Archaeological Damage Assessment of Site 1RU132, Fort Benning, Russell County, Alabama. Final Report. DABT 10-01-D-0017.

Under contract with the U.S. Army Infantry Center, Directorate of Public Works, Environmental Division, Fort Benning Military Reservation, Panamerican Consultants, Inc. (PCI) carried out an archaeological damage assessment of a multicomponent prehistoric site, 1RU132, located in Russell County, Alabama in December of 2002. This report summarizes investigations carried out by PCI to identify and document violations of the Archaeological Resource Protection Act (ARPA, 16USC 470) at 1RU132. Evidence of looting activity at 1RU132 was discovered by a PCI field crew in June of 2002 during a Phase I cultural resource survey of Training Area Y1. The site was originally recorded in 1989 as part of an archaeological survey of selected training areas on Fort Benning in advance of proposed timber harvesting. Because no evidence of looting at 1RU132 was reported at the time the site was first recorded, it was ascertained that these ARPA violations occurred sometime between 1989 and before the summer of 2002. An archaeological damage assessment of 1RU132 was prompted by base archaeologist, Dr. Chris Hamilton, in response to the report of the possible ARPA violations discovered by the PCI survey crew. The fieldwork portion of this project involved mapping and photographing the damaged areas of the site. Fifteen looter pits were identified and recorded within the site limits with dimensions averaging 80 to 140 cm in diameter.

Because PCI’s earlier archaeological survey of Training Area Y1 defined the boundaries of 1RU132 and provided the necessary data for evaluating the distribution and density of cultural materials at the site, the fieldwork portion of the archaeological damage assessment focused on evaluating the nature, integrity, and content of archaeological deposits preserved at the site. Five 1-x-1 meter test units were excavated in order to evaluate the integrity of the archaeological deposits at 1RU132 and to identify the periods of occupation represented at the site. This was necessary to determine the research potential or “archaeological value” of 1RU132 for contributing to our knowledge of prehistoric and historic Indian life along the Lower Chattahoochee River. Materials recovered during shovel testing and test unit excavations indicate occupation at 1RU132 during the Historic Lower Creek Lawson Field Phase (1715-1826) and prehistorically during the Late Archaic, Early Woodland, Middle Woodland and Terminal Woodland/Early Mississippian time periods. The dominant component at the site, though, appears to be Terminal Woodland/Early Mississippian. This testing established that there is good contextual integrity at 1RU132 evidenced by discrete clustering of artifacts at the site.