The Phase Ia Archaeological Reconnaissance Survey of U.S. Highway 32 Road Improvements, Randolph County, Indiana

Abstract

From 6 July to 24 August 2004, the Glenn A. Black Laboratory Office of Cultural Resource Management (GBL-OCRM), Indiana University, conducted a Phase Ia archaeological survey of the proposed road rehabilitation on S.R. 32 in Randolph County, Indiana (Project NH-100-4 [ ] CN, Des. No. 0013850), under contract with the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT).Visual surface inspection and shovel testing were conducted within the project boundaries. Shovel tests were excavated on a 10 m x 10 m grid within the proposed new ROW. A total of 241,640 m2 (59.7 acres) were subjected to subsurface survey, and approximately 43,360 m² (10.7 acres) were subjected to overview due to extensive surface and subsurface disturbance. Survey access was denied to a total of 106,400 m² (26.3 acres). The incomplete parcels will require a Phase Ia survey and will be discussed in detail in Chapter Four. These parcels are indicated in red in Figures 1 and 2. No previously recorded sites are located within the proposed ROW, and a total of 29 new archaeological sites were recorded during the 2004 investigations (Table 1). Of that total, the GBL-OCRM recommends additional testing at the Phase II level for four sites as indicated belowin Table 1. All of the four sites recommended for further testing date to the historic period and are considered potentially eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places under criterion A, B, and D. The sites recommended for eligibility contain structural, artifactual, and archival evidence of homesteads that appear to relate to the founding of the historic towns of Haysville, Union City, and Winchester, as well as the early settlement in the area of the Jericho Friends Meeting.