Cultural Resources Survey and Testing of the Proposed Vogtle - Wadley Transmission Line

The purpose of this project was to conduct an archaeological survey of a proposed 500 KV electric transmission line between the Vogtle Nuclear Generating Plant and the Wadley Substation northwest of Wadley, Georgia (Figure 1-1). The proposed transmission line corridor transversed Burke and Jefferson Counties, Georgia. The project was conducted under a contract between Soil Systems, Inc. (551) and the Georgia Power Company, to fulfill regulatory obligations pursuant to the Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended.

Upon completion of the survey, the sites were assessed in terms of possible significance. Those sites that were deemed potentially significant were then investigated through an archaeological testing program. This testing program was to determine the data potential of the selected sites, and thus their potential for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

The archaeological survey was conducted from August 24 to September 8, 1982, with a three-person crew. Crew members were Beth Gantt, Assistant Field Director, and Linda Stoutenburg and Mark Bracken, Archaeological Technicians. Terry H. Klein, Field Director, joined the survey in progress.

The survey located 32 sites that would be impacted by the proposed transmission line. Seventeen were prehistoric sites, 13 were possible historic sites, and two contained both historic and prehistoric materials. Of these sites, SSI reconmended four (20056-1, 16, 17, and 24A and B) for additional testing. All four were prehistoric. The remaining sites were judged not to warrant further investigation and were reconmended for clearance. In addition to these 32 sites, 28 isolated finds, both historic and prehistoric, were recorded in the project area. The isolated finds were determined not to warrant further work, given their limited data potential beyond collection and recording of their locations.

The testing of the four sites was conducted from September 14 to September 17, 1982. Crew members for the testing program included Terry H. Klein, Field Director, and Mark Bracken and David Babson, Archaeological Technicians. The testing and subsequent laboratory analysis demonstrated that three of the four sites have the potential to yield data important in prehistory, and thus are reconnnended as eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Site 20056-16 was found to occur mostly to the north of the proposed transmission line corridor; and those parts of the site within the corridor exhibited little data potential. Clearance was recommended.

In conjunction with determinations of site significance, the results of the survey and testing programs were used in addressing general research questions on the prehistoric settlement patterning within the interriverine zone of the Upper Coastal Plain of Georgia and the Southeast in general.

The following report contains a detailed discussion of the archaeological survey and testing results, as well as environmental, prehistoric and historic summaries of the project areas. Discussions on the research questions are included in the survey methods chapter.