An Assessment of the Archaeological Resources at the Morgan Falls West (chat-57) Site Tract 105-26, Land Lots 224 and 279, Bull Sluice District, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area

Archeological investigations were conducted at the Morgan Falls West (CHAT-57) site located within the Bull Sluice District of Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CHAT) by members of the Southeast Archeological Center (SEAC) from January 4th to January 7th and February 21st to February 24th, 1995 in order to evaluate the integrity and significance of those portions of the site located within Tract 105-08, Land Lot 278 and Tract 105-26, Land Lots 224 and 279. The evaluation was prompted by a proposed land divestiture of National Park Service property located within Tracts 105-08 and 105-26 in exchange for privately owned river front property and prior archeological investigations that demonstrated the presence of an extensive pre-Columbian lithic scatter and an early 1830s farmstead within those portions of the tracts proposed for divestiture. A systematic shovel test survey conducted at the site during October of 1994 within the Land Lot 224 and 279 portions of Tract 105-26 had failed to identify any significant intact cultural resources within the investigated areas, but it was recommended that further subsurface testing be conducted within a 200 foot wide corridor along the northern edge of Tract 105-26, Land Lot 279 in order to assess further the potential for significant antebellum period archeological resources which could be present as a result of an historically documented 1830s farmstead located somewhere in this portion of the site. The investigations conducted at the site in January of 1995 consisted primarily of systematic shovel testing at 5 to 20 m intervals across those portions of the 200' wide corridor area considered most likely to contain significant archeological resources (i.e., the flatter ridge areas). In all, 54 shovel tests were excavated within two areas covering approximately 4000 m2 (1 acre). The majority of these shovel tests were excavated at the eastern end of the 200' corridor on a small knoll forming the upper portion of an east-west trending ridge spur located centrally within the currently recognized limits of the site. Shovel testing in the knoll area produced an assemblage of pre-Columbian artifacts which differed from the usual light scatter of quartzitic debitage which typified the prehistoric assemblage recovered from other portions of the site. The amount of quartz debitage that was recovered in the knoll area was considerably higher than that found across the other portions of the site, and the knoll assemblage included portions of hammerstones, projectile points, and at least one nutting stone, which were artifact categories that had not been encountered during the 1994 shovel testing. The greater variety and numbers of artifacts suggest that the knoll was occupied and used more intensively compared to other areas of the site. Unfortunately, the knoll area has been impacted by past farming practices (i.e., plowing and terracing) and there is little chance that intact subsurface features remain. Approximately 200 corings using a tube sampler probe placed at one meter intervals over the central portion of the knoll failed to identify any subsurface features below the plow zone. Excavation of two 1m2 test units on the knoll during the subsequent February visit to the site also failed to encounter subsurface features but did produce two projectile points that could be assigned to the Late Archaic period (3000-1000 B.C.), suggesting that this was the time the knoll was most intensively occupied. The discovery of the Late Archaic period artifact concentration on the ridge spur knoll bordering the Tract 105-08/105-26 boundary line prompted further examination on two similar ridge spurs, one located at the southern end and another at the northern end of the currently known site limits. Shovel tests spaced 10 m apart along a transect that bisected the southern ridge spur along its east-west axis resulted in the recovery of artifacts (a single quartz flake) in only one of five shovel test units. The highly eroded nature of this southern ridge spur, lack of soil depth (with bedrock outcropping in some areas), and paucity of artifacts indicates that if a situation analogous to the central ridge spur knoll existed in the past, it has been essentially destroyed as a result of the historic land use practices which have so severely affected the other areas of the site. The ridge spur located at the northern end of the site was previously tested by Moore in 1985 with a series of five postholes, al1 of which proved negative. The ridge spur was visited again in February of 1995 with the excavation of two shovel tests placed on the crest of the ridge spur just west of the Georgia Power Company power line. Both shovel tests failed to produced artifacts. The 1995 investigations at Morgan Falls West, in conjunction with prior investigations, have demonstrated that all those portions of CHAT-57 now being considered for divestiture have been heavily impacted as a consequence of the agricultural practices (plowing, terracing, and erosion) that have occurred in this portion of the site over the last 100+ years. In addition, the number of artifacts collected during the shovel testing procedures indicates that, for the most part, pre-Columbian use of the site was ephemeral and sporadic with the relatively few physical remains left at the site primarily consisting of a now disturbed, light scatter of lithic (quartz/quartzite and chert) debitage. The one possible exception to this prehistoric site use pattern is the centrally located ridge spur knoll with its concentration of Late Archaic lithic debris. Although it contains a greater number of artifacts per area than other portions of the site, the basic assemblage appears to differ only slightly in terms of the range of non-debitage artifacts. This could simply be the result of somewhat more prolonged or more frequent occupation of this area due to its closer proximity to the river. Nothing in the artifact assemblage indicates that this portion of the site differed significantly from other portions of the site in terms of the kinds of prehistoric activities that were performed there. As for the historic stoneworks and the antebellum farmstead located in the northern portion of the property, these resources have been excluded from the proposed land exchange as a result of their inclusion within a proposed 100 to 184.3 feet wide corridor which will remain the property of the National Park Service and serve as a buffer between the already present Waterford Green subdivision and the new subdivision that will be created within the current project boundaries once the proposed land exchange takes place. The retention of the corridor buffer zone by the Park Service will aid in the preservation of unique cultural resources associated with an antebellum farmstead that has been dated in part by its depiction on an 1831 plat map. These cultural resources may well include subsurface features similar to a pit feature (Feature 1) that was detected as a result of the recent excavation of 16 shovel tests spaced at 5 meter intervals within the general vicinity of where the 1831 plat map placed the historic structure. After pearlware sherds were recovered in two of the shovel tests, a tube sampler probe was used to core the vicinity at one meter intervals in order to detect soil anomalies below the plow zone. A soil anomaly detected in one of the corings was investigated through the excavation of two 1m2 hand dug test units which revealed a roughly ova1 basin shaped pit (Feature 1) that contained pearlware ceramics, iron spikes, cut nails, and relatively abundant faunal and floral materials. The datable artifacts (ceramics and nails) are all compatible with a circa 1830 date for the feature. As a result of finding intact cultural deposits associated with the historically documented 1830s farmstead near the northern edge of Tract 105-28, and the apparent association of the nearby stoneworks with this antebellum occupation, it is recommended that the "buffer zone" corridor be widened to 150' between the stoneworks and the antebellum house site area in order to ensure the preservation of any additional subsurface features that may remain intact from this unique historic resource. This proposed increase in the buffer zone corridor encompasses a total area of 0.269 acres, which, if adopted, would require the realignment of the eastern project boundary if an equal area is. needed to compensate for this additional proposed exclusion. Such a realignment is not likely to require additional fieldwork since the areas to the east of the project boundary are typically steeply sloped and heavily eroded.