An Appraisal of the Archaeological Resources of the Lafayette and Patoka Reservoirs and a Report of the Test Excavation Conducted at Site HR 11 in Harrison County Indiana

The proposed archaeological surface surveys and test excavations were conducted under the terms of Contract No. 14-10-0529-2880, and the report was submitted to the National Park Service and the United States Department of the Interior. Surveys and test excavations were conducted in the Lafayette Reservoir, Wildcat Creek, Patoka Reservoir, and the Patoka River areas in Indiana. The surveys began on June 14, and completed on July 8, 1966. The objective of these surveys was to locate and evaluate, for possible salvage, all prehistoric and historic site resources within the limits of the proposed reservoirs.

The Breeden Site, 12HR11, is located in Harrison County, Indiana, and extends along the bank of the Ohio River. Though James O. Bellis was the primary site leader, he expressed his indebtedness to Robert Mulvey of West Lafayette, Indiana. The Breeden Site was known for many years by collectors in the area, but was officially first reported in July, 1964, by John Dorwin, a graduate student at Indiana University. In addition to the excavations at the Breeden Site, a site survey was performed and a total of 13 sites were identified. County symbols refer to the following: T=Tippecanoe. In all, 12 sites were located by the survey and one other, which was earlier recorded by Mr. Mulvey, was revisited. Of these 13 sites, (T2, T47, T48, T49, T50, T51, T52, T53, T53, T56, T57, and T58), only one would need further investigation, site T2. This site is one of the few village sites to be located far from a major waterway, which in this case is the Wabash River, in the overall reservoir salvage survey program. As an exception to the above mentioned general conditions of reservoir surveys, this site exhibited numerous indications that it has remained relatively undisturbed beneath the silt level and that it is a fairly large village site. Site T2 was deemed to be of significant consequence to the prehistory of the area and Bellis recommended that an extensive test excavation program on site T2 be conducted. Bellis stated that the site would be completely inundated if the plans for the Lafayette Reservoir are carried through to completion.

The goal of this excavation was twofold. First, it was the intent of the investigator to recover enough of a sample of the Breeden Site’s cultural material to be able to compare it to what has been recovered from other shell middens in the Ohio Valley. Though the extent of this excavation was not thorough enough to permit a statistical statement, a brief but useful comparison could be made. The second primary goal of the excavation was to test the extent of the shell deposit, to determine if this site was significant enough in size to merit a more complete salvage effort before it became more extensively damaged by high waters. During the 1966 season, several types of soil augers were used to test sites in Indiana. Bellis, in his report stated, “We found ten sites but the only sites which are potentially of significance are those which are located within the rock shelters, high up the drainage ravine near the ridge tops.” Bellis also stated,” I recommend that two be given further attention.” (Bellis 1966).

本研究开展的拟议考古地表调查与试掘工作，系依据合同编号14-10-0529-2880的条款实施，相关报告已提交至国家公园管理局（National Park Service）与美国内政部（United States Department of the Interior）。调查及试掘工作开展于印第安纳州的拉斐特水库（Lafayette Reservoir）、野猫溪（Wildcat Creek）、帕托卡水库（Patoka Reservoir）及帕托卡河（Patoka River）流域范围。本次调查始于1966年6月14日，于同年7月8日完成。此次调查的目标是在拟建水库的淹没范围内，定位所有史前与历史时期的遗址资源，并对其开展潜在抢救性发掘价值的评估。

布雷登遗址（Breeden Site，编号12HR11）坐落于印第安纳州哈里森县，沿俄亥俄河河岸分布。尽管詹姆斯·O·贝利斯（James O. Bellis）为本次项目的主要负责人，他仍对印第安纳州西拉斐特的罗伯特·马尔维（Robert Mulvey）致以谢意。该遗址多年来已为当地文物收藏者所熟知，但首次正式的考古报道由印第安纳大学研究生约翰·多温（John Dorwin）于1964年7月完成。除布雷登遗址的发掘工作外，本次考古调查共识别出13处遗址。县别代号对应如下：T代表蒂普卡努县（Tippecanoe）。此次调查共发现12处遗址，另有一处此前由马尔维先生记录的遗址被重新踏勘。在这13处遗址（即T2、T47、T48、T49、T50、T51、T52、T53、T53、T56、T57及T58）中，仅T2遗址需要开展进一步的调查工作。在本次水库抢救性调查项目中，该遗址是少数几处远离主要水道（此处为沃巴什河（Wabash River））的村落遗址之一。与前述水库调查的一般情况不同，该遗址有多方面迹象表明，其在淤泥层下基本未受扰动，且属于规模较大的村落遗址。T2遗址被认为对该区域的史前史研究具有重要价值，贝利斯因此建议对T2遗址开展大规模的试掘工作。贝利斯同时指出，若拉斐特水库的建设计划最终完成，该遗址将被完全淹没。

本次发掘的目标兼具双重性。其一，研究者旨在获取足够的布雷登遗址文化遗存样本，以便与俄亥俄河谷其他贝丘（shell midden）遗址的出土遗存开展对比研究。尽管本次发掘的范围尚不足以支撑系统性的统计学分析，但仍可完成一项简要且具有参考价值的对比工作。其二，本次发掘的核心目标之一是探明贝丘堆积的分布范围，以判断该遗址的规模是否足以在其因水位上涨遭受更严重破坏前，开展更全面的抢救性发掘工作。1966年度的考古工作中，研究团队在印第安纳州使用了多种类型的土壤钻具开展遗址勘探。贝利斯在其报告中写道："我们共发现10处遗址，但仅那些位于山脊顶部附近排水沟壑高处的岩棚内遗址具有潜在研究价值。"贝利斯同时表示："我建议对其中2处遗址予以进一步关注。"（贝利斯，1966）