Phase II Archaeological Testing at 9GE2720 - "33 Rock Pile Site"

Between June 13 and June 24, Brockington and Associates, Inc. (Brockington) conducted Phase II Testing at Archaeological Site 9GE2720 on the Lake Oconee Academy Tract in Greene County, Georgia. A project location map is provided in Figure 1.1 and a site location map is provided in Figure 1.2. The Lake Oconee Academy is currently planning an expansion of school facilities and seeking a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), triggering a review of cultural resources under Section 106 of the Natural Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966 (as amended).

                Site 9GE2720 represents a cluster of 33 cluster rock piles of previously unknown origin (prehistoric or historic). Twelve of the rock piles are located on top of a ridge nose; the rest are situated down slope. The site was recorded in 2006 during a cultural resources survey of the Reynoldsboro Tract (Butler et al. 2007). As a result of the survey, no subsurface artifacts observed around the rock pile. In the nineteenth century, rocks were often gathered and dumped on side slopes during agricultural field clearing. However, previous archaeological investigations in the Georgia Piedmont have demonstrated that some rock piles were built during the prehistoric or protohistoric periods, sometimes as burial cairns, and almost impossible to distinguish from farmer clearing piles through visual examination alone (Fish et al. 1978; Ledbetter 1998; Loubser and Greiner 2002; Loubser et al. 2008).

                Phase II testing of 16 rock piles at 9GE2720 did not reveal any presence of human remains or other cultural features. Metal detecting in and around the rock piles identified several iron/steel chain and cable fragments likely associated with past logging activity on the project tract. Only eight possible quartz flake fragments and one twentieth-century deer bone fragment were recovered from the test units. Phosphate analysis of soil samples taken from the test units and control areas of the site did not indicate the presence of skeletal remains. It does not appear that the rock piles represent prehistoric burials (cairns). We believe that the rock piles are the result of agricultural field clearing during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As a result, 9GE2720 is recommended ineligible for the NRHP. No further cultural resource investigations are recommended.