Phase II Cultural Resource Investigations in the Proposed Beach Creek and Tallapoosa Water Supply Systems, Haralson County, Georgia. Project 92-10-15-959

Phase II testing of 117 sites in the flood pool of the proposed Beach Creek and Tallapoosa River water supply systems was conducted by Garrow & Associates, Inc., under a contract withCH2M Hill. The sites are situated at or below the 1,010 foot contour in the Tallapoosa system and the 1,020 foot contour in the Beach Creek system. Phase IIa and lib fieldwork was undertaken between May 1995 and October 1996.

Phase IIa efforts began with the relocation of the 116 archaeological sites in the project area that were recommended eligible or potentially eligible for the NRHP by Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc., and that had not undergone Phase II investigations. Once relocated, an intensive shovel testing program was conducted at those sites. One additional site, designated 9HR287, was discovered during this stage and was incorporated into the Phase IIa program. Based on the results of the Phase lla study, it was determined that 46 sites had only limited information potential and should be considered ineligible for the NRHP. Three sites (9HR204, 9HR205, and 9HR269) were recommended eligible for the NRHP based on Phase Ila results; these sites did not undergo Phase IIb testing.

The remaining 70 sites required further investigation to adequately assess their NRHP eligibility status. Test units were placed at 64 of these locations. One site, a small rockshelter (9HR230), has already been thoroughly excavated by the property owner; an interview was conducted in this case. Two sites were thought to contain historic human burials. One is a cemetery with multiple interments; the other (9R0158) is a rock outcrop that was assessed as a single human grave in the Phase I study. These sites were probed and delineated. Three sites that contained standing architecture were assessed by the Architectural Historian. In addition, an architectural survey was conducted over the entire project area to identify historic structures and districts and to assess the effect of reservoir construction on these cultural resources. The results of the architectural survey are presented in a separate document (Ehrenhard and Holland 1997).