Phase Ia Archaeological Reconnaissance Survey for Proposed New Road Construction From West Junction of CR 700S to 0.62 Miles North of West Junction of CR 700S and Bridge Replacement in Bartholomew County, Indiana

Abstract

At the request of the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), the Office of Cultural Resource Management at the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, Indiana University (GBL-OCRM) conducted a Phase Ia archaeological survey for a proposed new road construction/realignment and bridge replacement located on SR 58 in Bartholomew County, Indiana. The project area is located in both Jackson and Ohio Townships, near Mount Healthy, Indiana, along White Creek. The proposed project corridor is approximately 4,370 ft in length and is comprised of a variable right-of-way to be discussed below. Background research and field survey were conducted to: (1) identify and document all cultural resources in the project area; (2) provide an evaluation of National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures (IRHSS) eligibility for all identified cultural resources within the project corridor; and (3) provide recommendations for mitigation if avoidance of NRHP- or IRHSS-eligible sites is not possible. This survey was conducted in compliance with Section 106 of the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), as amended. The field survey consisted of pedestrian inspection of the entire project area. A mixture of visual surface inspection, shovel testing, auger testing, and intensive walkover was employed within the project boundaries. Shovel probes were excavated at 10 m (32 ft) intervals along transects spaced at 10 m (32 ft) intervals traversing the length of the corridor. Fieldwork was conducted from 24 April 2003 to 2 May 2003 by GBL-OCRM archaeologists Eldridge Doubleday, Johnie Sanders, Holly Hilton, Tamara Hull, Michael Darland, Stephanie Kazmierzak, Zarko Tankosic, and Jennifer Dean. The project area has not been previously surveyed by professional archaeologists. Three previously recorded sites are located within 1.5 miles of the project area (12B318, 12B849, and 12B850), however none of these sites are located within the proposed project corridor. Field investigations involved the excavation of 492 shovel probes covering an area of approximately 12.5 acres (544,600 sq. ft) and resulted in the identification of one previously unrecorded historic site, 12B1337. Historic sites are under-represented in the county and site 12B1337 appears to represent a domestic farm site with possible structures and continuity of occupation over several generations from the time of initial pioneer settlement through the turn of the century. For this reason, it is the opinion of the GBL-OCRM that the site may be potentially eligible for the NRHP and IRHSS under criterion D. Therefore, the GBL-OCRM recommends either avoidance of the site or, if avoidance is not possible, further evaluation to determine the potential of the site deposits to yield significant information pertaining to the history of Indiana. With the exception of site 12B1337, the GBL-OCRM recommends clearance for the remaining portions of the project area providing that all earth-moving activities are restricted to the currently delineated project area boundaries. However, if artifacts, cultural features, and/or human bone, or bone that might prove to be human, are discovered during earth-moving activities, the State Historic Preservation Officer at the Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology (DHPA), Indiana Department of Natural Resources, should be contacted immediately.