Phase Ia Archaeological Survey for Proposed Water Project, Town of Spencer, Owen County, Indiana

Abstract

At the request of Bean Blossom-Patricksburg Water Corporation (B.B.P. Water), the Glenn A. Black Laboratory Office of Cultural Resource Management (GBL-OCRM), Indiana University, conducted a Phase Ia archaeological survey of two proposed locations for a water improvement project in the town of Spencer, Owen Count, Indiana. BBP Water is currently proposing to construct a water softening plant, a backwash lagoon, and a waterline to connect with their exisiting line (Project Area A), and a new water tank and access road (Project Area B). The purposes of the survey were to: (1) identify and document all cultural resources in the project area; (2) evaluate any sites found with regard to their eligibility for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures (IRHSS); and (3) make recommendations for the protection of significant and potentially significant sites. Fieldwork was conducted February 15, 2005 by GBL archaeologists George Mankowski, Eldridge Doubleday, and David Buren. Additionally Dr. G. William Monaghan conducted limited coring on the floodplain. No cultural materials were recovered. Based on the absence of cultural material and buried alluvial deposits within the project corridor as it is currently defined, it is the opinion of the GBL-OCRM that no further archaeological work is required. Cultural resource clearance is therefore recommended for the proposed water project, provided that all earth-moving activities are restricted to the currently defined project area boundaries.