On May 3, 9, and 14, 2013, Edwards-Pitman Environmental, Inc. (EPEI) conducted an addendum Phase I archaeological survey for the proposed safety improvements to State Route (SR) 136 in Pickens County, Georgia (Georgia Department of Transportation [GDOT] Project No. CSSFT-0008-00[314], P.I. No. 0008314, HP No. 080305-001). The addendum investigation follows the initial Phase I archaeological investigations EPEI conducted in 2010 for the SR 136 safety improvement project (Hise and Silliman 2010). Additional investigation was required due to changes in the project design.
The proposed GDOT project would consist of various spot operational geometric and intersection improvements as well as upgrading the shoulder widths and associated slopes. The required right-of-way (ROW) width would be variable with a maximum width of approximately 125 feet (38.1 meters). The total project length is approximately 2.7 miles (4.3 kilometers). Survey was conducted within a 100-foot (30.4-meter) expanded survey corridor (ESC) around new areas of potential effect (APE) that were not covered in the original 2010 investigation due to survey limits and/or standing water. Specifically, several areas at the project’s eastern end required additional survey: the intersection of SR 136 and Old Highway 5/Ellijay Road (henceforth Ellijay Road) would be shifted approximately 700 feet north along Ellijay Road to improve the horizontal curve on SR 136 which would be reconstructed as a roundabout. EPEI also conducted survey at a reputed historic cemetery adjacent to the project area near the SR 136 and Antioch Church Road intersection. GDOT archaeologists conducted a ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey within the SR 136 ROW adjacent to this possible cemetery.
A review of the Georgia Archaeological Site File (GASF) and Georgia’s Natural, Archaeological, and Historic Resources Geographic Information System (GNAHRGIS) database showed five previously recorded sites located within 1 kilometer of the new APE location: 9PI128, 9PI228, 9PI229, 9PI230, and 9PI108. Site 9PI128 is a precontact site located well north of the survey area along SR 5, north of Talona Creek. Sites 9PI228, 9PI229, and 9PI230 were recorded during EPEI’s 2010 survey of SR 136 improvements (Hise and Silliman 2010). The investigated portions of these sites (based on the original APE and ESC) were found to be non-contributing to their eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) under Criterion D (Hise and Silliman 2010). The changes to the SR 136 project design since the 2010 survey will not impact new areas in the vicinity of 9PI228, 9PI229, or 9PI230; potential adverse effects will be limited to the portions already investigated and determined to have low information potential. Site 9PI108 is located northwest of the intersection of Ellijay Road and SR 136, placing it within new APE. Additionally, a new APE location is adjacent to a precontact isolated find (IF 1) found during EPEI’s 2010 Phase I survey. Both 9PI108 and IF 1 were revisited during the addendum survey.
Site 9PI108 is a low density ceramic and lithic scatter located northwest of the SR136 and Ellijay Road intersection, south of Talking Rock Creek. First recorded by GDOT in 1977, the portion of the site investigated by EPEI’s 2010 survey investigations was recommended non-contributing to the site’s NRHP eligibility under Criterion D due to its low research potential (Hise and Silliman 2010). Current plans call for the realignment of SR 136 across 9PI108 for the relocation of the SR 136 and Ellijay Road intersection to the north. The present addendum survey covered additional areas of APE and ESC and areas from the 2010 project area previously not shovel tested due to flooding, which resulted in the northeastern extension of the site boundaries. The artifact scatter is\ equally as sparse and disturbed in the newly surveyed portion as in the previously surveyed area. The entirety of the investigated portion of 9PI108 lacks significant information potential; however, overall site NRHP eligibility remains as unknown due to incomplete delineation.
A revisit to the area east of the intersection of Ellijay Road and SR 136, where IF 1 was recorded by Hise and Silliman (2010), resulted in the recovery of a single piece of precontact pottery within the ESC. Together, the original isolated find and the addendum discovery were designated a newly recorded archaeological site: 9PI231. Despite short-interval testing, no additional cultural material was recovered. The site lies within the plowed floodplain next to a tributary of Talking Rock Creekand is bound by the road, the drainage, and negative shovel tests. As a disturbed site of exceedingly low artifact density, 9PI231 is recommended ineligible for the NRHP under Criterion D because it does not afford significant research potential.
In addition to 9PI108 and 9PI231, EPEI’s addendum survey included investigations at a reputed historic cemetery located immediately northeast of the intersection of Antioch Church Road and SR 136 that is now recorded with the GASF as 9PI232. The property on which the reputed cemetery is located was avoided during the original 2010 archaeological survey following consultation with former GDOT archaeologist Sara Gale and due to landowner concerns (Hise and Silliman 2010). EPEI’s addendum survey included mapping of the area, shovel testing, and probing survey. GDOT archaeologists also conducted GPR investigation within the existing SR 136 ROW (Appendix D). The reputed cemetery is indicated by heresay, numerous supposed fieldstone markers, and a modern memorial. No evidence has been found supporting the claim that the area contains the graves of American Indians who perished at Fort Newnan during their forced removal in the 1830s. The archaeological survey identified several soft-soil anomalies during probing that may potentially represent grave shafts; however, such potential graves were fewer in number than the supposed fieldstone markers erected across the landform. Without additional archaeological investigations to confirm the presence of graves, the site’s status as a cemetery remains unverified and NRHP eligibility under Criterion D is unknown. The boundary of the potential cemetery places it entirely within the ESC; survey did not identify any possible gravesites extending into the project APE.
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