Archaeological Phase I/II Survey of Proposed Improvements to Jonesboro Road, Clayton and Henry Counties, Georgia - Addendum

In May 2012 Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc. (SAS) submitted a final report on Phase I archeological survey and Phase II testing for proposed improvements (widening) of a 12-km (7.5-mi) length of Jonesboro/McDonough Road (henceforth Jonesboro Road) in Clayton and Henry Counties (GDOT Project No. STP-1583-00(012); P.I. No. 342970; HP #070907-001). The fieldwork was conducted between 2007 and 2011, and resulted in the recommendation that portions of two sites within the project's Area of Potential Effect (APE) contribute to the sites' eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The 2012 final report recommended that adverse effects to the two sites should be avoided or minimized, and that if such measures were not possible, the adverse effects should be mitigated though data recovery and other measures. One of the two sites, 9CN190, is a Late Woodland period (Vining phase) occupation site situated mostly on the north side of Jonesboro Road. Initial survey indicated that the site did not extend to the partially disturbed south side of the road. Phase II testing of the site focused on the north side of the highway, which is where the widening would occur. On the north side six Woodland period postmold features and a segment of a Civil War trench were discovered, prompting the site to be recommended as eligible for its ability to yield important information on Woodland period lifeways in Georgia. The Civil War trench was recommended as a contributing element to the other eligible site, the large, overlay Civil War battlefield site 9HY529/9CN195. In an effort to explore the avoidance or minimization of adverse effects to sites 9CN190 and 9HY529/9CN195, project engineers considered shifting the widening in the vicinity of 9CN190 to the south side of the highway. In July 2012 SAS excavated 12 shovel tests on the south side of Jonesboro Road within site 9CN190 to preliminarily assess the archeological potential there. Since results indicated low research potential, project engineers redesigned the project to shift the widening to the south, creating a new strip of APE that had not been surveyed. In February 2013 SAS returned to the site to conduct additional shovel testing of this newly expanded APE. This strip lies within the Battles of Lovejoy's Station Battlefield District. Two transects containing 25 shovel tests were excavated on the south side of Jonesboro Road. Five of the combined total of 37 shovel tests yielded six artifacts, mostly in disturbed or ambiguous contexts. Two of these were small, eroded sherds found 110 m apart and four were disparate Historic period artifacts, a 22 caliber bullet, a piece of annular whiteware, a square nail and an unidentified brass object. The two sherds were in fill dirt or in a shallow plowzone adjacent to a push pile of earth. Comparing this very sparse, disturbed distribution of cultural material to the artifacts and features found north of the highway, we recommend that the portion of 9CN190 south of Jonesboro Road does not contribute to the eligibility of the site. The additional shovel testing reported herein occurred within Civil War battlefield site 9HY529/9CN195 and encountered complex soil stratigraphies in certain places that indicate deep disturbances on the south side. These could be related to Civil War trenches that would be associated with the Battles of Lovejoy's Station Battlefield site and Historic District, although trenches are not shown to the south of the road here on Civil War maps. As with many other portions of the APE, it is possible that Civil trenches with no surface expression exist within 9CN190, and it would require intensive testing to determine this. The disturbed soils could be associated with road construction or the development of the property for housing.