Phase 1 Cultural Resources Survey of the McIntosh Reserve

In April of 2010, New South Associates conducted a Phase I Archaeological Survey of an approximately 58-acre project area in the McIntosh Reserve, Carroll County, Georgia (Figure 1). The park sustained damage during flooding in September and October of 2009, with flood sediments deposited over a portion of the park including several popular walking trails. The county and park personnel wish to restore the area to pre-flooding conditions by removing the flood sediments via scraping them off with heavy machinery and hand tools. The federal government declared Carroll County a major disaster area and, as such, the clean up of the McIntosh Reserve constitutes a federally-assisted undertaking, which requires Section 106 compliance. An archaeological survey of the project area is mandated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to determine if the proposed clean up activities will have an adverse effect on archaeological resources that are potentially eligible or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). In order to comply with Section 106, this archaeological survey was designed to locate previously recorded and previously unidentified archaeological resources within the affected portions of the park and to provide an initial assessment of their NRHP eligibility. The project's APE was defined as the portion of the park that would be directly subjected to clean up or indirectly impacted by the use of heavy machinery, an area determine to be approximately 58 acres in size. The archaeological survey resulted in the identification of a previously unknown archaeological site (9CL404) that covers the western two-thirds of the project area. The vast majority of the archaeological deposits of 9CL404 remain from prehistoric occupation dating to the Early to Middle Woodland and Mississippian periods, while a minor historic component dating from the late eighteenth century through the late twentieth century is present as well. Based on the potential of the deeply buried prehistoric remains at 9CL404 to yield important information regarding the prehistory of the area, New South Associates feels 9CL404 is potentially eligible for listing in the NRHP under Criterion D. Further, New South Associates recommends that rather than conduct archaeological testing of 9CL404 prior to the clean-up efforts, an archaeologist be present to monitor the removal of flood sediments to ensure that the intact archaeological deposits situated at least 10 centimeters below the ground surface are not impacted.