Phase Ia Archaeological Reconnaissance Survey of Proposed Added Travel Lanes on SR 261 Beginning at SR 66 and Ending at Jenner Road (CR 150S) in Warrick County, Indiana

Abstract

At the request of Indiana Department of Transportation, the Office of Cultural Resource Management at the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology (GBL-OCRM) conducted a Phase Ia archaeological survey of proposed added travel lanes on SR 261. The project is located in Paradise, Warrick County, Indiana. The corridor varies in width from 40-75 feet (13-24 m) on either side of the centerline of SR 261. The proposed project corridor is approximately 7.9 acres in size. Of the total corridor, 1.5 acres were tested by shovel probing; the remaining 6.4 acres were subject to overview due to previous disturbance. The purposes of survey were 1) to identify and document all cultural resources in the project area, 2) to evaluate any sites found with regard to their eligibility for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and the Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures (IRHSS), and 3) to make recommendations for the protection of significant and potentially significant sites. Fieldwork was conducted on November 15, 25-27, 2002 by GBL archaeologists Johnie Sanders, George Mankowski, Michael Darland, Holly Hilton, and Zarko Tankosic. More than eighty percent of the project area has been subjected to commercial development. Within these areas, subsoil or fill dirt is visible at the surface. One previously unrecorded archaeological site, 12 W 677, was documented during the survey. Site 12 W 677 is composed of two historic bricks, and a single cut nail, in addition to modern fragments of brick, metal, concrete, drainage tile, and glass. No structures or foundations were encountered during shovel probe survey. Based on its predominately modern assemblage of materials and close proximity to two modern (1964) structures (Figure 3), it is likely that the site represents the remains of a recent structure, possibly a walkway, which has been disturbed by the construction on the gravel parking lot. Given the disturbed nature of the area, the modern material recovered from the same context as the historic artifacts, and the absence of known historical structures within the project area, it is the opinion of the GBL that the research potential of 12 W 677 has most likely been exhausted by the current level of investigation. Site 12 W 677 is recommended to be ineligible for inclusion on the NRHP and the IRHSS. No further archaeological investigation is recommended. Cultural resource clearance is therefore recommended for the proposed added travel lanes provided that all earth-moving activities are restricted to the currently delineated project area boundaries.