Addendum to the Alpharetta-Woodstock Transmission Line Report

At the request of the State Historic Preservation Office and Oglethorpe Power Corporation, the following addendum to the Alpharetta-Woodstock Transmission Line report is submitted. On December 1, 1983, Robert Webb, Robert Hunter and Mike Gibbs re-examined five stone mounds between survey stations 12+86 and 10+00 (see Site Form attached). A stone retaining wall near station 12+86 was also re-examined. During the initial survey Webb examined these mounds at. the request of James Bates, principal investigator, and after disassembling one mound and shovel testing around several, others, no link between the structures and prehistoric activities could be found. Soil beneath the disassembled mound .-iss identical to that surrounding the mound (yellow rocky sandy clay loam). Testing directly adjacent to several other mounds yielded the same results. More importantly, no cultural materials were discovered beneath or around any mounds tested. Upon returning to re-investigate these structures, further data was gathered supporting a non-aboriginal affiliation of the mounds and stone retaining wall. One mound had collapsed into a large rotten tree stump, indicating that the stones were probably gathered after the tree had been felled. It is unlikely the tree dates to prehistoric times. It appears that rudimentary erosional control was being practiced by early farmers. The retaining wall dams a natural depression extending down a northerly facing slope. Beyond the transmission line corridor to the north several smaller walls exist along the same depression. The stone mounds are apparently collection stations for field stones. Such stations indicate that 1) the area was probably being cleared for agricultural purposes and 2) the removed stones were used to practice erosion control via low soil retaining walls. Although of interest, the mounds and walls seem to reflect relatively recent activity (within the last 75 years) and often appear in sloping areas with thin topsoils where eroding bedrock is present.