Phase IA and IC Archaeological Testing of the Newport Chemical Depot (NECD) Ranney Well No. 3 Easement, Vermillion County, Indiana

Abstract

In the spring of 2004, the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, Office of Cultural Resource Management on the Bloomington Campus of Indiana University entered into a contractual relation with Mason & Hanger Cooperation to conduct archaeological services associated with proposed developments in the Ranney Well #3 easement on the floodplain of the Wabash River near Newport, Indiana. The results of our investigations have identified eight previously undocumented archaeological sites. It is the opinion of the GBL-OCRM that only one of the newly documented sites contains coherent and important cultural deposits and is, therefore, potentially eligible for placement on the NRHP and the IRHSS. This site, designated as 12 Ve 547, is buried under approximately two meters of alluvium and is located in the western portion of the designated area of effect. Based on depositional context and one radiometric determination the site appears to date to late in the Late Archaic Period. The site is characterized by at least two hearths in shallow pits and a thin layer of sheet refuse that consists principally of botanical remains, chipped stone debris and fire-cracked rock (FCR). The cultural layer occurs within a buried A soil horizon on a specific landform, an alluvial fan associated with an upland stream valley which, in Holocene times, extended onto the Wabash flood plain. The well-preserved hearth features and midden deposits occur in a thin, 25-cm thick layer between 1.55 and 1.80 meters below the present ground surface. The kinds of artifacts, features, and midden deposits at the site suggest that it may be a small, single-component site of brief occupational duration. Due to the undocumented nature of an apparent short-term site with well-preserved botanical data, and a lack of information about buried Archaic sites in the Wabash River valley located on heretofore undocumented landforms, it is the opinion of the GBL-OCRM that the site has much potential to contribute important information about Archaic lifeways. This report summarizes archaeological findings pertaining to the Phase Ia and Phase Ic archaeological investigations undertaken in the Ranney Well 3 easement and details the supporting arguments for the potential eligibility of site 12 Ve 547 for nomination to the NRHP and the IRHSS.