Cultural Resources Survey of the Proposed Etowah Water & Sewer Authority Land Application Facility Expansion, Phase I, Dawson County, Georgia

Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc. (SAS) contracted with Infratec Consultants, Inc. to conduct a Phase I archeological survey of the area of potential effect for the construction of the first phase of a wastewater spray facility in Dawson County, Georgia. The area of potential effect includes a series of spray fields and the roads that will connect them. The total area surveyed is about 71 ha (175 ac). SAS surveyed the impact area in April of 2007, and recorded 15 archeological sites and five archeological occurrences (Table 1). One of the sites had been previously recorded. All 15 sites were prehistoric ridge top lithic scatters and two of these also contained twentieth century material. The artifacts at all sites were found in a relatively thin zone of top soil. Most of the sites had been subjected to erosion. Diagnostic artifacts (projectile points) were found at eight sites, allowing us to recognize four Middle Archaic (Morrow Mountain) components, four late Middle Archaic (Piedmont Allendale) components, and two Early to Middle Woodland (Greenville and Yadkin) components. Many of the recovered tools were bifaces, some ovate, and these could represent other components as well. No prehistoric pottery was found. Because shallow ridge top lithic scatters rarely contain features and meaningful artifact patterning, and because of the poor integrity of the sites, we recommend that none of the 15 archeological sites are eligible or potentially eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Thus, we recommend that the proposed land application facility will not adversely affect any significant cultural resources.