Phase II Archaeological Investigations at Three Sites in Paulding County, Georgia: The Neighborhoods of Pumpkinvine Creek Project

During April, 1998, New South Associates conducted Phase II test excavations at three potentially eligible sites in the Neighborhoods of Pumpkinvine Creek Tract, Paulding County, Georgia. During the Phase I survey (Cantley 1998), potentially significant prehistoric and historic period cultural components were discovered at sites 9PA79, 9PA80, 9PA102. At site 9PA79 and 9PA80, lithics and ceramic sherds dating to the Woodland /Mississippian period(s) and a possible preserved cultural feature were found during the Phase I survey. Site 9PA102, on the other hand, contained potentially significant remains of a Late Archaic soapstone quarry and a 20th century talc mining operation. The prehistoric component was identified primarily on the basis of stone tools and soapstone artifacts collected by an amateur archaeologist during the early 1980s. With the aid of this amateur archaeologist, the survey relocated the soapstone boulders and scattered fragments reported to be the vicinity where the prehistoric artifacts were found. The historic mining component was represented by three small mine shafts. The Phase II testing project documented that these sites were wholly contained within the modern humus and plowzone deposits and that no stratigraphic integrity remained. While the more intensive Mississippian occupations occurring at sites 9PA79 and 9PA80 retained some horizontal spatial coherence, the artifacts were badly damaged by agricultural and silvicultural processes. No cultural features were discovered in eight 1 x 2 m excavation units (four at each site) that were judgmentally placed at locations suspected of containing intact cultural features. Based on this evidence, sites 9PA79 and 9PA80 do not appear to be significant under Criterion D and are not recommended as eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Poor artifact preservation was also present at site 9PA102. Shovel tests in the reported area of the soapstone outcrop failed to yield a single prehistoric artifact. Two quartz flakes and a possible bowl scar carved into one of the soapstone boulders was observed in the area after all the vegetation was removed from the outcrop itself. A shovel test placed in the center of the outcrop confirmed that much of the rock debris in this vicinity was placed there by the historic mining operation. Based on this evidence, the prehistoric component at site 9PA102 does not appear to be significant under Criterion D and is not recommended as eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The physical evidence of historic period mining at site 9PA102 consisted of two horizontal shafts dug into the side of a sloping ridge and a vertical shaft or pit on the ridge top. Near the mines were large soapstone boulders and piles of cobbles and broken fragments which were left over from the mining activities. This evidence corresponds with the known practices of "ground hogging" or "gophering," which were common mining methods in the early twentieth century. The rather shallow depth of the shafts, the absence of timbering or tracking and other more permanent features suggest that mining activities at 9PA102 were small in scale and of a temporary nature. Based on the estimated value of talc on the Graves property, the physical evidence at the site and the lack of documentation pertaining to any mining activities, it can be concluded that the historic component at site 9PA102 is unlikely to yield important information about the talc mining industry or its associations with the history of Paulding County. Given this, Site 9PA102 does not appear to be significant under Criterion D.