Archaeological Survey of the Altamaha River Swamp Wetlands Mitigation Tract, Long County, Georgia

Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc. conducted Phase I archeological survey and Phase II testing of a 1607 ha (3970 ac) tract located in the Altamaha River floodplain in Long County. The survey began on November 1, 1999 and was completed on January 7, 2000. The tract is essentially composed of a series of northwest-southeast trending sand ridges surrounded by swamp. The Georgia Department of Transportation purchased the property to preserve it as natural wetlands as mitigation for a highway project in Wayne and Long Counties. Most of the better-drained land in the survey tract had been clear cut in the past four or five years and prepared for replanting of pine seedlings. Much of the lower-lying swamp land was clearcut the year prior to the survey. Because of the clearing and planting, there was a moderate amount of surface disturbance and exposure throughout the project area, which facilitated the discovery and delineation of sites. Shovel testing was also employed to insure detection of sites, better delineate site boundaries, and to learn about the subsurface nature of the sites. The survey encountered widespread but generally sparse distributions of aboriginal ceramics. Small amounts of lithics were encountered in association with many of the ceramic scatters, but only one site produced lithics in the absence of pottery. We also identified a few loci of historic brick, glass and ceramics. Archival research indicated no substantial historic period occupations occurred on the tract. Because material was sparse on the surface, even more sparse in shovel tests, and in some cases had been moved by timbering, tree planting and road repair, it was difficult to isolate and delineate distinct sites. We used as our definition of a site the occurrence of at least five artifacts on the surface within a 30 m area (provided it was not road fill) or the presence of subsurface artifacts in two or more shovel tests within a 30 m area. We recorded 82 sites and 46 artifact occurrences. Notably, only eight of the sites contain historic components and these are not substantial. Deptford components are most numerous (at 46 sites), followed by Savannah (19 sites), Swift Creek (16 sites), St. Simons (10 sites), Refuge (5 sites), St. Catherine's/Wilmington (2 sites), and Irene (2 sites). Twenty-four sites have ceramic-bearing components that can only be generally classified as either Woodland or Mississippian. Based on the initial phase of intensive survey, we recommended that 68 of the 82 sites were not eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, mainly because artifact density was too low to suggest that they would have further research potential. Fourteen sites were recommended as needing additional work, and these were revisited and tested with either additional shovel tests or a combination of additional shovel tests and between one and four 1 x 2 m test units. Based on the testing, which revealed low densities of vertically displaced cultural material, we recommend that none of the sites meet the eligibility criteria for the National Register of Historic Places. We conclude that the proposed wetlands restoration project will have no adverse effect on significant archeological sites.