An Archaeological Survey of the Proposed Bishop Bypass, Oconee County, Georgia

Between December 19, 2005 and January 20, 2006 an archeological survey was conducted for a proposed alignment for the Bishop Bypass in Oconee County, Georgia. This alignment begins in Farmington on Freeman Creek Road, crosses US 441, then parallels Old Farmington Road until it reaches Greenbrier Creek. From there, the proposed alignment parallels the east side of the creek, crossing Astondale Road east of Bishop and terminating on Old Bishop Road just southwest of Hardigree-Bell Road. The total length of this alignment is 6.4 km (4 mi), and the proposed right-ofway is 76 m (250 ft) wide. Two variations of the alignment, as depicted on Figure 1, were surveyed. At the request of the Georgia Department of Transportation, we also surveyed the acreage between the alternative alignments. As a result, the total area surveyed was approximately 195 acres. Forty-three archeological sites, a cemetery, and four artifact occurrences were recorded during the survey. This is a remarkable number of sites, but the density is in part explained by the proximity of Greenbrier Creek: nearly every slightly elevated landform above the creek contains a site. Also, the Oconee River Valley between Athens and Milledgeville is one of the richest archeological regions in Georgia. Table 1 provides key information about each site. We believe that seven of the sites (9OC312, 9OC333, 9OC334, 9OC341, 9OC342, 9OC352 and 9OC355) have research potential, (i.e., they could be eligible for listing in the NRHP), but additional work (testing) is required to determine this. Nearly all of these sites have late Mississippian (Lamar) components. Based on the prevalence of plain and fine-line incised sherds, it appears that most of these sites date to the Bell phase (ca. A.D. 1580 - 1670). Based on site size and artifact density, at least five sites (9OC312, 9OC333, 9OC341, 9OC342 and 9OC352) appear to be typical Lamar farmsteads. At least a dozen farmsteads have been excavated in recent years and most contain structural features (round and rectangular houses), trash pits, and burials. One Lamar site (9OC355) is more problematical: it is characterized by only a few positive shovel tests with lower artifact density, but it could represent a farmstead that was occupied for only a brief time. The remaining site that could be significant is 90C334, a prehistoric lithic scatter overlooking Greenbrier Creek. The Lea-Price cemetery (no archeological site number assigned) is located at the southern terminus of the survey area, and is immediately adjacent to the proposed right-of-way. This is a family cemetery that contains at least 14 graves. It is associated with the Price (aka Cox) house, a ca. 1840 plantation plain structure located on the north side of Freeman Creek Road east of the proposed bypass. The cemetery is recommended as being eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places because it is a contributing resource to the Price house, which GDOT historians consider to be eligible to the NRHP. It appears that the cemetery is entirely outside of the proposed right-of-way of the Bishop Bypass, so will not be affected by construction, should this route be selected as the preferred alternate. Finally, the sites that are recommended ineligible for listing in the NRHP or portions of sites that are listed as "noncontributing" (for the sites that are partly within the right-of-way) have poor integrity or lack meaningful research potential.