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Archaeological
survey no longer needed at Keowee Lake
By Patrick Neal
Thanks to a recent archaeological survey of Lake
Keowee, most lake residents will have one less thing to worry about
– and pay for – if they undertake projects that involve disturbing
the soil.
Previously, property owners who proposed projects
which disturbed the earth – which is to say, virtually any project –
were responsible for having an archaeological survey done on the
worksite as part of the permitting process. Such surveys typically
cost between $1,000 and $1,500.
Now that a comprehensive survey of the lake is on the
books, lake dwellers won’t have to do that anymore.
The survey, which was commissioned by Duke Energy in
September of 2007, was performed by New South Associates (NSA), a
firm which specializes in archaeological projects in the Southeast.
The goal of the survey was to identify areas around
Keowee that might be of archaeological significance. Natalie Adams,
vice president for archaeology at NSA, oversaw the survey, which was
completed in mid-January of this year.
Adams said that the survey involved both a study of
archaeological work that had already been done in the area and
so-called “shovel tests” of selected sites around the lake.
In the archival review phase of the survey, Adams
said that the state archives contained considerable information, as
the Keowee Town and Fort Prince George sites were long known to hold
substantial artifacts from both the pre-historic and historic eras.
(Today, both sites are about 200 feet underwater.)
Still, she said, it wasn’t enough to rely on previous
digs and studies. “The technology used by archaeologists has
improved since then,” she said. “And in some cases, the criteria by
which a site is judged archaeologically significant has changed as
well.”
That being the case, Adams and others from NSA spent
a lot of time getting their hands dirty and talking to people who
knew the lake well. “The boat drivers from Duke are probably more
familiar with the lake than anyone,” she said. “They pointed us to a
lot of things they’ve seen. It was a big help to us.”
The study also employed what Adams called “predictive
modeling.” In layman’s terms, that amounts to getting in a boat and
looking for places around the lake where the Cherokee might have
liked to camp in terms of ground slope, water sources, etc., and
taking a soil sample from that area.
Both Adams and Jen Huff, senior environmental
resource manager for Duke Energy, stressed that the exact findings
of the survey would not be made public, as unscrupulous amateur
artifact-hunters sometimes tried to use such information to
undertake disastrous “digs” of their own.
Even so, Huff did say that she did not expect the
survey’s findings to affect many proposed building projects.
“I can say that we did not find what I would call a
lot of sites eligible for the National Register,” Huff said. “I
would expect that most adjoining (lake) property owners would not
have to be concerned with archaeological sites.”
Though the survey represents one less “hoop” lake
property owners will need to jump through, Huff stressed that any
proposed project would still have to be submitted to Duke’s Lake
Services Division, and that all of the other permits that were
previously required are still in place. “They still need to go
through the same process,” she said.
Otherwise, Huff urged those doing work to call Duke
if they happened upon anything unusual. “If folks believe they’ve
found an archaeological site, they need to contact us and let us
know about it so that we can make sure that it’s properly managed,”
she said.
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