An Archeological Survey of the Proposed Bleckley County Public Fishing Lake, Bleckley and Pulaski Counties, Georgia

The Wildlife Resources Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is proposing to construct an earthen dam across an unnamed tributary of the Ocmulgee River in the Ocmulgee Wildlife Management Area (WMA) to create an enlarged public fishing lake for recreational use. The project area is located mostly in Pulaski County, but extends into Bleckley County, and is only a few hundred meters east of the Ocmulgee River. In addition to the impoundment itself, the project will eventually include a set of lakeside improvements and access points. The DNR contracted with Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc. (SAS) to conduct an intensive archeological survey of the project area in order to be in compliance with State (Georgia Environmental Protection Act) and Federal (National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended) regulations governing the protection of cultural resources. The project will affect jurisdictional wetlands and will require a Section 404 permit from the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. The project area is entirely within State‑owned land, and thus is subject to the provisions of the Georgia Environmental Protection Act.

The goals of the survey were to locate all significant archeological resources within the project area, evaluate their significance in terms of eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, and make recommendations for further work on those sites recommended as eligible or potentially eligible for the National Register. While the proposed lake elevation has been determined (as 76 m, or 250 ft), the location and layout of the various proposed facilities around the lake have intentionally not been determined so that the results of the archeological survey can be used to minimize or eliminate affects to sites.

The survey was conducted by SAS archeologists Ron Schoettmer and Clay Helms from November 8 to 16, 1999 under the supervision of principal investigator Tom Gresham. The survey recorded 20 new sites and reinvestigated one previously recorded site (9PU37). As tallied below (Table 1), all of these are prehistoric scatters of chert artifacts, and nine also contain small numbers of prehistoric pottery. Two sites also contain remains of twentieth century saw mills. There was virtually no historic period use of the project area, beyond agriculture and silvaculture. The prehistoric site density was much greater than expected, and reflects a long term, frequent use of the project area. The sites are interpreted as reflecting many episodes of non‑intensive use of landforms overlooking the unnamed branch that is to be impounded. The presence of pottery indicates that occupation was occurring, but the vast majority of artifacts reflect late stage lithic reduction, that is, the final shaping and resharpening of chert tools.

We cannot provide definitive assessments of significance for all sites, in terms of eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places, at this time, but do provide an initial assessment in Table 1. Sites that are recommended as potentially eligible to the National Register of Historic Places should either be avoided and protected, or archeologically tested to firmly establish eligibility status.