Cultural Resources Survey of the North Columbia Quarry Tract

"Between April 20 and May 1, 2009, Brockington and Associates, Inc., conducted an intensive cultural resources survey of the 315 uplands acres of the 508-acre North Columbia Quarry project tract in Richland County, South Carolina. The project tract was divided into 315 acres of uplands, consisting of ridges and drainages, and 193 acres of the Broad River and Nipper Creek floodplains. Geoarcheology Research Associates conducted the geoarchaeological survey of the floodplains. This work was conducted for Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., in compliance with the regulatory programs of the US Army Corps of Engineers (33 CFR Part 325).
The cultural resources survey included a review of land ownership and use recorded in public documents, a review of previous investigations near the tract, surface inspection and excavation of shovel tests at 30-meter intervals across the upland portion of the project tract, and geoarchaeological survey (using a geoprobe) of the floodplain portion of the project tract.
Investigators from Brockington and Associates, Inc., identified 13 archaeological sites (38RD1348–38RD1360) and a single isolated find (Isolate 1) in the uplands portion of the tract. We recommend three of these sites (38RD1350, 38RD1355, and 38RD1360) potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). We advise that proposed grounddisturbing activities in the vicinity of these sites should be avoided. If sites 38RD1350, 38RD1355, and 38RD1360 cannot be preserved in place, we recommend that evaluative testing be conducted to determine definitively the NRHP eligibility of each site."