Synthesis of projected cultural resource numbers, types, and locations based on predictive modeling, site identification strategies, and known cultural resources

Synthesis of projected cultural resource numbers, types, and locations based on predictive modeling, site identification strategies, and known cultural resources

The Brown County Hills are characterized as deeply dissected uplands underlain by siltstone, sandstone and shale (Homoya et al 1985). It has flat-topped narrow divides, steep slopes and deep V-shaped valleys (Schneider 1966). Shorter streams have very little floodplain development but the larger streams have narrow valley flats. Small ephemeral streams are common. The area is nearly all in slope that is well drained by a dendritic drainage system. Soils are well drained acid silt loams. Bedrock is near the surface but rarely outcrops. The natural communities are uniform with uplands dominated by oak-hickory and more mesic species such as maple, beech, and ash in ravines.

Mitchell Karst Plain is a rolling, low-lying expanse of land characterized by extensive karst features such as caves and sinkholes (Homoya et al 1985). It exhibits some of the best karst topography in the world (Schneider 1966). The area is dissected giving it a range of elevations from 600 to 900 feet (Schneider 1966). Bedrock is composed of Mississippian sediments of the Blue River and Sanders Group consisting mostly of weak soluble limestones (Gray and Powell 1965). According to Malott (1931) karst is defined as limestone areas that possess a topography peculiar to and dependent upon underground solution and the diversion of surface waters to underground routes. The Salem Limestone contains the famous Indiana Limestone used in building material across the country. The Lost River is one of the major drainages of the region. It is about 85 miles long and for 21 miles it flows underground (Malott 1931). Wesley Chapel Gulf, a National Natural Landmark, is located on NFS land. Caves were used prehistorically and sinkhole perimeters tend to be desirable habitation zones.

According to Schneider (1966) the Crawford Upland is a maturely dissected westward sloping plateau characterized by abundant stream valleys and a well integrated drainage system. Most of the area is in slope, the drainage divides are generally flat topped but narrow, and valley walls are steep. The bottoms of the larger valleys are occupied by moderately wide floodplains, and in some areas these floodplains are the only level tracts of land. Differential erosion has produced a deeply dissected upland marked by a great diversity of topographic features. Local relief of 300 or 350 feet is not uncommon Homoya (1985) says the most distinctive features of this area are the rugged hills with sandstone cliffs and rockhouses. Mississippian sandstone composes most of the cliffs in the eastern portion of the section, as well as lower elevation outcrops to the west, whereas Pennsylvanian sandstone (especially the Mansfield Formation) dominates the western portion and higher hills. The eastern part of the upland (outside Hoosier National Forest boundaries) contains two well-known caves, Wyandotte and Marengo. The forest vegetation consists of an oak-hickory assortment in the upper slopes and more mesic component in the coves.

Although rockshelters do occur in all three physiographic regions, the geology is particularly conducive to these formations in the Crawford Upland. The Tick Ridge Sandstone Member of the Tar Springs Formation (Buffalo Wallow Group) as defined by Gray (1978) contains the majority of prehistorically occupied rockshelters.

Current Methodology

In general, the Forest’s surface visibility is very low, so sites must be identified through a combination of visual surface inspection and subsurface shovel testing. It is worth noting that in the early years of cultural resource management in the Forest Service, historic buildings were routinely ignored, often removed or not recorded as sites.

Global Positioning System (GPS) technology is routinely used to document survey and site locations. Cultural resources work is usually accomplished by the forest archaeologist, seasonal archaeological technicians, and paraprofessional archaeological technicians. Many of the large scale Section 106 and 110 of the NHPA surveys are completed through contracts. We are currently developing our second five year indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract. This service contract will include all types of heritage program activities such as survey, site evaluation, National Register nomination, and public outreach.

Hard copy permanent records are kept for all Heritage Program activities. Creation of electronic copies (300 dpi pdf’s) of the nearly 600 survey reports is 90 percent complete. This conversion is currently in-progress for site forms. Spatial data, both sites and survey locations, is maintained in a geographic information system (GIS) and is kept confidential. Tabular site and survey data is input and maintained in INFRA, the national Forest Service corporate database. Core GIS data layers are sites (point and polygon), and surveys (line and polygon). We have additional supplemental layers including cursory surveys (line and polygon), potential sites (point), standing buildings noted on early 20^th century aerial photos (point), historic and current land use from aerial photographs (polygon), wells, unoccupied rockshelters/overhangs (point), and area recommended for deep testing (polygon).

Field Methodology

Field methods used to identify cultural resources vary greatly across the nation. On the Hoosier, survey methods are rigorous and include visual inspection, walkover of tilled strips in previously cultivated areas, shovel testing, and deep testing for buried archaeological deposits.

Visual inspection is done using a 15 meter transect interval on fairly level terrain. Slopes greater than 20 percent slope are surface inspected at a 30 meter interval, if possible. Due the degree of past erosion, these methods are modified as necessary. In previously cultivated fields, two meter wide strips can be tilled at five meter intervals to a depth less than was previously disturbed. These strips are then surface inspected after a hard rain. Shovel testing is done at 15 meter intervals on all land that is less than 20 percent slope. Shovel probes are 30 cm in diameter and are excavated to just below sterile soil. Soil removed is screened through 1/4" mesh hardware cloth and the probe is backfilled. Site boundaries are defined after encountering two or three consecutive negative probes and then fine tuning is accomplished with five meter interval probes beyond the last positive probe. All sites are mapped to scale by pace and compass. For new or revisited sites, an Indiana Historic Sites and Structures Inventory-Archaeological Sites form is completed and entered online into Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD).

Rockshelters are visually inspected for evidence of human use. If no cultural materials are observed a shovel test is placed inside the shelter. If this is negative a shovel test is dug on the talus slope. Shelters are mapped to scale in plan and profile typically with the use of metric tape and compass. GPS technology is used to log each site position and then is incorporated into our GIS. An Indiana site form is completed and entered into SHAARD. A rockshelter form is completed for all shelters to better document physical characteristics. The location of rockshelters that do not contain evidence of human occupation is maintained in an overhang GIS layer to document inspection.

Cemeteries are visually recorded, mapped, and are documented on an Indiana site form in SHAARD and also on the Indiana Cemetery Registry Survey form.

No surface artifact samples are collected from historic sites unless identification is not possible in the field, items possess a high degree of scientific value or are of museum quality, or are at risk due to theft or vandalism. Historic material observed, but not recovered, is described and mapped. Photographs can aid identification. Cultural materials recovered in shovel tests are collected and bagged separately by shovel test and site number with the exception of fire-cracked rock. Recovered materials are identified and analyzed and prepared for curation at the Glenn A. Black Laboratory-Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. A new five year agreement was just executed in 2010 and includes stringent processing requirements. We currently have about 194 cubic feet of materials curated at that facility. Other curation facilities include Indiana State Museum and Ball State University.

Rockshelter Typology and Evaluation Methodology

More than half of Indiana’s recorded rockshelters (900 plus) are on the Hoosier National Forest. Extensive research began in 1999 with Waters and Cochran and has continued with the following works (Martin 2000, Martin and Waters 2000) and most recently by Nikki Waters (2004). Her work focused on geomorphology and sedimentation processes of involved in formation of the shelters and their associated talus slopes. Understanding sedimentation processes such as rockfall, attrition, sheet wash, and flooding is critical for determining when further excavation through buried sandstone breakdown, or thick accretion or sheet wash deposits is likely to produce more deeply buried cultural material. This research produces a typology of five classified types: Type A typical, Type B cave-like, Type C C-shaped at the head of a draw, Type D non-extant, and Type E unusual. Rockshelters of the same type evolved in the same manner and can be investigated with similar strategies to determine the presence of cultural materials even when deeply buried.

As her research progressed, Waters made a very interesting discovery. She recovered a chert waste flake while auger coring the floor of non-extant shelter indicating prehistoric human presence in the shelter that was at the end of its life cycle. It suggests the oldest occupations may be sealed in deposits within shelters that are not readily recognizable as rockshelters. This incident highlights a promising avenue for future research.

Protection of rockshelters as a whole is challenging due to remoteness of the sites and our inability to make repeated visits over the course of a year. Rockshelters are a favorite location for looters hunting for artifacts to sell and people inadvertently damaging sites while making campsites and campfires. We are continually trying new approaches to improve our success rate. Rockshelter often times contain human burials and associated funerary objects. Because of our desire to not disturb human burials, archaeological excavations involving standard test units are rare. Survey and recording methods of rockshelter have been standardized with a rockshelter recording form and use of sketch map protocols described in the prior section.

Directory: Internet -> FSE DOCUMENTS
FSE DOCUMENTS -> Applications and limitations
FSE DOCUMENTS -> Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Practice Standard
FSE DOCUMENTS -> Downloading gps gr-3 Surveys Summary of Procedure
FSE DOCUMENTS -> All applications must be submitted by 12/01/2015 to be eligible
FSE DOCUMENTS -> Indiana Conservation Programs for Copperbelly Water Snake Habitat
FSE DOCUMENTS -> Administrator’s Corner
FSE DOCUMENTS -> United States Department of Agriculture • Natural Resources Conservation Service
FSE DOCUMENTS -> United States Department of Agriculture Soule River Hydroelectric Project
FSE DOCUMENTS -> Ottawa national forest: checklist of the vascular flora of the mccormick wilderness

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