Archaeological Test Excavations at the Boat Ramp #1 Site (12MO314), Monroe Reservoir, Monroe County, Indiana

The report, entitled Archaeological Test Excavations at the Boat Ramp #1 Site (12MO314), Monroe Reservoir, Monroe County, Indiana, presented the results of the test excavations at the Boat Ramp #1 Site (12MO314) at Monroe Reservoir, Monroe County, Indiana. The Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, Natural Resources, Division of Reservoirs, undertook investigations at the site in order to access the archaeological significance of the site and its eligibility for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. Fieldwork consisted of the hand excavation of the trenches to assess the integrity of the archaeological deposits and was conducted under the supervision of the author from May 12 to May 28, 1987. Dr Patrick J. Munson was the Principal Investigator.

This report describes the setting of the project area, previous archaeological investigations, the fieldwork methods utilized in the test excavations, findings, and recommendations. The Boat Ramp #1 site contained Late Archaic Period artifacts. Across most of the sites these artifacts were confined to the surface and plow zone. Intact midden deposits, however were found to 0.5 ft below the plow zone (1.0 ft. B.S ) in a small area near the center of the site, and on a portion of the site that had never been plowed dispersed “sheet midden” deposits were found to the depths of 0.6 ft. below surface (B.S.). Results of the investigation showed that the Boat ramp #1 site has archaeological significance and integrity of preservation, and thus it merits nomination to the National register.

Test excavations undertaken at the Boat Ramp #1 Site (12MO314)) confirmed the presences of localized small areas of undisturbed archaeological deposits at the site. Test excavations sampled 630 sq. ft. of the site and discovered intact subplowzone deposits in the central midden area and sheet midden with a very low density of artifacts in the unplowed southern area of the site. The surface and plow zone contain moderate amounts of cultural debris across the entire site, consisting primarily of cultural debris across the entire site, consisting primarily of fire-cracked rock, chert debitage, and a variety of stone tools.

Based on the results of testing, it appeared that the site 12MO314 has sufficient integrity of the preservation and associated artifactual and subsistence remains to merit nomination to the National Register. It was recommended that steps be taken to halt landform altering impacts that were damaging the midden area and that additional archaeological investigations would be necessary to prevent the loss of potentially significant archaeological data (Munson and Myers 1987).