Archaeological Resources Survey of Part of the Proposed 2001 Bishop Bypass Oconee County, Georgia

This document present the results of an archaeological resurvey of a portion of a corridor for a highway bypass around the east side of Bishop, Oconee County, Georgia. The bypass corridor connects State Route 24/U.S. Highway 441 at Farmington, Georgia on the south end to the termination of the Watkinsville bypass (SR24/USHighway 441) on the north end. The project area roughly parallels the main channel of Greenbriar Creek, a major tributary of the Oconee River. It crosses numerous tributaries, headwater springs, and wetlands that flow into Greenbriar Creek.

Brockington and Associates originally surveyed 5 miles (8.0 km) of this corridor and access roads in 2001 (Gougeon and Gardner 2001:ii). This study identified two archaeological sites (9OC295, 9OC296) and 4 isolated finds. This study resulted in a resource density of about 1 per mile. Following this survey and Phase II testing, the Georgia Department of Transpotation shifted a portion of the corridor 100 feet (30.5 m) to the west to avoid a National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligible site, 9OC295. Brockington and Associates surveyed the corridor of the shift, and reported avoidance of site 9OC295 and no additional findings along the one mile (1.6 km) corridor (Mozingo 2002:ii).

The current project resurveyed part of the corridor previously examined by Brockington and Associates, as shifted to site 9OC295 (Mozingo 2002). The part not reexamined included that portion of the corridor on the Branch property lying west of Old Farmington Road (0.86 mi; 1.4 km) and the southern part of the Finco property (0.46 mi; 0.7 km). These unexamined areas included 1.3 mile (2.1 km) on the southern part of the alignment. Brockington and Associates surveyed these portions of the corridor in 2001, and no archaeological sites were identified (Gougeon and Gardner 2001).

                The part of the corridor examined in the present study is approximately 2.7 miles (4.3 km) long, 250 (76.2 km) feet wide, and includes approximately 80 acres (32.0 ha). Sixteen acres (6.4 ha) of 100 to 250 foot wide access roads were also resurveyed (0.9 mi; 1.3 km). Most of the access roads are located along existing paved or unpaved roads.

The current study identified or reassessed 13 archaeological sites and 5 isolated finds in a 3.6 mile (5.8 km) resurvey of part of the proposed bypass route. One site, 9OC296, is located adjacent to, but outside of the corridor. Southeastern Archaeological Services identified two additional sites within the 2001 Brockington corridor, 9OC360 and 9OC337, in a concurrent survey of the two adjacent, and sometimes overlapping, proposed bypass routes. For the current study, overall density of prehistoric component density (N=17) in the resurveyed portion of the alignment is approximately 5 per mile (1 per 6 ac surveyed). Late Mississippian components (N=8) occur at a density of 2 per mile (1 per 12 ac). Historic component density (N=10) is approximately 3 per mile (1 per 10 ac surveyed).

When possible, the portion of the sites within the proposed R-O-W were assessed for nomination to the National Register of the Historic Places (NRHP). These assessments were made in terms of the criteria established by the NRHP (36CFR60.4:a-d) and based on the data acquired during the background research at the Georgia Archaeological Site Files and the survey phase of the study. In many cases, the sites could not be fully evaluated based on shovel testing alone. These sites are listed in the Table 1 as having unknown potential.