Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of 8,450 Acres Thurmond Lake, Lincoln County, Georgia and McCormick County, South Carolina

Panamerican Consultants, Inc., performed a Phase I cultural resources survey of 3,419-7 hectares (ha) (8,450 acres [ac.]) at Thurmond Lake, Georgia and South Carolina. The Operations Project Manager for Thurmond Lake, Georgia and South Carolina, requested that this survey of selected areas in Lincoln County, Georgia, and McCormick County, South Carolina be performed. This contract effort was designed to locate and assess the significance of cultural resources within the project area by means of an intensive cultural resources survey to aid in decision making concerning timber management and lake level issues. The requested survey was intended to comply with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, Executive Order 11593 (Protection and Enhancement of the Cultural Environment), and the Archaeological and Historical Preservation Act of 1974. as described in the project Scope of Work and ER 1130-2-439. Fieldwork for the project was conducted between January and July, 1997. The boundaries of the sites determined to be potentially eligible for inclusion in the NRHp were painted in October. At the same time, the boundaries and the center point of these sites were recorded using DGPS technology for land management purposes. The study area is located in the middle Thurmond Lake region of South Carolina and Georgia. The South Carolina area consisted of two large tracts in McCormick County. The first began at Parksville and extended to the north, and the second was centered around Benningsfield and Hawe creeks. The Georgia survey area was situated in Lincoln County. The area began just above Bussey Point Recreation Area in the south and followed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers property north, including Wells, Soap, and Dry Fork creeks, and ended at the Highway 43/378 bridge. The Scope of Work called for an intensive (i.e., 100 percent) survey augmented by the excavation of shovel tests in order to locate all cultural resources, determine their horizontal and vertical distribution, stratigraphy, integrity, and cultural association in order to evaluate their NRHP status. A total of 3 1,958 shovel tests were attempted. A total of 31,716 of the shovel tests yielded positive results, 21,725 contained no cultural materials, and 8,517 were not excavated due to steep slope, severe erosion, exposed bedrock, or standing water. This amounts to an average of approximately four shovel tests every acre being excavated (including tests excavated during site delineations). This survey resulted in the recording of 340 sites in Georgia and 95 sites in South Carolina. In addition, 17 isolated finds were recorded in South Carolina. Of these,6l percent were prehistoric in nature, 22 percent were historic, and 16.1 percent had both historic and prehistoric components. A total of 62 sites were recornmended as potentially eligible for inclusion in the NRHP. Additionally, a total of eight cemeteries and two possible cemeteries were recorded in the study area. None of the cemeteries were recommended as potentially eligible for NRHP inclusion, but they are protected by state laws. The remaining sites and all of the isolated finds are considered to be not eligible for NRHP inclusion. No further work on any of these sites is recommended. The sites recommended as potentially eligible for NRHP inclusion should be protected or otherwise treated in accordance with applicable preservation laws and regulations. Until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers further evaluates these potentially eligible sites, the site status is equivalent to being clearly eligible for, or listed in, the NRHP. The sites recommended as not eligible, and all of the isolated finds, warrant no further consideration regarding the presence ofcultural resources at their respective locations.