A Phase I archaeological survey was performed on July 18, 2015 of the proposed lease area and access/utility easement (hereafter also called survey area) of the Pork Plate telecommunication facility located in Columbus, Georgia (32º 32’ 25.37” N, 84º 57’ 25.23” W). The survey area is located on the Fortson, GA USGS quad. The study was conducted for Terracon Consultants, Inc., on behalf of Cellco Partnership and its controlled affiliates doing business as Verizon Wireless, in order to locate and identify archaeological resources and to assess resource significance based on National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) criteria [36CFR Part 60.4 (a-d)]. This survey was conducted to comply with the provisions of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) permitting under the Nationwide Programmatic Agreement (47 CFR Part 1). In accordance with the permitting process, the survey was conducted in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966, as amended.
The Phase I survey included a literature review and intensive field survey. During the literature review, which took place on June 18, 2015, state and county maps and documents were examined to determine if previously recorded archaeological resources were located in or around the survey area. The field survey was conducted using surface and subsurface techniques (i.e., visual inspection and shovel testing) to locate and identify archaeological resources within the study area.
Literature Review: Review of the Georgia Archaeological Site File (GASF) revealed that there are no previously recorded archaeological sites and two surveys (Charles 2003; Silliman 2008) within .8 km (.5 mi) of the survey area.
Archaeological Resources Field Survey: There are no archaeological materials (i.e., culturally modified artifacts, cultural deposits, features, or human remains) located within the survey area.
Recommendations: This reports recommends that the current proposed project receive archaeological resource clearance; no further archaeological work is recommended.
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