Intensive Archaeological Phase I Survey of Approximately 67.22 Acres in Support of US 68 Reconstruction Between T. Davis Drive and Clover Creek Road Green County, Kentucky OSA Project Registration No.: FY17-9206 KYTC Item No. 4-397.10 September 2017 Intensive Archaeological Phase I Survey of Approximately 67.22 Acres in Support of US 68 Reconstruction Between T. Davis Drive and Clover Creek Road Green County, Kentucky OSA Project Registration No.: FY17-9206 KYTC Item No. 4-397.10 September 2017 Prepared for: Palmer Engineering 400 Shoppers Drive Winchester, KY 40392 Contact: Mr. Chris Blevins Phone: (859) 744-1218 Lead Agency: Federal Highway Administration 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE Washington, DC 20590 Prepared by: E. Nicole Mills, RPA Principal Investigator Brockington and Associates, Inc. 109B W Poplar Street Elizabethtown, KY 42701 Phone 270-735-1600 Fax 270-735-1679 www.brockington.org Atlanta • Charleston • Elizabethtown • Jackson • Nashville • Savannah ii Abstract In April 2017, Palmer Engineering (Palmer) of Win- logical survey and reporting guidelines set forth by chester, Kentucky contracted Brockington and As- the Kentucky Heritage Council (Specifications for sociates, Inc. (Brockington) of Elizabethtown, Ken- Conducting Fieldwork and Preparing Cultural Re- tucky to conduct an intensive archaeological Phase source Assessment Reports). Key project personnel, I survey for the proposed realignment of US 68 be- namely E. Nicole Mills, RPA (Principal Investigator/ tween T. Davis Drive and Clover Creek Road, Green Field Director), meet or exceed the qualifications County, Kentucky (KYTC Item No. 4-397.10). This described in the Secretary of the Interior’s “Profes- proposed project will provide a safer and more ef- sional Qualifications Standards” (48 FR 44738-9). ficient route connecting the City of Greensburg and Messrs. David Baluha (RPA), Scott Kitchens, and the Cumberland Parkway and correct substandard Jimmy Lefebre assisted Ms. Mills in the field. geometrics along the corridor. Brockington com- No previously recorded archaeological sites or pleted fieldwork in a single mobilization, conducted previously conducted archaeological surveys are from May 17 to May 23, 2017. The Federal Highway located within the APE. Additionally, no National Administration (FHWA) is funding this investiga- Register of Historic Places (NRHP, 54 USC 302101- tion and serves as the lead agency and as part of the 3020108) listed properties are located within the Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation APE. Brockington recorded 10 previously un- Act (NHPA) of 1966 (as amended through 2000) documented archaeological sites, 15GN56 through review compliance process, the Kentucky Heritage 15GN65, and three isolated finds (Isolates 1-3) dur- Council (KHC) also serves as consulting party. ing this investigation. These newly documented sites The Area of Potential Effect (APE), as defined represent both prehistoric and historic activities. for this Phase I investigation, encompasses approxi- Prehistoric components were documented at all 10 mately 67.22 acres (27.20 hectares) and includes the sites, the site types of which are all classified as Open proposed disturb limits for the realignment of an Habitations without Mounds. Historic artifacts were approximate 3.79-kilometer (km [2.36 mile]) sec- collected from three of the 10 newly documented tion of US 68, as well as the proposed reconstruction sites (15GN56, 15GN57, and 15GN61). The col- of approach roads (totaling 3.10 km [1.9 miles] in lected historic assemblages are sparse and lack as- length). The boundary of the archaeological Phase I sociated features, limiting our ability to definitively survey APE is based on the proposed disturb limits classify the historic activities represented. These of the final preferred alternate. Subsurface testing historic deposits, however, likely represent domestic (i.e., shovel testing) and pedestrian reconnaissance and architectural refuse discard. efforts compose the principal archaeological survey Brockington recommends all archaeological methods employed during this Phase I investiga- sites and isolated finds documented during this tion. Additionally, Brockington conducted supple- Phase I survey as Not Eligible for listing on the mentary testing in the form of bucket augering on NRHP. In all cases, the sites and isolated finds docu- the floodplain of an unnamed tributary of Russell mented during this investigation represent relatively Creek (approximately 1.02 km [0.63 miles] south of sparse archaeological deposits characteristic of Thurlow, Kentucky). ephemeral prehistoric and/or historic activity. Ad- The archaeological investigation described ditionally, little to no discrete spatial patterning of herein was conducted in compliance with both state cultural materials or cultural features exists within and federal guidelines; including Section 106 of the these sites/isolates. Furthermore, soils documented National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (54 USC throughout the APE exhibited some level of soil 30010, as amended through 2016), the Advisory disturbance. Brockington encountered shallow soil Council on Historic Preservation’s implementing profiles throughout the APE, the result of past land regulations (36 CFR Part 800), Secretary of the clearing/agricultural activities and subsequent ero- Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archaeol- sion. In the absence of diverse artifact assemblages, ogy and Historic Preservation (1983), and archaeo- discrete spatial patterning, cultural features, and iii intact soils, these sites do not have the potential to contain significant information related to regional prehistoric occupation/utilization, nor do they have the potential to inform our understanding of rel- evant regional research questions. iv Table of Contents Abstract .....................................................................................................................................iii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................vii List of Tables .............................................................................................................................x 1.0 Introduction .........................................................................................................................1 1.1 Project Description ........................................................................................................1 1.2 Phase I Survey Result Summary ..................................................................................1 1.3 Report Organization ......................................................................................................3 1.4 Acknowledgments .........................................................................................................3 2.0 Environmental Setting .........................................................................................................5 2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................5 2.2 Physiography and Geology ...........................................................................................5 2.3 Climate ..........................................................................................................................5 2.4 Soils ...............................................................................................................................5 2.5 Flora ...............................................................................................................................6 2.6 Fauna .............................................................................................................................6 2.7 Paleoenvironment ..........................................................................................................6 3.0 Regional Prehistoric and Historic Context ..........................................................................9 3.1 Prehistoric Context ........................................................................................................9 3.1.1 Paleoindian Period, c. 10,000-8000 BC ...............................................................9 3.1.2 Archaic Period, c. 8000-1000 BC ........................................................................10 3.1.3 Woodland Period, c. 1000 BC-AD 1000 ..............................................................11 3.1.4 Late Prehistoric Period, c. AD 900-1700 ................................................................12 3.2 Contact Period, c. AD 1540-1795 ................................................................................13 3.3 Historic Context .............................................................................................................15 3.3.1 Green County, Kentucky ......................................................................................16 4.0 Methods of Investigation .....................................................................................................17 4.1 Background Research ...................................................................................................17 4.1.1 Previously Recorded Archaeological Data Summary ...........................................17 4.2 Pre-Field Planning .........................................................................................................20 4.3 Survey Methods ............................................................................................................20