Data Recovery Plan, The White Site, SUBi 1475, PIN 9041.13.121, Route 17c Over Nanticoke Creek, Town of Union, Broome County, New York

This data recovery plan outlines historical data relevant to the White site, its potential importance in understanding immigrant Irish lifeways and suggestions for the recovery of data from the site.
Based on the available documentary evidence, it appears that the White Site was inhabited for most of the mid to late 19th century by Irish immigrant laborers who were associated with the nearby New York and Erie railroad. The majority of Irish immigrants came from a landed, farming class until famine forced those lower on the Irish economic ladder to flee their homeland during the 1840s. it is this period of the site’s occupation that is of primary research interest, as Irish laborers represent a group that is seldom discussed in traditional historical narratives of rural America.
The integrity of the site appears to be excellent; only the western section of the original parcel appears to have been disturbed. The soil stratigraphy of the excavated STPs indicated that intact A horizons were present overlying intact B horizons; 20th century material was minimally present. While the available information regarding the temporal affiliation of the site is limited, the deposits appear to date to the mid 19th century, concurrent with a secession of occupations of Irish immigrant laborer families. The available documentation, and limited archaeological collections, indicate that the site has a high data potential on the consumption and disposal patterns for rural immigrant labor groups during the 19th century. The author argues for the following steps to be taken in the study of the White Site. Associating archaeological remains with historically known occupants of the property, which requires spatial and temporal control of archaeological deposits and identifying differences in use of space, consumption, and class in the material record.