FINAL REPORT: PHASE 1B ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION FOR THE RANDALL’S ISLAND SPORTS FIELD DEVELOPMENT PROJECT Prepared for: Randall’s Island Park Alliance, Inc. 24 West 61st Street, 4th Floor New York, NY 10023 Assembled by: Joseph Schuldenrein, Ph.D Principal Investigator Contributions by: Michael Aiuvalasit, M.A. Suanna Selby Crowley, Ph.D. Johnathan Garland, M.Sc. Andrew Nesheim, M.A. Mark A. Smith, Ph.D. Geoarcheology Research Associates 92 Main Street Suite 207 Yonkers, NY 10701 August 2, 2012 Management Summary This report details the results of historical background research and subsurface archaeological investigations for the Randall’s Island Sports Field Development, located in Randall’s Island, New York, New York. A previous Phase IA study recommended subsurface testing at five proposed athletic field areas. The fields are located across the southern half of Randall’s Island, formerly known as Wards Island before the narrow straight between the two islands was filled in. The five areas that were investigated included: Hell’s Gate, Central Fields, Sunken Garden, Wards Meadow, and East River. Phased cultural resource investigations for this project were undertaken and concurrent with the construction of the sports fields. Accordingly, there were restrictions on project area access as well as logistical constraints on the approaches and methods of subsurface investigation. Alternative investigative strategies were devised in consultation with the Landmarks Preservation Commission of New York City (LPC). Initial field work centered on the examination of backdirt piles in areas where construction had already occurred. Field relations coupled with examinations of historic fills and natural sediments led to a systematic program design for Geoprobe-based subsurface testing. Test transects were positioned along alignments traversing the fields scheduled for impact. Three (3) radiocarbon samples were collected to date key buried landform components. The dates confirmed the Late Pleistocene age of much of the substrate underlying the impact areas. All of the areas with the exception of the East River Fields and a portion of Wards Meadow were subject to subsurface testing. These latter areas could not be tested since artificial turf fields had already been constructed. Current plans call for supplementary testing of these remaining areas when large scale maintenance activities are planned. The present subsurface investigations coupled with historic research facilitated an evaluation of the potential for buried archeological deposits. A major focus of the present effort was identifying the location of New York City’s cemetery for the indigent – a well-documented, mid-19th century Potter’s Field – within the project area. While historic records converge on the location of that Potter’s Field in the vicinity of Hell’s Gate Field, several sources indicate that significant numbers of burials were subsequently re-interred at Hart’s Island in the late 19th century. No human remains or geoarchaeological indications of mass burials were recovered over the course of the present testing at Hell’s Gate Field or other properties. Evidence for the brick foundations of the Inebriate Asylum, dated to the late 1860’s, were recovered in probes at Hell’s Gate Field. Buried historical surfaces across the project areas were also recognized. However, identified buried surfaces were clearly underlain by disturbance fills. While no surfaces of apparent prehistoric age were identified, evidence of Late Holocene estuarine marshes was present. The broad and deep extent of recent and historic disturbance and the thin and diffuse strata of Holocene age precluded the presence of substantial archaeological resources. Cultural sensitivity and soil- stratigraphic matrices were developed to structure the findings. These serve as a heuristic device for future cultural resource investigations in Randall’s Island. No further field- work is warranted, except for potential subsurface testing of the East River fields and southwestern Wards Meadow, coincident with future maintenance scheduling. Geoarcheology Research Associates i Randall’s Island Fields Project Table of Contents Management Summary ........................................................................................................ i List of Figures .................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables .......................................................................................................................v 1. Introduction and Objectives .............................................................................................1 1.1 Timeline .................................................................................................................... 2 2. Environmental Setting .....................................................................................................4 2.1 Geological Setting, Landfill and Modern Topography ............................................. 4 2.2 Land Reclamation and Land Fill ............................................................................... 7 2.3 Modern Landscape .................................................................................................... 8 3. Historic Background ........................................................................................................9 3.1 Wards Island from the Prehistoric Period to the Mid-19th Century ......................... 9 th 3.2 History of Wards Island from the Mid-19 Century to the Present ........................ 13 3.2.1 Commissioners of Emigration ......................................................................... 13 3.2.2 Commissioners of Public Charities and Correction ......................................... 17 3.2.3 Inebriate Asylum .............................................................................................. 17 3.2.4 Male Lunatic Asylum ...................................................................................... 18 3.3 The Potter’s Field .................................................................................................... 19 3.4 Sensitivity Index ..................................................................................................... 23 4. Results of Archaeological Testing .................................................................................26 4.1 Spoil Piles Testing .................................................................................................. 27 4.1.1 East River and Wards Meadow Spoil Pile ....................................................... 29 4.1.2 Hell’s Gate Spoil Pile...................................................................................... 32 4.1.3 Wards Meadow Spoil Pile .............................................................................. 33 4.1.4 Sunken Garden Spoil Pile ............................................................................... 34 4.1.5 Conclusions on Spoil Piles.............................................................................. 34 4.2 Geoprobe Methodology ......................................................................................... 35 4.2.1 Hell’s Gate Observations ................................................................................. 37 4.2.2 Hell’s Gate Fields Stratigraphic Observations ................................................ 44 4.2.3 Central Fields Observations ............................................................................ 47 4.2.4 Central Fields Stratigraphic Observations ...................................................... 50 4.2.4 Sunken Garden Observations .......................................................................... 52 4.2.6 Wards Meadow Observations ......................................................................... 57 4.2.7 Wards Meadow Stratigraphic Observations ................................................... 58 4.2.8 East River Field Observations ........................................................................ 60 5. Synthesis ........................................................................................................................61 5.1 Stratigraphic Basis for Archaeological Preservation .............................................. 61 5.2 Three Dimensional Arc GIS Model ........................................................................ 67 5.2.1 Background and Precedent .............................................................................. 67 5.2.2 Data Sources and Model Setup ....................................................................... 67 5.2.3 Model Results ................................................................................................. 68 5.3 Archaeological Sensitivity Map .............................................................................. 74 Geoarcheology Research Associates ii Randall’s Island Fields Project 6. Conclusions and Recommendations .............................................................................76 References ..........................................................................................................................77 Appendix A: 1855 (Aug. 21) New York Times Article on Wards Island Potter’s Field ..82 Appendix B: Road Cut Profile Descriptions .....................................................................87 Appendix C: Geoprobe Core Logs – Hell’s Gate Fields ...................................................95