From January through March, 2005, R.S. Webb & Associates (RSWA) conducted Phase UI archeological data recovery excavations at Site 9GW476. The site was initially identified during a 2000 Phase I archeological survey of the Glass Tract Development Site in Gwinnett County, Georgia (Webb and Quirk 2001 ). The Phase I study identified an Early Archaic (Kirk) lithic scatter. Subsequent Phase U testing data (Webb and Quirk 2001) indicated that Site 9GW476 contained an Early Archaic residential site with minor Late Paleoindian and Middle Archaic components. A concentration of artifacts, including a Late Paleoindian Dalton PP/K and an Early Archaic Kirk PP/K, were noted in a zone beneath a mantle of FCR between 30 and 40 centimeters (cm) below surface (bs) in Test Unit 2. The number of Early Archaic PP/Ks found at the site (n=5), and the other types of early artifacts found (piece esquille, bipolar cores, thumbnail scrapers, and a shaft drill) during Phase IJ testing, suggests that the Early Archaic occupation was more of a residential site as opposed to a short-term hunting station. The focus for data recovery excavation was on the Early Archaic deposits.
Based on the data collected during Phase ll testing, RSWA recommended Site 9GW476 eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) under Criterion D (Information Potential). Through consultation with the Georgia State Historic Preservation Division (HPD) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), it was determined that Site 9GW476 is eligible for the NRHP. Originally, Sugarloaf Properties intended to preserve Site 9GW476, and it was included in the project preservation plan as natural green space. Sugarloaf Properties has decided it is necessary to develop the land containing Site 9GW476. This proposed action will disturb Site 9GW476 and therefore, have an adverse effect on a NRHP-eligible archeological site. According to the project Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), if this NRHP-eligible site can not be preserved as originally intended, then proposed adverse effects to the site must be mitigated through archeological data recovery.
RSWA prepared a research design and data recovery plan for Phase III archeological investigations (Webb 2002). The research design and data recovery plan for Site 9GW476 was approved by the USA CE and HPD in March 2003.
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