History Paved Over?

State regulators’ recent decision to no longer require coastal developers to conduct archaeological surveys before building is a short-sighted and unfortunate choice.

South Carolina has archaeological sites that stretch back up to 12,000 years, said Elizabeth Johnson, deputy State Historic Preservation Officer. The coast in particular, as the first place Europeans settled, is rich in sites of historic significance. Many have been found, identified and studied, but nobody really knows how many others are out there to be discovered.

“There are lots of areas that haven’t had intensive, careful surveys,” said Johnson. “If there’s a really significant archaeological site it could be covered with grass or twigs and you’d just never know.”

The change, which affects the state’s eight counties in the coastal zone – Horry, Georgetown, Beaufort, Hampton, Jasper, Colleton, Dorchester and Charleston – was prompted by a new interpretation of law last year by the state’s Office of Coastal and Resource Management. OCRM spokesman Dan Burger told the Charleston Post & Courier recently that it took a fresh look at its rules governing these land disturbance surveys after hearing concerns from developers. After looking through its rules, it couldn’t find anything specifically requiring the archaeological surveys.

That’s a shame.

Previous surveys have found wonderful examples of the state’s history, including a slave plantation house in Georgetown County and a slave row. The village of Childsbury in Berkeley County is another site found during one of these predevelopment checks. Dr. L.M. Drucker, an archaeologist with AF Consultants in Columbia, described Childsbury as a hub of Colonial commerce that once had a racetrack, free school, a tavern and doctors’ and lawyers’ offices.

“The coast is such a primary area for historic settlement and it’s getting developed so much, it’s a shame,” Drucker told the Charleston newspaper. “It’s awful for the state to allow that much heritage to go down the tubes.”

Johnson said the state’s preservation office had been encouraging OCRM in recent years to require surveys of everybody, not just those in the coastal zone. Unfortunately, the opposite has occurred. Now fewer developers must check sites for historic significance before turning them into a housing development or mini-mall.

What will be lost in this change? Nobody’s sure, but historians and archaeologists get glum just thinking about it.

Dr. Mike Trinkley, an archaeologist with The Chicora Foundation, a nonprofit, told the Post & Courier that the change will wipe out cemeteries, slave settlements, Native American sites and other history that has been covered over by time.

“We will only know after the fact, either through people stumbling on sites that have been bulldozed or through researchers doing work on plats and historic maps,” he said. “After the fact, there’s not a whole lot of benefit learning what you’ve lost. It’s a useful exercise, but talk about a dismal science.”

Development, particularly on the Grand Strand, is a given as our region continues to expand. But it should not come at the cost of our state history. Requiring a relatively low cost survey before the dump trucks and dozers move in isn’t too much to ask.