Management Summary For The Protection of Archaeological Resources, Northwest Georgia Branch Experiment Station, Gordon County

On May 4, 1996 Dave Davis and Sharon Chapoton conducted an archaeological assessment of portions of the newly acquired 653 acre tract at the Northwest Georgia Branch of Experiment Stations, Gordon County, Georgia. This survey was conducted at the request of Dr. Gale Buchanan, Dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens. The purpose of the survey was to assess and identify any archaeological resources which might be impacted by the proposed construction of four buildings on the property, one 50 x 100 foot equipment shed, one 50 x 75 foot cattle barn, a 40 x 50 foot shop area, and a 30 x 40 foot storage building. A memorandum of findings regarding the Phase I survey of the four areas is under preparation and will be forwarded to Dean Buchanan upon completion. This assessment did not involve any shovel testing or excavation. Surface inspections and surface collections were conducted in the areas assessed. The areas assessed are denoted on Map #2. The surveyors were assisted in locating the project area by Mr. Phil Worley, Superintendent of the Experiment Station. Geographically the project area lies north of the Coosawattee River in northeast Gordon County (Map #1 ). Three hundred of the 653 acre tract lies primarily within the flood plain of the Coosawattee River and was plowed and disked for the planting of grass in April of 1996. Archaeological research within the Coosawattee River drainage area has been the focus of recent investigations to delineate the province of Coosa, a paramount chiefdom believed to have been visited by the deSoto, de Luna, and Pardo expeditions between 1540 and 1567 A.D. Results of these archaeological investigations suggest that occupations existed within this region in a clustering pattern of five to thirteen villages per cluster situated within a proximity of each other and located in Northwest Georgia, Eastern Alabama, and Southeastern Tennessee. Of the clusters thus far identified within this region the Carters Cluster has been designated as the Coosa province. The project area I ies within this region and has been identified by David Hally, Marvin Smith, and James Langford as the Baxter Mound which is located within the Carters Cluster, one of the seven clusters believed to have been visited by the Spanish (Columbian Consequences, Vol. 2, pages 121-138). Other important archaeological sites are found in proximity to the Baxter Mound but are not on the experiment station property. Upriver from the site are the Thompson Site, the Poarch Site, and the Little Egypt Site. Although only the Little Egypt Site has been professionally investigated, these three sites have produced European artifacts indicating contact between Native Americans and European visitors during the 16th century. Mr. James Langford, President of the Coosawattee Foundation and a native of Gordon County, stated that five archaeological sites exist on the University of Georgia property. These include the Baxter Mound, a possible Woodland village, two areas which are said to contain stone lined prehistoric burials, and an area containing prehistoric pottery on the bluff area (See Map# 2). The entire project area was recorded as an archaeological site and designated 9Co8 by the Georgia State Site Files Office at the University of Georgia, Athens in 1953.