Archaeological Reconnaissance of a Proposed Fill Site in Mitchell, Lawrence County, Indiana

Abstract

At the request of Burton Family Bus Sales (BFBS), the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, Indiana University (GBL) performed a cultural resources survey of the location for a proposed spoil dumping site in Mitchell, Lawrence County, Indiana. Specifically, the project area will be filled with broken pavement, large rocks, and clean fill resulting from construction of S. R. 37 through Mitchell. After highway construction is complete, the property will be graded for a new parking lot and a crushed stone surface will be laid. A total of approximately 12 acres was surveyed. The purposes of the survey were 1) to identify and document all of the cultural resources in the project area, 2) to evaluate any sites 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 July 1, 1999 by GBL archaeologist Patrick K. O'Brien. The entire project area had been previously used for many years as a parking lot for school buses. Approximately 4 acres along the west edge of the property is heavily eroded, with the terra rossa subsoil fully exposed in most places. About another 4 acres in the central portion of the project area can be characterized as a topographic low. At the time of fieldwork, much of this area contained standing water. The eastern edge and south end of the project area is perhaps the least disturbed area. However, the entire property has been covered with 20 cm to 30 cm of crushed stone and has undergone parking lot maintenance for at least two decades. Several probes through this parking surface revealed that it has been extremely compacted. No cultural materials were discovered during survey and there is little to no potential for intact subsurface cultural materials in the project area. Cultural resource clearance is recommended for the project area.