Proposed State Route 17 Realignment

This document presents the results of an intensive archaeological survey of the project corridor for the widening and reconstruction of State Route 17 from Royston to Lavonia, Georgia [Project EDS-545 (35), (36), and (52)]. Except where the route links up with the Royston Bypass on the south end and State Route 17 in Lavonia on the north end, the proposed project corridor consists of all new alignment. The proposed corridor is approximately 12.5 miles in length, 300 ft in width, and includes approximately 455 acres. The survey was conducted between February 17 and March 12, 2003. A potential alignment shift of 0.80 mile (1.3 km; 24 ac) was surveyed on August 19 and 20, 2003. This survey resulted in the identification of 19 archaeological sites and 11 isolated finds. Information on sites, isolated finds, identified components, eligibility and recommendations is summarized in Table 1. The resource density (approximately 2.3 resources per mile; 1 resource per 16 acres surveyed) is considered to be high and was over twice the number that had been estimated as well as twice the density of the statewide average. Since so few sites have been recorded in Franklin County, there was little data with which to make a more accurate estimate of potential cultural resources. During this phase of the project, all sites were assessed as either eligible or not eligible to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). These assessments were made in terms of the criteria established by the National Register of Historic Places (36CFR60.4 a-d) and based on the data acquired during the background research and survey phase of the study. None of the archaeological sites or isolated finds found in the proposed corridor are recommended eligible to the NRHP. This survey was conducted to identify and evaluate archaeological resources and not historic structures. Standing structures within, or adjacent to, the corridor that appeared to be 50 years old were photographed and shovel tests were excavated to identify and evaluate archaeological contexts. No archaeological sites previously recorded at the Georgia State Site Files are located within the proposed route.