Design, Construction, and Monitoring of the Harrison Fork Watershed Project in Nelson County, Kentucky

This proposal has been prepared in response to a request from William Vesely of the University of Louisville Stream Institute (ULSI) for a Phase I archaeological survey of a proposed stream restoration project on Harrison Fork in nelson County, Kentucky. This investigation is intended to provide specific information concerning the nature and distribution of potential archaeological resources within the project area. The work that is proposed will include a review of known archaeological sites and an evaluation of the extant documentary and cartographic sources pertaining to the project area. This information will serve as the basis for the completion of a Phase I archaeological survey, using primarily subsurface investigative techniques. Description of Prolect Area This project involves the restoration of a segment of Harrison Fork that is about 2000 meters in length, and the restoration of a portion of an unnamed tributary of Harrison Fork that enters from the south. The project area is located at elevations ranging from of about 500 to 520 feet AMSL The main portion of the project area will involve restoring the main Channel of Harrison Fork and the unnamed tributary. The proposed archaeological survey is designed to determine if cultural resources will be affected by the proposed drainage pattern alterations. Due to the presence of flood plain and low terrace landforms in the project area, shovel testing and deep augering will be necessary. The total project area is about 63 acres (25.5 ha) in extent. Inspection of available soil maps indicates that the soils in the project area are composed of Woolper silty clay loam and Lindside silt loam. Lindside silt loam formed in alluvium during the Holocene, and they have potential for containing cultural material in the plow zone or in shallowly buried contexts up to 50 inches (1.35 m) deep. Deeper auger testing will be required to determine if cultural materials are present below the plow zone. Woolper silty clay loam is formed in alluvium and colluvium derived from limestone. These soils tend to be shallower than the Lindside silt loam, however, they still have potential for deeply buried deposits. One previously recorded archaeological site, I 5BU8 1, is located outside of but adjacent to the current survey area, just north of the confluence of Harrison Fork and Wilson Creek.. Occupations dating to the Archaic and Woodland periods were documented at this site. An initial inspection of the project area was conducted by Eric Schlarb of the Kentucky Archaeological Survey in June 2009. The setting for the project area, on a floodplain with three stream confluences, suggests that the potential of the project area to contain archaeological materials is high. Mr. Schlarb recommended that a formal Phase I archaeological survey be conducted for the entire project area.