An Intensive Archaeological Assessment Survey and Limited Site Excavation at the Westport East Development Tract Chatham County, Georga

In June and July 2005, Environmental Services, Inc. (ESI) performed an intensive cultural resource assessment survey and conducted limited site testing at the Westport East development tract in Chatham County, Georgia, on behalf of Solution Property Group, Inc; the property is slated for light industrial development. The goal of the survey was to locate, identify, delineate, and evaluate all cultural resources within the property, including prehistoric and historic archaeological sites, as well as historic structures. The cultural resource assessment survey included a pedestrian inspection combined with systematic shovel testing at 30 and 90-meter intervals. Delineation shovel tests were dug at 10 and 15-meter intervals. As a result of the ESI survey, two prehistoric archaeological sites (9CH1096 and 9CH1097) and three historic sites (9CH1098-9CH1100) were recorded and one historic isolated find was documented. Recovered artifacts indicated that the property sustained intermittent occupations during the Late Archaic, Middle and Late Woodland, and Middle Missippian periods, and limited, ephemeral occupations during the mid to latter 19th and early 20th centuries. During the survey, two sites (9CH1096 and 9CH1097) were encountered that warranted limited excavation at the Phase II level, in order to evaluate their National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligibility status. There are no structures on the tract that will be affected by the development, nor are there any structures over 50 years old within the surrounding area that would sustain visual or audible impact from the proposed undertaking. Based on the Phase II testing results, it was determined that 9CH1096 contained limited artifact density, and lacked cultural features and clear occupational strata. Similarly, 9CH1 098 yielded only few artifacts, amd 9CH1099 exhibited severe surface and subsurface disturbance. Site 9CH11 00 showed no evidence of subsurface deposits suggesting possible redeposition from an off-site source. As such, none of these four sites exhibited characteristics that would make them eligible for inclusion in the NRHP. However, Site 9CH1097 showed potential for intact cultural remains, significant depth of deposits and distribution of medium to high concentrations of artifacts over significant portions of the site, indicating possible characteristics that make 9CH1 097 eligible for NRHP status.