Archaeological Survey of Bird/Long Island Wetland Mitigation Site, Chatham County, Georgia.

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) has proposed a wetland mitigation project that would extend from the northwestern tip of Bird Island and continue southeasterly along Long Island to the National Park Service property boundary at Fort Pulaski National Monument, Chatham County, Georgia. The proposed wetland mitigation would restore the natural environment of the project area to conditions that existed prior to the deposition of dredge spoil on the islands. In order to ensure that the proposed project does not impact historic or archaeological resources that are eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, GDOT contracted with Tidewater Atlantic Research, Inc. (TAR) of Washington, North Carolina to conduct a Phase I survey of the mitigation area and Phase 11 testing of all located cultural resources. The work performed consisted of a background literature review and a pedestrian archaeological survey of the tidal marshes and shoreline. Fieldwork activities were carried out between 1 - 6 June and 20 - 22 August 2000. During the pedestrian survey six potentially significant cultural resources were located. Those six included: a Civil War battery, three navigation aids, a ballast/ dredge spoil dump, and a complex of seven naval magazines and one tower. Two of those resources, the Civil War battery and the complex of naval magazines, appear to meet several of the criteria for listing to the National Register of Historic Places. However, both sites are located outside the area of potential effect and will not be impacted by construction related activities. The ballast/dredge spoil dump exposed on the shoreline appears to be associated with previous dredging, and as a consequence, the site contains little or no undisturbed layers of cultural material. The site does not appear to meet National Register criteria and no further investigation is recommended in conjunction with the current project. The only resources that might be affected by wetland mitigation activities appear to be the remains of the three navigation aids. All three have been identified as modern and are, as a consequence, not eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. Based upon the results of the survey, no further investigation of any of the identified cultural resources is recommended in conjunction with the wetland mitigation project.