Phase II Archaeological Investigations at the
Thomas Site (15MA296), Madison County, Kentucky

At the request of the Richmond Water, Gas & Sewerage Works, staff of the University of Kentucky‘s Program for Archaeological Research (PAR) conducted a Phase II archaeological investigation of a portion of the Thomas Site (15MA296) on the east side of Interstate 75 between Richmond and Berea in Madison County, Kentucky. The purpose of the investigation was to identify archaeological resources in the portion of the Thomas Site that will be impacted by the construction of a road and pipeline associated with the proposed South Wastewater System treatment facility, and determine the eligibility of these archaeological resources for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Fieldwork consisted of systematic surface collection, hand excavation of test units, mechanical removal of the topsoil across 400 m² of the site to locate potential features, and sample excavation of several natural and cultural features; work was conducted between July 12 and 22, 1999.

Removal of plowzone at Site 15MA296.

Site 15MA296, identified during a Phase I survey in 1999, is a large, moderate-density artifact concentration consisting of debitage, projectile points and bifaces, and pottery sherds (Davis, Gordon, and Rademaker 1999). The site measures approximately 220 m (721 ft.) north/south x 270 m (885 ft.) east/west, an area of approximately 59,400 m². Proposed construction of a road and pipeline associated with the wastewater treatment facility impacts approximately 2375 m², or 4% of the site, along its easternmost edge. Phase I investigations at the site, consisting of 36 positive shovel probes and seven surface-collected transects, recovered artifacts (n=365) dating to the Late Prehistoric and the Woodland periods. Phase II investigations at the site consisted of 92 systematic surface collection units, four 1-x-2 m hand-excavated units, mechanical stripping of over 400 m² of topsoil from the site, and the excavation of fifteen natural and three potentially cultural features. Artifacts recovered during the Phase II investigations (n=769) consist primarily of debitage (n=673) with a number of prehistoric tools (n=77); a small number of historic artifacts (n=18) were also recovered. Diagnostic artifacts dating to the Early Archaic, Late Archaic, Late Prehistoric, and Protohistoric or Contact periods were present in the assemblage. These artifacts include Type 6 Fort Ancient projectile points, a possible Nodena Banks point, a French spall-type gunflint, two Native American bifacial gunflints, and a number of apparent Native American gunflint preforms. A small Historic component was also identified at the site during the Phase II investigations. Artifacts associated with the Historic component date primarily to the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Systematic surface collection at Site 15MA296.

The Early Archaic component of the site is represented by a single artifact, a Kirk Corner-Notched projectile point recovered in general surface contexts from Stripped Block 2. On the basis of the scarcity of diagnostic materials in the investigated portion of the site, it is suggested that the Early Archaic component was of short duration and limited function. This speculative interpretation is in keeping with current theories of Early Archaic settlement and mobility (Jefferies 1990, 1996).

The Late Archaic component of the site consists of six projectile points over an area measuring approximately 40 m north/south x 20 m east/west and located between grid coordinates 102N 100E and 142N 188E. All of the scrapers and several of the amorphous cores and tested cobbles within the recovered lithic assemblage could be associated with this component, but this is speculative due to the mixing and spatial overlap of several components at the site. The small amount of diagnostic tools and the absence of associated features suggests small, highly mobile groups using the area for limited intervals of time, possibly for hunting or other extractive activities. The Late Archaic component in the investigated portion of the Thomas Site could have been part of a base camp, the main portion of which is located to the west, or simply a satellite site associated with seasonal activities of a short duration. The location of the site in a narrow, dissected stream valley and the range of functional activities suggested by the lithic tools associated and potentially associated with the component fit within the current settlement model described for the Late Archaic of the Central Bluegrass region (Jefferies 1990, 1996).

The Late Prehistoric/Contact component at the site is represented by 15 artifacts covering an area measuring approximately 105 m north/south x 20 m east/west. The component forms a rough arc, beginning in the southwest corner of the investigated portion of the site, curving to the east near 140N, and turning west to 200N 100E. This component appears to have the broadest distribution at the site; it is formed by a series of clusters approximately 30 to 35 m apart. These clusters may represent contemporary occupations by individual groups, discrete occupations separated by a period of several hundred years, discrete occupations separated by a period of days, weeks, months, or years, or completely spurious groupings created by plowing, erosion, and removal of selected diagnostic materials by artifact collectors.

Artifacts left behind by the Late Prehistoric/Contact people suggest that the investigated portion of the site was utilized for a very short period of time. A lack of ceramics and tear-drop endscrapers indicate that activities associated with this component were very limited, not domestic, and may not have involved secondary butchering or processing of game animals; the impacted area of Site 15MA296 does not appear to represent a village, but could potentially be the peripheral edge of a village located in the main portion of the site to the west. Conversely, this portion of the site may have functioned as a temporary camp or a series of temporary camps for hunting parties. Given the number of gunflints and gunflint preforms at the site, the area may have been used repeatedly over a number of years. It is also possible that some areas of the investigated portion of the site functioned as short-term habitation areas for raiding parties against nearby historic settlements.

The Historic component of the site is represented by seven artifacts, including a French spall gunflint, a sherd of creamware, a sherd of hand-painted pearlware, two possibly wrought nails, a sherd of olive container glass, and an eighteenth-century pewter spoon. The Historic component covers an area measuring roughly 15 m north/south x 5 m east/west and located between 130N 115E and 145N 115E. These artifacts may represent a residence or early settlement, or artifacts associated with nearby Site 15MA299, but the densest concentration of Late Prehistoric/Contact period artifacts occurs in the same location. The overlap of these artifacts presents the most interesting aspect of Site 15MA296.

Within the investigated portion of the site, occupations associated with all components appear to be of limited duration. A near-absence of cultural features, limited tool variability and low overall artifact densities, and the absence of structural remains or significant amounts of non-local materials suggest limited utilization of the area. For the prehistoric components, the investigated portion of the site may have functioned as a series of short-term camps, or as a specialized extractive site used only seasonally; the site may be viewed as one segment of a regional settlement system. For the historic components (both Native American and European), the evidence of limited occupational duration is subject to a number of functional interpretations.

Unfortunately, the components at the site overlap spatially, and nearly all (approximately 99.6%) of the artifacts from the site were contained in the heavily mixed plowzone deposit. No diagnostic artifacts were recovered from any of the potential cultural features, and no carbon or carbonized material was recovered from any of the features, natural or otherwise. An apparent flake blank cache was identified in the northern half of the site; however, the feature was contained entirely within the plowzone and was discerned only by the presence of a cluster of flake blanks, a possible gunflint preform, and a large piece of fire-cracked rock.

The work suggests that the site as a whole contains exceptional research potential and would likely be eligible for the NRHP under Criterion D, particularly given the rarity of excavated Contact or Protohistoric period sites within the state. However, the impacted portion of Site 15MA296 is considered not eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion D due to the heavily mixed nature of the deposits, the lack of intact, subsurface features, the spatial overlap of components contained within the plowzone, and thus, the low research potential; no further work is recommended for the impacted portion of Site 15MA296. Should any of the remainder of the site be scheduled for construction or associated impacts in the future, additional Phase II investigations will be required.

A full report is available as Technical Report No. 421.