A Cultural Resource Survey of the Proposed Savannah River Pipeline Crossing, Hart County, Georgia, and Anderson County, South Carolina

The objective of this project was to conduct a cultural resource survey of the proposed 40" O. D. Products Pipeline, Savannah River Crossing, Hart County, Georgia and Anderson County, South Carolina. Research and field investigation were conducted under the provisions of an authorization received from the Colonial Pipeline Company September 26, 1977. Fieldwork was conducted on October 3, 1977. The archaeological survey of the proposed pipeline crossing was limited to areas defined by the Colonial Pipeline Company. The pipeline right-of-way was marked in the field and this facilitated the definition of the study area. The methods employed included a pedestrain reconnaissance of both areas; subsurface investigation with shovel cuts on both the Georgia and South Carolina sides; and deep tests with a 4 inch bucket auger. on the Georgia side. The project area on the Georgia side of the Savannah River was approximately 200 feet (60 meters) along the river bank, extending southwestward 324 feet (98 meters). The pipeline right-of-way itself is roughly centered in this area,' consisting of two legs, one 157 feet (48 meters) long, the other 199 feet (61 meters) (Figure 2). A dirt recreational access road tranverses the northern segment of the zone providing excellent exposure of the narrow floodplain. To the south of the road the topography rises to a low ridge about 160 feet (49 meters) from the river. This has resulted in a floodplain of only 45-50 feet (13-15 meters) wide within the study area. The aforementioned ridge was also disturbed on the western side of the zone by road construction and bulldozing activities. Surface reconnaissance of the road exposures in the floodplain revealed no cultural material. Subsurface auger tests were placed along the pipeline right-of-way. Due to limiting vegetative factors, these tests were not placed at regular intervals, rather the eleven tests were situated in order to maximize the return from the areas most likely to contain evidence for cultural activities. As such, a majority of the deep tests were made along the axis of the ridge. Two auger tests on the floodplain revealed that soil deposition was minimal with bedrock reached at 1 foot (30 centimeters) in Auger #1 and at 4 feet (1.2 meters) in Auger #2. The remainder of the tests contained virtually identical sequences of 9 inches (23 centimeters) to 1 foot (30 centimeters) of dark loam above orange sandy clay subsoil. artifacts were recovered from any of the tests. Numerous shovel cuts were made along the relatively level top portion of the ridge which had the highest probability for cultural remains. Again no evidence of sites was observed. The South Carolina study area was 170 feet (52 meters) along the river and extended 162 feet (49 meters) to the north (Figure 3). The entire project area was located on a steep slope which rises approximately 40 feet (12 meters) from the river level to the eastern limit of the project area. Due to this extremely steep hill no archaeological remains were anticipated. A visual inspection of surface, exposures revealed no artifacts either in situ or eroding from above. A line of shovel cuts was made along the proposed right-of-way with no cultural evidence uncovered.