Phase II Archaeological Test Excavations of 9BS55, Butts County, Georgia

TRC Garrow Associates, Inc. (TRC) was contracted by I.T. Corporation to carry out Phase II archaeological test excavations at 9BS55, a multicomponent prehistoric site, located in southwestern Butts County, on the edge of a tract to be impacted by the proposed expansion of the Pine Ridge Landfill. The site dates (minimally) to the Middle Archaic, possibly the Late Archaic, the Middle Woodland, and the Mississippian periods. It also was the locus of small-scale refuse disposal during the historic period. The site was identified during a Phase I survey of the project area (Thomas and Holland 2000). Ten test units and nine additional shovel tests were excavated to determine the nature of the site further and to investigate the possibility that subsurface deposits and features might exist within the portion of the site to be impacted by the proposed landfill. The Phase II study revealed that the present condition of 9BS55 is eroded, deflated, and disturbed in some areas through logging, pond construction, and perhaps other activity. Cultural materials at 9BS55 are confined to the plowzone, and no evidence for the presence of intact subsurface features exists. Soils appear deflated, and artifact density (at least within the portion of the site in the area of proposed impacts) is fairly low. The types and condition of artifacts recovered from the site can provide little information beyond what has already been obtained during the Phase I and Phase II investigations. Although only the northern portion of 9BS55 (that within the area of proposed impacts) was subjected to test excavations, the southern portion of the site is likely to have suffered from similar erosion and deflation as a result of plowing and other activities. TRC recommends 9BS55 ineligible to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and is of the opinion that additional archaeological excavation would not produce significant information about prehistory.