Management Summary: Archaeological Testing at the Bertha Petty Site, Atlanta Gas Light Proposed Pipeline Corridor, Murray County, Georgia

Archaeological testing of the Bertha Petty Site (Survey Site 1) was carried out from May 11 through May 26,1987 by Garrow and Associates, Inc. The Bertha Petty Site was first recorded during the Cultural Resource Investigation of the East Tennessee - Ball Ground Proposed Pipeline Corridor, conducted for the Atlanta Gas Light Company, and was named after its present owner. The Atlanta Gas Light Company study area encompasses an area 200 feet north-south by 225 feet east-west immediately north of the Coosawattee River in Murray County, Georgia (Figure 1). Eighty shovel tests, two complete two by two meter test units, one incomplete two by two meter test unit, and a backhoe trench were excavated through the cultural deposits at this site (Figure 2). The cultural materials recovered during these investigations indicate that the prehistoric occupation of the study area spans a time period from the terminal Late Archaic through the Late Woodland/Early Mississippian cultural periods, with the primary occupation dating to the Middle Woodland to Late Woodland/Early Mississippian period. Because of the significant archaeological resources present at the Bertha Petty Site, recommendations for the site are either preservation by avoidance, or data recovery excavations to mitigate the effects of the proposed construction. The following sections of this report present the environmental setting of the site, the prehistoric cultural background of North Georgia, the methodology used in the testing of the site, the results of the test excavations, and a research design and proposed methodology for data recovery excavations. A proposed budget for data recovery excavations is included as Appendix I, and a descriptive listing of all artifacts recovered during the test excavations are included in Appendices II - IV. This testing was designed to fulfill the legal compliance needs of Atlanta Gas Light Company. These goals included:. 1. Determining the horizontal and vertical extent of the archaeological resource that will potentially be adversely impacted by direct construction of the pipeline. 2. Determining the chronological placement (to the extent feasible) of the archaeological resource that will be adversely impacted by direct construction of the pipeline. 3. Determining the original function(s) (to the extent feasible) of the site. 4. Determining if the archaeological resource is potentially eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. 5. Develop documented recommendations for either the avoidance of or further archaeological study of this archaeological resource.