Archeological Survey of Proposed Intersection Improvements for Athena Drive and Spring Valley Road, Clarke County, Georgia

This report presents the results of an archeological survey that was conducted at the intersection of Athena Drive and Anderson Lane with Spring Valley Road in eastern Clarke County (Figure 1). The planned construction project will redirect Anderson Lane, immediately north of Athena Drive, so that it intersects with Athena Drive prior to reaching Spring Valley Road; relocate Moss Road so that it intersects Spring Valley Road directly east of Athena Drive; and a realignment of Athena Drive slightly north from its present intersection with Spring Valley Road (Figure 2). Portions of Anderson Lane and Moss Road that will no longer be in use after completion of the project will be removed. In addition to the intersection realignments, a 450 m (1475 ft) section of Spring Valley Road will be widened and shifted to the east. The width of construction easement required along Spring Valley Road ranges from 20 to 35 m (65 to 115 ft). The intersection improvement will facilitate heavy truck traffic for the Athena Industrial Park area. Since Federal funds are being used for the highway improvements, an archeological survey was required in order for Clarke County to be in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (as amended), which requires consideration of effects from federally funded or permitted projects on significant cultural resources. The goal of the survey was to effect. The survey included a background and literature review, an on-site visit on February 2, locate, describe and evaluate the significance of any archeological sites in the area of potential 1999 to determine if archeological resources were present, and preparation of this report. Field work included close inspection of all exposed ground surfaces for artifacts and excavation of exploratory shovel tests in vegetated areas. One site, an early to middle twentieth century house site, was recorded on the archeological survey.

                The project area along Spring Valley Road generally extends 3 to 10 m (10 to 33 ft) along the west side and 10 to 15 m (33 to 50 ft) along the east side of the road, beyond the present right of- way. This includes the temporary construction easement required for road improvements. The easement width of relocated Anderson Lane is approximately 20 m (65 ft). The easement width of relocated Moss Road is approximately 50 m (165 ft) at its proposed intersection with Spring Valley Road, but roughly 30 to 35 m (100 to 115 ft) east of that intersection. Along the west side of Spring Valley Road the required easement traverses private property, which consists of wooded terrain south of Athena Drive and abandoned lots on the north side of Athena Drive. Between Athena Drive and Anderson Lane the terrain is covered with kudzu and north of Anderson Lane is the edge of an old yard belonging to a recently razed house. Along the west side of Spring Valley Road is an abandoned railroad line. The railroad line cut is roughly 3 m (10 ft) deep and is approximately 3 m wide. The narrow swath between the railroad line cut and Spring Valley Road is wooded. Further south, the wooded terrain ends prior to reaching the present intersection of Moss Road and Spring Valley Road. Grass covers the remaining area prior to reaching Moss Road. The relocated section of Anderson Lane runs south, directly east of a warehouse, through the kudzu patch mentioned above before intersecting with Athena Drive. The relocated portion of Moss Road traverses the edge of a fallow field and then through wooded terrain as it approaches and then crosses the abandoned railroad line on its route toward Spring Valley Road.

                Surface exposure on the existing right-of-ways of Spring Valley Road was sufficient for determining the presence or absence of artifactual material. Shovel tests were required in other areas of proposed improvements. We excavated three shovel tests along the relocated section of Anderson Lane and four shovel tests along the Athena Drive realignment. All but two of these seven shovel tests were excavated in the kudzu patch. The other two shovel tests were excavated within the existing right-of-way of Athena Drive. We excavated an additional ten shovel tests along the relocated section of Moss Road, which includes the seven shovel tests excavated on the single archeological site recorded on this project.