th/20th cent historic 9MD161 FS24 prehistoric (Lamar) artifact scatter Survey Ineligible late 19th/20th cent historic 9MD162 FS25 prehistoric (Lamar) artifact scatter Survey Potentially Eligible 9MD163 FS26 prehistoric lithic scatter Survey Ineligible 9NM164 FS27 prehistoric (Lamar) artifact scatter Survey Potentially Eligible 9MD165 FS28 prehistoric lithic scatter Survey Ineligible late 19th/20th cent historic 9MD166 FS29 rock pile Survey Ineligible 9MD167 FS30 prehistoric (Lamar) artifact scatter Survey Potentially Eligible 9MD168 FS32 20th cent bridge Survey Ineligible 9MD169 FS33 prehistoric artifact scatter Survey I Ineligible.