Research Design for Archeological Investigations at the Arthur Tarver Site, Jones County, Georgia

This proposal addresses a request by Tribble & Richardson, Inc. to conduct archeological investigations on a portion of the Arthur Tarver archeological site, in Jones County, Georgia. The large, multi-component site has been judged as potentially eligible to the National Register of Historic Places and therefore warrants special protection and consideration. The Tarver site is located adjacent to a proposed dam that will create the Town Creek Reservoir, a water supply reservoir being constructed by the Macon Water Authority. Tribble & Richardson is the consulting engineer for the project. When it became apparent that the site could not be totally avoided by the proposed construction of the dam and reservoir, a data recovery plan was formulated by the archeologist who tested the site (Webb 1990). This data recovery plan dealt with all six components found during testing, as well two other components that were reputed to exist on the site. The plan, however, focused on the primary component of the site, historic Creek. The basic facets of the plan are the excavation of six 2 x 2 m test units and the stripping of 800 m2 to record features. The data recovery plan was submitted to the Corps of Engineers, Savannah District and the Georgia State Historic Preservation Officer. Since that time engineering and construction plans have been finalized and a clearly delineated 0.84 ha (2.1 ac) impact zone has been defined at the extreme eastern end of the site. Since the remainder of the site, outside of this impact zone, will be preserved and protected, archeological investigations will be limited to the 0. 84 ha impact zone, or project area.

The large multicomponent site is located on a broad ridge top overlooking the confluence of Town Creek and the Ocmulgee River (Figure 1). Webb (1990:53) determined that the site extends at least 325 x 325 m (10.5 ha), but stated that it likely extends further to the west (Webb 1990:71). If the site is assumed to cover the entire ridge top, it would be about 18 ha in size. The 0. 84 ha project area constitutes 8 % of the known site area and 4. 7 % of the estimated site size. The project area has been defined and mapped by project engineers to consist of a trapezoid at the southeast corner of the site (Figure 2).