Wildlife Resources Division, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, is preparing a management plan for the 440 acre Broad River Natural Area in Madison County. At the request of WRD, an archaeological reconnaissance survey was conducted on 23 and 24 August. 2000.
The survey visited two reported sites, a historic house site and a fish weir site, inspected surface exposure in most of the roads and pipeline corridor, and dug several deep shovel tests along the river. The survey determined that, with two exceptions, the uplands arc heavily eroded and have little potential for containing significant archaeological sites. The old house site in the north central portion of the tract has deteriorated in place and neither the house site nor its immediate surroundings has been disturbed, providing good archaeological potential. The other upland area that retains archaeological potential is the westernmost ridge crest. This area is in hardwoods and has not been subjected to the disturbances of pine planting seen in the rest of the tract. Although shovel tests along the ridge were negative, they did reveal the presence of topsoil, which was not seen on the other crests within the tract. One unusual feature was recorded on the ridge. A stone circle approximately four meters in diameter and over half a meter high was found on the crest.
Similar stone features have been found elsewhere in the Piedmont. There were also several scattered rock piles and a few isolated artifacts. Along the river, the fish weir has research potential. It contains a pegged log structure suggesting historic use. Archival research could provide information about its age, method of operation, and related facilities, some of which could lie within the DNR tract. It is also possible that the historic operation was built on an earlier, aboriginal weir. There may be a prehistoric site related to the weir. Deep shovel tests (ca. 130 cm) along the levee located two areas that contained deeply buried artifacts, indicating that levee sites are present. Other areas along the levee may contain sites that were too deep to be detected by shovel testing. The depth of these sites demonstrates that they would not be disturbed by trails along the levee; however deeper disturbances at the levee should be preceded by more intensive archaeological investigation.
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