PHASE I ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY AND PHASE II EVALUATION OF SITE 21PL109 FOR THE COUNTY STATE AID HIGHWAY 1 RECONSTRUCTION AND BRIDGE REPLACEMENT PROJECT IN POLK COUNTY, MN State Project Number: 060-601-059 Mn/DOT Contract Number: 1002983 and Amendments 1 & 2 MN OSA License Numbers: 16-035 and 16-066 Authorized and Sponsored by: Minnesota Department of Transportation Prepared by: Frank Florin, Principal Investigator James Lindbeck, Staff Archaeologist Florin Cultural Resource Services, LLC N12902 273rd Street Boyceville, WI 54725 Reports of Investigation # 122 December 2017 MANAGEMENT SUMMARY The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and Polk County are proposing to replace Bridge 5767 over the Red River and reconstruct the adjoining 2.4 miles of Minnesota County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 1 (State Project 060-601-059). Florin Cultural Resources Services, LLC (FCRS) was retained to conduct a Phase I archaeological survey and Phase II evaluation. The project has federal funding, and the archaeological work was conducted under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The Federal Highway Administration is the lead agency, and the MnDOT Cultural Resources Unit is the delegated review agent. The project extends to the North Dakota side of the river, and those results are presented in a separate report. The project area is located in Archaeological Region 6n - Red River Valley North in T147N R149W Sections 23-26 and T147N R148W Sections 19 and 30, Polk County, Minnesota. The archaeological survey corridor along CSAH 1 included an expanded right-of-way of variable width, encompassing approximately 48 acres. The project crosses terraces of the Red River and the Glacial Lake Agassiz plain. The area is in agricultural fields, except for a few rural residences and a small wooded strip on the floodplain. Fieldwork was conducted from June 6 to 23 and October 10 to November 2, 2016. Frank Florin was the principal investigator. The Phase I and II archaeological field methods included pedestrian survey, shovel tests, deep auger tests, and excavation units. A total of 528 shovel tests were dug. Precontact site 21PL109 was identified and evaluated with ten (1-x-1 meter) excavation units and close-interval shovel tests. A geomorphological investigation was conducted by Strata Morph Geoexploration, Inc. at the site to gain a better understanding of the site’s geomorphology, soils, and stratigraphy. The site is a large multicomponent Archaic, Woodland, and Northeastern Plains Village period habitation along the Red River. Animal kill and processing (mostly bison) appears to be the primary site activity. The site had 389 positive shovel tests, and artifacts were recovered from 0 to 185 cm below surface. Only small portions of the site were deep tested, and it is likely that artifacts extend to three meters or more below surface. Diagnostic artifacts include Northeastern Plains Village ceramic ware and a variety of projectile point types: Besant, Duncan-Hanna, Oxbow, Early Archaic small side-notched, and Plainview. The Plainview point was recovered from the ground surface and is out of context. The Northeastern Plains Village component had radiocarbon dates of 1300 +/- 30 to 1160 +/- 30 to RCYBP. Five separate Early to Middle Archaic occupations were identified in XUs, and they had radiocarbon dates of 6200, 6800, 7100, 7300, and 8000 RCYBP. Numerous cooking/heating features, dense layers of bone (bone beds), and artifact-laden anthrosols were observed in shovel test profiles. One fire hearth feature was excavated. Artifact density was moderate to high across most of the site. Fauna was by far the most abundant artifact recovered, with notably smaller amounts of ceramics, FCR, lithic debris, stone tools, and cores. Site activities included hunting, animal processing (primarily bison), lithic reduction, stone tool manufacture/ maintenance, and cooking/heating. Some of the faunal material was thermally-altered. The site is recommended eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) under Criterion D because it has integrity and is likely to yield important information on multiple precontact period contexts. The final project design will stay within the existing ROW on the current CSAH 1 alignment and have only shallow subsurface disturbances not to exceed 30 cm on Terraces 2, 3, and 4, thus avoiding the deeper portions of the site that have the potential to answer important research questions. This plan will avoid impacts to the site’s significant archaeological deposits, and there will be no adverse effect, which would alter the site’s integrity or characteristics that qualify it for inclusion in the NRHP. If the project design changes or if other projects will adversely affect the site, then a Phase III data recovery is recommended to mitigate the project’s effects. It is the opinion of FCRS that no historic properties eligible for or listed on the NRHP will be adversely affected by this project. i TABLE OF CONTENTS Management Summary ...................................................................................................................... i Appendices ...................................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. iv List of Tables .................................................................................................................................... v 1. Project Description ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Project Setting ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Project Area and Area of Potential Effect ............................................................................. 1 1.4 Curation ................................................................................................................................. 2 1.5 Permit and License ................................................................................................................. 2 1.6 Dating Format ........................................................................................................................ 2 1.7 Personnel for Lab and Report Tasks ...................................................................................... 3 2. Research Design .......................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Objectives .............................................................................................................................. 5 2.2 Aspects of the Research Design ............................................................................................ 5 2.3 Eligibility Criteria and Historic Contexts .............................................................................. 5 2.3.1 Archaic Contexts (12,500 to 2500 BP) ........................................................................... 6 2.3.2 Woodland Period Contexts (2500 to 350 BP) ................................................................ 7 2.3.3 Northeastern Plains Village Context (AD 1200-1650) ................................................. 10 3. Archaeological Field Methods .................................................................................................. 12 3.1 Archaeological Field Methods ............................................................................................. 12 3.1.1 Pedestrian Survey ......................................................................................................... 12 3.1.2 Shovel Tests and Deep Auger Tests ............................................................................. 12 3.1.3 Excavation Units (XUs) ............................................................................................... 13 3.1.4 GPS Data Collection and Site Mapping in ArcView.................................................... 13 3.1.5 Field Documentation .................................................................................................... 13 4. Archaeological Lab Methods .................................................................................................... 14 4.1 Artifact Processing .............................................................................................................. 14 4.2 Lithic Raw Material Resources ........................................................................................... 15 4.3 Lithic Analysis Methods ...................................................................................................... 17 4.3.1 Thermal Alteration ....................................................................................................... 18 4.3.2 Lithic Debris ................................................................................................................. 18 4.3.3 Lithic Tools .................................................................................................................. 22 4.4 FCR Analysis Methods ........................................................................................................ 24 4.4.1 Definition of FCR