Per the request of Rosewood Development Company, LLC (Rosewood), I conducted archival research and archaeological field investigations of the Phillips Family Cemetery in order to determine the extent of the cemetery. It is my understanding that Rosewood wishes to develop the tract of land in which the cemetery is embedded, and in accordance with policies and procedures developed by Walton County, intends to set aside the cemetery and a buffer as green space so that it can be preserved in-place and not be disturbed. One of the first steps in this preservation-in-place strategy is to have a professional archaeologist delineate the extent of the cemetery in accordance with procedures described in OCGA 36-72-5(2). This calls for the use of "minimally invasive investigation techniques, including remote sensing methods and the use of metal probes" by a professional archaeologist. Rosewood contracted with Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc. (SAS) of Athens, Georgia to perform this investigation, and principal archaeologist Tom Gresham conducted the archival research on July 17 and 18, 2018 and the field investigations on July 18, 2018. This letter along with its attached maps and photographs is our reports of those investigations.
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