ML19321A182

Cultural Resources Survey of Ray Braswell Transmission Line Route Warren & Claiborne Counties,Ms.

ML19321A182
Person / Time
Site:	Grand Gulf
Issue date:	06/09/1980
From:	Atkinson J, Ohear J MISSISSIPPI POWER & LIGHT CO.
To:
Shared Package
ML19321A180	List: ML19321A179 ML19321A182
References
NUDOCS 8007220573
Download: ML19321A182 (22)

Text

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LO'W .. -

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A Cultural Resources Survey of the 4

Ray Braswell Transmission Line Route Warren and Claiborne Counties .

Mississippi l

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Prepared By John W. O' Hear l l

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t James R. Atkinson 4

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i June 9, 1980 i-J 8007290 $9 3

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Introduction This is a report on a Cultural Resources survey of the route of a proposed 500 kilovolt transmission line which will run from the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station in Claiborne County for 24 miles to the northeast until it meets an existing 500 kilovolt line southeast of Vicksburg in Warren County, Mississippi.

The field survey of the route was carried out between May 5 and May 16, 1980, by a crew of two to four persons.

Seven prehistoric Indian sites and two historic period house sites were recorded by the survey in areas within or adjacent to the powerline corridor.

Of these, three prehistoric sites could be impacted by the powerline construc-tion, and one of the historic house sites lies very close. Each of the sites found will be discussed individually following a discussion of the nature of the survey area and the techniques used to perform the survey.

The Survey Area The powerline corridor trends generally to the northeast after leaving

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Grand Gulf, and will be constructed in interconnected lineal segments which range in length from about five miles to only a few hundred feet. A map of the route is shown on Figure 1. With the exception of a segment of about three miles where the route crosses the bottoms of the Big Black River, the powerline route stays within the Loess Hills physiographic region. This is a region of Memphis, Natchez, and Adler association soils, with relatively high local relief caused by the dissection of the erosion-prone loess into a complex system of narrow ridges separated by steep valleys and ravines. Dif-erences in elevation of over 100 feet between ridge and valley are found in much of the area.

Much of the upland ridges were in cultivation earlier in this century, but severe erosion caused most of the uplands to be put back into woods or in some cases pasture. This erosion no doubt had great impacts on prehistoric sites once located on the ridges; indeed the sites found during our survey which were located in upland areas seem to have been badly eroded.

The southern segment of the corridor runs perpendicular to the drainage pattern, and consequently runs up and down a series of ridges and valleys.

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• 3 Black, the route crosses three permanent streams: Willis Creek, Orakes Bayou and Kennison Creek. The land in this portion appears to be in rather large holdings, and is being leased to hunting clubs. Except for a few clearings along Drakes Bayou and Kennison Creek, the route is heavily wooded.

The route crosses the Big Black and heads due north at a point where the Big Black also trends north-south. After crossino approximately 3.3 miles of Big Black bottomland and terrace, the route again enters the uolands. The bottomland area is very low, and in fact was flooded during most of the survey period. The higher terrace-like areas along this portion of the Big Black have been intensively farmed for a great number of years.

After leaving the Big Black bottoms, the northern portion of the route crosses approximately 13 miles of dissected uplands. This northern part is crossed by two unnamed permanent streams. Most of this portion is heavily wooded, but the landholdings appear to be smaller and there is more area in pasture, agricultural, and residential use compared to the southern upland portion.

Survey Methods It was originally planned to walk the entire route of the powerline in performing the survey, but it was quickly determined that due to the topog-raphy and vegetation of the area that this approach would be physically difficult and time consuming and would add very little or nothing to the results of the survey. The northernmost four miles of the route were walked in their entirety before the strategy was changed to one of examining those areas of the route which had potential for containing prehistoric or his-toric sites due to their topographic position or proximity to a water source.

Those portions of the route which were e,:amined in detail are shown on Figure 1. Those areas which were not examined in detail consist entirely of heavily wooded ridges which are far removed from water sources and have very little habitable area on the narrow ridge crests. Indeed, examination of the topographic maps of these areas showed most of the ground surface to consist of slopes which range from 30 to 90 degrees in angle. Those upland ridge portions which were covered did not contain any sites except in those areas which were adjacent to pemanent streams or the bottoms of the Big Black River. It was also our impression that erosion on the ridges has been so severe in the past that any small sites which may have been located there

. .. ,. .g have been essentially destroyed, as was the case with site 22Wr553. .

Field techniques used during the survey were those considered more or less standard for this type of survey. All exposed ground surface was examined for signs of habitation, and where the ground cover was obscured, shovel tests were made at approximately 50 meter intervals. Steep slopes were not shovel tested. The position of each site was marked on 7.5 minute topographic quadrangles, and either representative samples or tota'l collec-tions were made of the artifacts found at the sites. The field notes, maps and specimens resulting from the survey will be curated in the archaeological collections in the Department of Anthropology, Mississippi State University.

Because of the proximity of the survey area to Vicksburg and Grand Gulf, records pertaining to Union and Confederate activities in the area were checked to determine if any sites associated with the Civil War might be found in the survey area. The primary source consulted was The War of Rebellion:

A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.

It was determined that forces twice crosses the route of the powerline, but neither action was of the type which would be expected to leave P.h in tne way of physical remains.

After General Grant outflanked the Confederate troops at Grand Gulf by crossing the Mississippi River at Bruinsburg in late April,1863, the Confederate forces at Grand Gulf and port Gibson retreated to the north to Vicksburg. These forces undoubtedly crossed the powerline route at some point. Shortly thereafter, Grant's forces also proceeded to the northeast and probably also crossed the route at some point.

The only other Civil War action which occurred near the powerline route was the use by the Confederates of an armored train during their defense of Grand Gulf in the Summer of 1862. This action occurred on what is now an abandoned railroad grade south of Grand Gulf which is crossed by the powerline route just outside of the Gra1d Gulf Nuclear Station. Examination of this area during the survey failed to find any trace of the old railroad, and it appears that it has been destroyed in this area by road construction.

1.iere are two pre-World War II houses which could be affected by the powerline construction. One of these is located on a portion of a prehisotric site (22Cb609) found during the survey and is discussed under the section on that site. The other house is discussed separately as House Site No. 1.

Photographs of these structures are included as Figures 4 and 5.

5 Site Descriptions Hunt (22Wr551)

Location: Eastern central portion of irregular section 11, Township 13 North, Range 3 East.

Descriotion: This is one of three sites found along the margins of a broad -

terrace-like area which borders the west side of the Big Black River (Figure 2). The sites is located at ,the northern end of a large cultivated field, and is located outside the proposed line corridor but partially under an existing powerline. The soils at the site are Memphis silt loam and Collins silt loam, and the area is very level. This field has been actively cultivated since before the Civil War, and at the time of our survey was in the process of being planted in soybeans. The site area was disked the day before our visit, and surface collection conditions were very poor because of the dry, powdery soil. Most of the artifacts collected were only visible because of their large size.

Determination of exact site boundaries was impossible due to the poor surface visibility and sparseness of material. Artifacts were found within a radius of about 75 m. The entire site area is contained within the culti-vated field. Shovel tests to the north of the site in an overgrown area were sterile. Shovel tests in the cultivated portion of the site showed a 30 m plowzone underlain by sterile soil.

Artifacts: The sample from this site is biased towards larger artifacts and consists of only 16 pieces (Table 1). No diagnostic artifacts are present.

Of note, however, are the three artifacts listed as "Unifact preform / core".

These are medium to large chert pebbles which have had one longitudinal sur-face removed by unifacial percussion flaking while the opposite surface retains all the original cortex. Absence of use markings on the edges suggest that they were actually used as cores. Similar artifacts were found at three other sites during the survey.

Cultural Affiliation: The lack of diagnostic artifacts makes an accurate determination of affiliation impossible,

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- . 7 TABLE .1 PREHISTORIC ARTIFACTS FROM SURVEYED SITES Artifact Type Site riumber 22Wr 22Wr 22Wr 22Wr 22Cb 22Cb Total 551 552 553 554 609 610 i

CERAMICS Shell Tempered - - - 1 - -

1 Plain Grog Tempered 3 3 6 Plain - - - -

Sand Tempered 1

Plain - -

- - - 1

.LITHICS Tools Assymetrical, Contracting Stem Projectile Point - - - -

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Biface Fragment - 1 1 2 8 -

12 3 2 1 - 6 Uniface Core / Preform - -

2 - 2 Biface Adze - - - -

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. Retouched Flake 1 - -

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Utilized Flake 1 1 -

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2 - - 1- 3 Hammerstone - -

Ground Sandstone Fragment 1 - - - - - 1 DEBITAGE Decortication Flakes 4 3 2 44 21 24 98 Biface Thinning Flakes - 2 1 5 1 1 10 4 19 50 6 92 Other Flakes 2 11 Shatter - - - -

6 8 14 Amorphous Core - - - 2 6 2 10 MISCELLANEOUS ROCK

. Fire-Cracked Rock 2 8 36 36 25 20 127

- 3 5 Small Chert Pebbles - 1 1

1 - - 1 Sandstone - - -

TOTAL 16 22 51 122 127 70 408

. :~ 8' Recommendations: Cultivation appears to have extensively disturbed all of ..

the site and the sites lies outside the project area.

Nasty Lady (22Wr552)

_L_ocation: Northeast portion of irregular Section 29, Township 13 North, Range 3 East.

Description:

This site is very similar to site 22Wr551 and lies in the same complex of cultivated fields (Figure 2). The only difference is that this site is located on the southern slope of a low rise rather than a flat area. The entire site area is in cultivation, and surface collection conditions were poor. Shovel tests showed a 25 cm deep plowzone underlain by sterile soil, 4 The site-dimensions are uncertain, but are about 70 by 100 meters.

' Artifacts: The cullection from this site is also biased towards the larger specimens, and is similar to that from 22Wr551 in that it contains the uniface ,

preform / cores discussed above (see Table 1). The collection also includes the distal end of a large projectile point made of fine white chert.

Cultural Affiliation: A tenuous Archaic period assignment can be made, based on the form and workmanship of the projectile point tip.

Recommendations: Because of agricultural disturbance and the sparseness of material, this site is not considered significant. No further work is recom-mended.

'l New Bridge (22Wr553)

Location: Northeast portion of irregular Section 4,' Township 13 North,-Range 3 East. .

Description:

-This-small, badly eroded site is located on the crest of a narrow f

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(Figure 2). The site area is presently in grass and underbrush, and material was collected from eroded spots. Artifacts were thinly scattered through an area approximately 30 by 50 meters running down the spur crest. Shovel tests showed no subplowzone deposits, and it appeared that most of the old plowzone had eroded off.

Artifacts: The collection from this site is small (Table 1 ) and contains no diagnostic specimens. The one tool found is a small irregular biface. The only notable aspect of the assemblage is the relatively high proportion of fire-cracked rock in relation.to the amount of chert debitage found.

Cultural Affiliation: Unknown, but probably Archaic stage.

Recomendations: Erosion seems to have essentially destroyed this site, and no further work is recomended.

Burnstand Church (22Wr554)

Location: East end of irregular Section 29, Township 13 North, Range 3 East.

Description:

This site is located at the southern end of the terrace-like fonnation where 22wr551 and 552 are located. Material was found eroding from the edge of the terrace edge, particularly where a very large beaver lodge had been dug into the terrace. All of the site area is in grass or woods except for the eroded edge and a dirt road which cuts through the edge into the bottoms. The size of 1.he site was not determined but it appears to be rather large, extending probably into the grounds of Burnstand Church. It is also likely that some of the site was destroyed by the building of Highway

61. The depth of the site judging from indications in the eroded terrace edge is 30 to 40 cm, and it is likely that undisturbed portions exist. Little investigation was made of the site except for a surface collection because it lay well outside of the line corridor.

Artifacts: The collection includes a variety of material, and indicates the site is multicomponent in nature (Table 1). Ceramics include one sherd of

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plain shell-tempered pottery, indicating a Mississippian component. The three

• grog-tempered sherds resemble Tchefuncte type pottery, but the small size of the sherds and small collection makes positive assignment risky. The sand tempered sherd is tempered with large rounded sand grains and resembles Alexander type pottery. While the collection contained a number of biface tools, none are diagnostic of a particular period.

Cultural Affiliation: If the grog and sand tempered sherds are in fact Tchefuncte and Alexander, an Early Woodland period component is indicated.

The shell tempered sherd makes it certain that a Mississippian period component is present.

Recommendations: This site is outside the project area and should not be affected by the powellne construction. It is possible that the site could suffer some decondary damage due to its location on and next to the only dirt road which gives access to the bottomland area south of the site where construction will take place. The construction personnel should be advised not to disturb the site area if this road is to be cleared or improved during construction.

Saint Albans Village Site (22Cb501)

Location: Southeast 1/4 of the Southeast 1/4, Section 42 and the Northeast 1/4 of the Northeast 1/4, Section 46. Township 13 North, Range 3 East.

Description:

This rather large site runs along the edge of a steep bluff on the south side of the Big Black, river, just east of the point where Highway 61 crosses the Big Black. One of the first sites officially listed in Clairborne . County, St. Albans is discussed in Indian Mounds and Sites in Mississippi Vol. 1 (W.P.A., n.d.). A sketch map of the site can be found in Figure 3. The site area runs for approximately 300 meters along the bluff edge, and extends back from the edge for 50 to 100 m. The powerline corridor traverses the eastern portion of the site, paralleling an existing powerline.

Most of the site area is presently in pasture, with minor portions being wooded or overgrown, prehistoric materials are abundant in the ruts of a

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Due to the size of the site and the project specific nature of the survey, investigations were more or less limited to the area within and adjacent to the powerline corridor. These investigations consisted of a controlled surface collection and six shovel tests.

The controlled surface collection was made in the bed of the dirt road by dividing the road into 25 foot segments. Units east of a beginning point 100 feet east of the existing powerline were designated El through E4 and units west of that point were designated W1 through W3 (see Figure 3). The road varied in width from 8 to 10 feet, which caused the collection units to vary

, in area from 200 to 250 square feet. The differences in density of material, as shown in Table 2, is probably biased both by differing unit area and by differing surface conditions between units. Units El and E2 were located on a slight slope and erosion had increased the number of artifacts which were visible. Hence their higher artifact density is not entirely due to real den-sity differences, but it was our impression that material was densest in the units from W2 through E2.

Shovel tests were excavated in the powerline corridor to check site boun-daires and stratigraphy. Tests south of the road into an overgrown area showed the site extending about 50 feet in this direction. The stratigraphy consisted of an old plowzone 10 to 20 cm thick underlain by sterile soil. A shovel test in a narrow wooded area north of the road between the road and the bluff drop off showed a 20 cm thick humus zone containing artifacts underlain by sterile soil. A shovel test just over the edge of the bluff showed 30 cm of slopewash underlain by sterile soil. The indications from the shovel tests are tnat there are no sub-plowzone cultural strata.

Artifacts: The artifact collection from Saint Albans indicates that the site is multicomponen+ 5 r.sture. The medium stemed projectile point, while not conclusive, suggests the presence of a late Archaic component, as does the relatively large amount of chert debitage in relation to the amount of ceramics.

A Woodland component, probably late Woodland, is indicated by the grog tempered cera.ai cs. The small size of the sherds makes a confident assignment to named types difficult, but the plainware all seems to be Baytown Plain. The small incised sherds show fragments of both rectilinear and curvilinear shallow in-cising. One sherd from unit W2 is very small, but shows closely spaced shallow

13

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TABLE. 2 '. ARTIFACTS FROM CONTROLLED SURFACE COLLECTION UNITS: SITE 22Cb501 .

Artifact Type Collection Unit W3 W2 W1 El E2 E3 E4 Total CERAMICS Shell Tempered Plain -

4 -

2 - - -

6 Grog Tempered -

Plain 2 34 14 15 15 -

3 83 Incised - 5 2 1 1 - -

9 Brushed -

1 - - - - -

1 Indeterminate - - -

2 - - - 2 Historic Ceramics Plain Whiteware - - - -

1 - -

1 Plain Ironstone - - -

1 -

1 -

2 Glazed Redware - -

1 - 2 -

1 4 Embossed Glass - -

1 - - - -

1 Window Glass 2 - - - - - -

2 LITHICS Tools Medium Stemmed Projectile Point -

1 - - - - -

1 Biface - - - - - 2 -

2 Biface Fragment 1 1 -

2 4 4 2 14 Uniface Preform /

Core .

1 3 - - - 4 Retouched Flake -

2 2 -

1 - -

5 Notched Flake - -

2 - - - -

2 Utilized Flake - -

2 - - -

4 6 Hammerstone Frag-ment - - - -

2 - -

2 Debitage Decortication Flake 15 86 77 157 170 31 22 558 Biface Thinning Flake 11 19 21- 6 34 5 2 98 Other Flakes 51 119 130 252 161 43 23 779 Shatter - -

3 9 20 2 -

34 Amorphous Core 1 1 3 -

1 1 -

7

-Miscellaneous Rock Fire-cracked Chert 3 35 20 43 38 7 3 '149 Burned Sandstone -

3 - - - - -

3

-Quartzite Frag-ments - 4 - 4 - - -

8 Small Chert Peb-bles 10 13 19 12 8 - 3 65 Large Chert Peb-

-bles - - -

1 - - -

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. lines similar to Plaquemine Brushed. ,

The latest prehistoric component is Mississippian, and is indicated by the six sherds of plain shell tempered pottery. The sherds are tempered with medium sized shell particles, suggesting these sherds are Mississippi 3 Plain.

The historic ceramics and glass which were scattered through the col-i' lection area are all twentieth century types, and are probably associated with an old house site which is located at the westernmost edge of the site.

.i Recommendations: The presence of several components, the high density of arti- ,

! facts, and the possibility of sub-plowzone pit features associated with the 3 Woodland and Mississippian components all argue that the site potentially contains significant information on the prehistory of the area, and hence may be eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.

- Additional information is necessary however before the site can be determined q

eligible or not. This includes additional data to refine our knowledge of

the components present, determination of whether sub-plowzone features are in j fact present and information on how the area of the site within the powerline impact zone relates to the site as a whole.

i The manner in which the powerline construction will effect the site will need to be determined in consultation with M.P.& L. personnel. It may be possible to minimize en avoid impact to the site by keeping the disturbance to the soil in the site area to a minimum. The exact scope of the necessary evaluative inveatigations will be directly determined by the type and amount

- of project impact.

Big Alligator (22Cb609)

Location: Southeast 1/4 of the Northeast 1/4, Section 46, Township 13 North.

Range 3 East.

Description:

This large site may in fact be two separate sites. It is located on a ridge spur which extends into thc bottoms of Kannison Creek,-

and also extends a considerable distance off the ridge spur into the creek bottoms. -The site was first recognized from scattered artifacts present in I w r +- , , - , -, -w,- + - ,m

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, ,- 15 eroded areas around an old frame house on the ridge which is presently used. .

as a hunting camp. Material was found scattered in a road bed leading down

. the ridge spur-into the bottoms. In the bottoms the frequency of material increases greatly. The artifacts listed in Table are from both the ridge area and bottom, but the majority of the material came from the bottom. While it is possible that the ridge area and bottom area are different sites, the frequency of material in the road bed seemed too great to attribute to erosion.

Including both areas, the site is about 400 m long and 30 to 50 m wide on the ridge spur. The bottomland area of the site is densely overgrown, and t-the limits of the site in this area were not determined because it lay well outside the survey area. Shovel tests on the ridge near the frame house showed a thin disturbed zone overlying sterile soil. As mentioned previously the density of prehistoric artifacts in the ridge area is low.

photographs of the house currently standing on the ridge are included with this report. Examination of both the interior and exterior of the house showed it to be made entirely by modern methods. There are no cut nails or handhewn wood in evidence. Indeed, the house is of rather shoddy construction and in a bad state of disrepair. A small collection of historic materials was made r. ear the house, and is presented in Table 3.

Artifacts: No pottery was found at the site, suggesting that at least the major component is Archaic, but the lack of diagnostic artifacts makes a pre-cise determination of the components present very difficult. The one projec-tile point found is a rather crude assymetrical contracting stem point, possi-bly some sort of Gary type variant, suggesting a late Archaic occupation. The collection is notable from the standpoint of containing a number of chipped tools and tool fragments.

The collection of historic ceramics and other material from around the house indicates that historic occupation of the ridge crest predates the con-struction of the present house. The pearlware which makes up slightly less than half of the small' collection indicates an early to mid 19th century date.

It.is possible that an eariler structure was razed before construction of the current structure was begun.

Recommendations: According to maps supplied by M.P.& L., the powerline cor-ridor passes just to-the southeast of the house on the ridge. The entire area e .

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Artifact Type Surface CERAMICS

,Pearlware Main 1 Blue Shell Edge 2 Blue Hand Painted 3 Porcelain Blue Transfer Print 1 Ironstone Plain 7 Polychrome Transfer Print 1 Whiteware Plain 1 Pink Glaze 1 4

GLASS Milk Glass 1 METAL Wire Nail 1 ,

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~ 18 for a considerable distance from the map location was examined for stakes or .

flags marking the route, but none wer* found. Therefore the exact position of the route relative to the house and site is uncertain, but if the map is accurate it does not appear that the line will impact the house or the pre-historic site. Due to the relatively recent construction of the house, and its lack of any significant architectural features, it is not considered to be significant even if it were impacted. With regard to the prehistoric site, 22Cb609, that part of the site near the house, and hence near the powerline corridor, appears to be badly eroded and disturbed by activities associated with the house. This disturbance, along with the low frequency of material in this area argue against considering this portion of the site to be signif-icant. If the powerline were for some reason to impact the bottom portion of the site, a reevaluation would be in order.

22Cb610 Location: Southwest portion, irregular Section 44, Township 13 North, Range 3 East.

Description:

This site is located well away from the powerline corridor, and consisted of a thin scatter of artifacts in a dirt road bed leading through a pasture. The site area is on the crest of a ridge spur, and material war most concentrated along a slope where the crest of the spur decreases in ele-vation. A shovel te.,t showed no cultural material below the plowzone, and the site area is estimated at about 50 to 75 meters in diameter.

Artifacts: A few sherds of grog tempered pottery, probably Baytown Plain, indicate a Woodland component. No diagnostic Archaic artifacts were foun,

but it is probable that an Archaic component is also present.

Recommendations: This site will not be affected by the project.

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.. 1 House Site Number 1 Location: East 1/2 of the Southeast 1/4 of the Southeast 1/4 of the Northwest ,

1/4, Section 33 Township 15 North, Range 4 East.

Description:

This abandoned frame house is located just.to the east of the powerline corridor in a small clearing. Examination of the structure revealed that it was of modern construction and did not have any unusual architectural features. The house is very delapidated and will be in danger of collapsing in not too many years if repairs are not made. A photograph of the house is presented as Figure 5. One feature of interest is the presence of a jug well type cistern immediately behind the house. This cistern has a brick collar which extends ddwn approximately six feet below the surface, followed by about five feet of earthen shaft which flares out into a flat bottomed chamber about 10 feet in diameter. It is likely that the cistern was once filled by runoff from the roof, but none of the catchment facilities remain. The cistern is empty except for a small amount of water.

Recommendations: The relatively recent age of the house and its lack of sig-nificant architectural features argue against its significance. The house probably lies outside the impact zone and will not be affected. If it is, no further work is recommended.

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Summary Tni. Cultural Resources survey of a 25 mile long proposed electricity powerline route resulted in the recording of six previously unrecorded pre- '

historic Indian sites and the revisiting of the previously recorded Saint Albans Village Site. Three of these sites may be impacted by construction and one, Saint Albans, is recommended for evaluative investigations once the nature  !

and scope of the potential impacts are determined.

In addition to the prehistoric sites, two twentieth century standing house structures lay within or immediately adjacent to the powerline corridor, but neither of these are considered to be significant.

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.i .',' 21 Government Documents Consulted Indian Mounds and Sites in Mississippi, Volume 1 Works Progress Administration, n.d.

The War of Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washir.gton: Government Printing Office, 1880 - 1901.

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