1999 NS Contract for Archeological Survey of St. Mary's Road Corridor

Browse Search

04/09/1999 09:14 9196443002 OR. CTY. PLANNING 10 Proposed Archaeological Resources Survey St. Mary's Road is a curving two-lane blacktop that gently traverses Piedmont lands. These lands are primarily rural-agricultural, although this land-use pattern is changing with increasing residential development occurring in the area. The St. Mary's wrridor follows traces of an historic trade route that once connected prehistoric and historic inhabitants living In the bounds of present-day South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. This great path was known by many names, such as the "Catawba Path," the "Trading Path," the"Virginia Path," and the "Occaneechi Trail," and later as the "Oxford Road" (e.g., Catawba Regional Planning Council 1975:46; Joy 1995:3; Stine 1990). A wealth of documentation exists for the study area in terms of historic maps, aerial photographs, primary and secondary documentary historic: sources, genealogical research results, and regional architectural and archaeological surveys. These data will be the initial focus of the archaeological investigations. Task One During the author's tenure at the South Carolina Institute of Archaeuiuyy and Anthropology she worked on a similar project for the Charleston County.Planning Office (Stine 1992). Using myriad sources she described the prehistoric and historic landscapes in the Charleston rhea, listed and discussed the known archaeological sites, and developed pertinent themes for future research within each pertinent cultural period. She found that reading general area histories and talking with kxal historians and preservationists gave a good indication of relevant regional themes. Primary documentary research (plats, maps, wills, deeds, memorials, etc.) uncovered changing patterns of land-use, tran3portation routes, and settlement patterning during the historic era. Maps of natural resources, used in tandem with known archaeological site locations, also provided data for describing probable changing prehistoric land- use in Charleston and environs. All sorts of informative historical maps and other resources were uncovered during the background search phase of the project from both state and regional repositories. The proposed project personnel (see below) already have a solid background in regional and local history and are familiar with the sources listed in the bibliography of the County's Request for Proposals (Belk 1999). Researchers will sift through primary and secondary sources found in pertinent repositories in Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh. An annotated bibliography will be prepared for all examined resources. Inventory files (archeological, architectural, cemetery, National Register) located at the Department of Culturai Resources in Raleigh will be the initial focus of research. In that manner the St. Mary's project will be building on previous work Instead of repeating earlier studies. A brief inspection of the archaeological site files at the Office of State Archaeology (OSA) in Raleigh revealed that no systematic surveys have been undertaken along this corridor. The aria previously iw;ufdod site In the vicinity is 31011228, consisting of 3 flakes noted on the surface of a plowed field. However a perusal of archaeological site locations on relevant United States Geologic Survey 2