Completion of Fieldwork Report: Archeological Data Recovery at 9PU69 and 9PU71, Ocmulgee Wildlife Management Area, Pulaski County, Georgia

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division (hereafter DNR), wishes to construct a ca. 100 acre fishing lake on the Pulaski-Bleckley County line. This undertaking requires a permit from the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), which as a condition of the permit, requires compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470f). To comply with Section 106, the DNR contracted to have archeological research within the project area. After Phase I and II investigations four multicomponent sites (9PU37, 9PU57, 9PU69 and 9PU71) within the area of adverse effect were determined eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (Figure 1). A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed in January of 2003 by the USACE, the DNR and the Georgia State Historic Preservation Officer (GASHPO). The MOA provides for the mitigation of adverse effects at the four sites by means of data recovery excavations. The excavations followed an approved research design, dated January 28, 2003. It and the MOA form the theoretical and methodological basis of the excavations undertaken at the sites. The MOA requires a 'completion of fieldwork report,' approval of which by the USACOE and the GASHPO is required before any earth disturbing activity takes place. Mitigative data recovery began on sites 9PU37 and 9PU57 in late January, 2003 and an end-of-fieldwork report was submitted and accepted by the USACOE and GASHPO in April, 2003. This document reports on the end of archeological data recovery at sites 9PU69 and 9PU71.

Mitigative data recovery on 9PU 69 and 9PU71 began in March, 2003, but due to a high water table at that time excavation was suspended. We returned to these two sites in late April, 2003 and complete fieldwork on June 3, 2003. We spent 96 person-days excavating 9PU69 and 9PU71, exclusive of the backhoe operator. The DNR provided a backhoe and operator for machine-aided. Between the two sites, 125 m2 was excavated with a backhoe over the course of two days. Principal Investigator Rob Benson was on site for all but six days. Tom Gresham or Tom directed the project in Benson's absence.