An Archaeological Survey of the Stuckey Tract, Bleckley County, Georgia

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) contracted Southern Research, Historic Preservation Consultants, Inc. to perform an intensive Phase I archaeological survey of an 1,136-acre tract of land in Bleckley County, Georgia. Referred to as the Stuckey Tract, the property borders the Ocmulgee River and will bridge the gap between two sections of the Ocmulgee Wildlife Management Area (OWMA). The property was purchased by the GDOT as part of a wetland mitigation project, and will be managed as part of the OWMA by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The purpose of the investigation was to identify archaeological and historical resources within the project area and to evaluate the eligibility of the identified resources for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). The survey was conducted under the supervision of Scot Keith (Principal Investigator/Field Director) and Mark Dingledein (Crew Chief) between March 4 and April 4, 2003. Forty-four archaeological sites and ten isolated artifact finds were recorded during the survey of the Stuckey Tract. Twenty of the sites are recommended as potentially eligible for the NRHP, while the remaining 24 sites and all of the isolated finds are recommended as ineligible for the NRHP. Cultural components identified within the Stuckey Tract include Early Archaic, Late Archaic, Early Woodland, Middle Woodland, Late Woodland/Early Mississippian, and Middle Mississippian. The contract between Southern Research and the GDOT calls for the production of two reports, one a technical description of the results, and the other a research-oriented volume. This volume represents the technical report; the research volume is printed under separate cover.