Phase II Cultural Resources Investigations at 24 Arcbaeological Sites at Fort Lee, Prince George County, Virginia

Phase II cultural resources investigations were conducted at 24 archaeological sites (44PGI72, 44PGl84, 44PG185, 44PGI89, 44PGI90, 44PG200, 44PG207, 44PG23I, 44PG240, I 44PG241, 44PG245, 44PG247, 44PG250, 44PG25I, 44PG252, 44PG253, 44PG254, 44PG257, 44PG258, 44PG266, 44PG267, 44PG272, 44PG277, and 44PG279) on the property of Fort Lee, Prince George County, Virginia Following standard archaeological survey guidelines, these sites were evaluated with regard to their potential eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places under Criteria A, B, C, and D. As a result of these investigations, a total of 50.5 acres was surveyed at Fort Lee. To determine whether the archaeological sites were eligible to the NRHP, archaeological investigations at each site entailed the excavation of a gridwork of "ground-truthing" shovel tests and fixed one-meter test units. Shovel tests enabled archaeologists to determine the horizontal and vertical extent of sites. The stratigraphic excavation of larger test units enabled archaeologists to best evaluate the content of sites and so determine the capability of the cultural resource to yield relevant information about the archaeological past. To place sites in their proper context, a search of both historic and scientific documents was undertaken in order to root archaeological resources in time and space.

In summary, Phase II cultural resources investigations at Fort Lee were concentrated at six I prehistoric sites (44PG185, 44PG24I , 44PG245, 44PG25I, 44PG252, and 44PG253), six historic sites (44PG200, 44PG257, 44PG258, 44PG266, 44PG272, and 44PG277), and twelve multicomponent sites (44PG172, 44PG184, 44PG189, 44PG190, 44PG207, 44PG231, 44PG240, I 44PG247, 44PG250, 44PG254, 44PG267, and 44PG279).

Of that total number, Gray & Pape archaeologists recommend that two prehistoric (44PGI85 I and 44PG251), one historic (44PG277), and six multicompomint (44PGl84, 44PGl89, 44PGI90, 44PG240, 44PG250, and 44PG279) archaeological sites be considered potentially eligible to the National Register of Historic Places.