Digging up the past

MOUNT PLEASANT -- Long before there was a town, prehistoric people roamed about east of the Cooper. They hunted animals and gathered edible wild plants. Some of them gardened a bit and made bowls from a mixture of clay and moss.

It was a time archaeologists call the Woodland period, which some experts believe began more than 4,000 years ago. Evidence of that time turned up recently during an archaeological survey done as part of an effort to identify cultural resources in the path of the five-mile-long U.S. Highway 17 road-widening project.

Pieces of prehistoric pottery, or sherds, were found in the highway right-of-way just off the road shoulder. Experts estimate the pottery fragments date to between 2500 B.C. to 600 B.C.

"The sherds were very small and eroded, so this is a very general ballpark figure based on the few characteristics that can be recorded on such small sherds and probably about as narrow as we can pinpoint," said Amy Irons, laboratory director for New South Associates, Inc.

Archaeologists dug a few feet down every 100 feet along both sides of the right-of-way for five miles of the road from Isle of Palms Connector to Darrell Creek Trail. They found a mix of modern and prehistoric debris. The prehistoric fragments found here were collected and sent to the New South lab in Atlanta. From there, the prehistoric pottery pieces will go to the University of South Carolina, where they will be cataloged and stored.

What turned up in the path of the project was not considered a significant find from an archaeological standpoint, but it gives a new perspective to a highway lined with giant subdivisions and big box retailers. Tens of thousands of people travel the road daily. Plans to widen the road from four lanes to six lanes are intended to relieve traffic snarls.

Woodland period pottery is recognized by its large quantity of Spanish moss fiber, which was included in the paste before it was fired. Along with the fiber temper pottery, stone tools, points, scrapers, knives and drills are associated with the Woodland period, according to the New South Associates cultural resource survey done for the U.S. 17 project.

"There's tons of Woodland period sites in the Lowcountry," said Natalie Adams, New South principal investigator for the U.S. 17 cultural resource survey.

The Woodland period was marked by the making of clay pottery, semi-permanent villages or settlements occupied by people for several months each year and the planting of gardens to supplement foods hunted and gathered, according to the University of North Carolina.

The cultural survey that turned up the prehistoric pottery was part of a large-scale study for the highway project that included evaluation of potential impacts to plants and wildlife, wetlands, air and water quality and a number of threatened and endangered species. There were no significant issues uncovered in those areas related to the road project.

The study found that widening the five-mile stretch of U.S. 17 from four lanes to six lanes would adversely impact 63 sweetgrass basketmaker stands. The town has efforts underway to help the basketmakers with the changes that will be coming because of the new highway. They include a roadway with a curb-and-gutter design that will require motorists to exit at designated spaces instead of being able to pull off on the road shoulder at a stand as is done now.

Residents of some subdivisions along U.S. 17 have expressed concern about increased highway noise because of the road widening. The town is evaluating the effectiveness and feasibility of roadside noise barriers. The average annual daily traffic from the Isle of Palms connector to S.C. Highway 41 is 53,275. From S.C. 41 to Darrell Creek, the traffic count is 34,075, according to the environmental assessment.

The highway is considered part of the Strategic Highway Corridor Network that is important to the U.S. strategic defense policy. Half of the $28 million needed to widen the road has been secured, including $8 million from the town, $3 million in federal funds and $3 million in half-cent sales tax revenue. Road project planners also are seeking federal stimulus funds. Right-of-way needed for the road has been described as minimal. About 24 separately owned pieces of property that total less than 2 acres would be affected, officials said.