Phase I Archaeological Survey and Phase II Testing of Site 9HT68 for The Proposed Go Fish Visitor Center in Perry, Houston County, Georgia

Between July 14 and 18, 2008, TRC conducted a Phase I archaeological survey and Phase II archaeological testing for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which intends to develop land south of Perry for the proposed Go Fish Georgia Visitor Center and support facilities. The overall project involves the use of two tracts: an approximately 16.5-acre tract on the north side of Perry Parkway adjacent to the fairgrounds that will contain the visitor's center, entrance road, parking area, stock ponds, and walking trails, and another tract on the south side of Perry Parkway, east of Elko Road that will contain the manager's residence, associated outbuildings, and an access road. The second tract contains a previously recorded prehistoric site (9HT68) that has been recommended potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). A Phase I archaeological survey was carried out on the 16.5-acre tract to identify all archaeological resources present. The project scope also included revisiting 9HT68 to assess its eligibility of the site for the NRHP. After establishing the boundaries of site 9HT68 through systematic shovel testing, the site was subjected to Phase II testing using hand-excavated units and a large mechanical trench. The survey of the 16.5-acre tract resulted in the identification of one archaeological resource (9HT229), a small historic trash scatter that also contained a single prehistoric artifact. A house is shown at this location on the 1956 Perry 15' USGS quadrangle. Artifacts, including fragments of brick, ironstone, colorless glass, and wire nails, were found between 0 and 30 cm in four shovel tests along the side of a new road, suggesting that they were displaced during road construction and grading of the area, which is now landscaped. It is our opinion that the resource is not eligible for the NRHP. TRC recommends that no further archaeological work is warranted in advance of construction on this tract. At 9HT68, TRC used standard shovel testing methods to determine the boundaries of the site, then excavated two 1 x 1-m test units and one 2 x 30-m trench. The site was found to occupy an area of approximately 7.7 acres, situated between Flat Creek, on the south, and two tributaries on the east and west. In the majority of shovel tests, artifacts were recovered between 0 and 100 cm below surface. The shovel tests as well as two test units indicated that the soil across the entire site is loose, alluvial loamy sand or pure sand that extends to a depth of at least 150 cm where testing was terminated. One of the excavation units contained Woodland and Late Archaic-Early Woodland pottery in the same level about 30 cm below a Middle Archaic projectile point. These vertical relationships suggested that 9HT68 lacked stratigraphic integrity. For that reason, a 2 x 30-m trench was mechanically excavated in lieu of additional smaller units in order to expose a much larger profile. The trench was excavated incrementally to search for features and diagnostic artifacts, but no evidence of preserved buried features or identifiable cultural strata were revealed. The consistency of the soil lends itself to substantial vertical (as well as horizontal) displacement through bioturbation and other site formation processes. It appears that if the site's multiple prehistoric occupations were once stratigraphically separate, they have over time become mixed and mingled to the extent that they can no longer yield valuable information about the past. Therefore, TRC considers site 9HT68 not eligible for the NRHP and recommends no further archaeological work in advance of construction.