Grandview Area 1978

The report, entitled Archaeological Borings at Grandview and Corps of Engineers Properties, Spencer County, Indiana, Test Excavations at SP286, SP289 and SP303 on Corps of Engineers Property, Spencer County, presented the results of the archaeological test borings with pH and phosphate analyses at a 9.42-acre property in the Grandview area and an approximately 10-acre Corps of Engineers property on the upstream side of the mouth of Honey Creek. Both locations were in Spencer County, Indiana, directly on the Ohio River. The properties were referred to as the Grandview and Corps tracts (Dorwin et al. 1979). The investigation was undertaken to ascertain the degree of cultural evidence of this portion of the Ohio flood plain.

The work was undertaken as a part of the archaeological investigations for the Indiana & Michigan Electric Company agreement between American Electric Power Service Corporation and the Corps of Engineers, Louisville District. American Electric Power Service Corporation agreed to carry out archaeological investigations on both tracts to determine if either contained cultural resources eligible for the nomination to the National Registry of Historic Places. This study was a prelude to an exchange of ownership of the Grandview and Corps properties.

The project was accomplished under Service Order AEP 609 issued by the American Electric Power Service Corporation for one of its operating companies, Indiana & Michigan Electric Company. The project number was ESI-1407. The Service Order was issued July 24 and accepted July 26, 1978. Due to delays in forwarding project maps, drill rig scheduling, and breakdowns, effective implementation of the project did not begin until September. On September 14, the original report due date was extended to September 30. An additional extension to October 31 was made on October 1 and acknowledged on October 2.

John Dorwin was the principal investigator while David Sonner and Randall Guendling were the two lead archaeologists for the investigation. The principal investigator and lead archaeologists are listed under Principal Investigator on the final labels.

The Grandview Area, 1978 investigation consisted of archaeological test borings. The archival collection report indicates that these tests alone were sufficient to establish that human habitation of the area surveyed took place primarily during the prehistoric and late prehistoric periods. It was apparent from the data collected by test excavations, soil borings, and review of the surface collections from 12SP286, 12SP289, and 12SP303 that the Corps tract contained archaeological deposits representing multiple occupations by prehistoric people since at least 6,000 B.C. and continuing through the historic period (Dorwin et al. 1979).

The digital materials in this collection were processed by the Veterans Curation Program (VCP), and include the artifact database, artifact report, finding aid, oversized material database, scanned asset key, and select artifact photographs. Additional digital materials held by the VCP include additional artifact photographs, box inventories, correspondence, document folder listing, initial data collection, notes, oversized material labels, photographic material database, records removal sheet, and sketches. For additional information on these materials, refer to the Finding Aid.