Archaeological / Historical Reconnaissance of Catfish Lake Road, Croatan National Forest, North Carolina

Summary

This project. involving a contract between the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Coastal Zone Resource Corporation. was designed to locate and investigate any cultural remains which may have been located within a corridor 400 feet wide centered on the existing Catfish Lake Road right of way. The road will be widened and paved, and Federal Highway Administration guidelines require that such an evaluation be performed. Sites located were to be evaluated for potential of nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, and recommendations made for eliminating any adverse impacts to the sites determined eligible for inclusion on the Register. The survey began with an investigation of previous work in the area including surveys for prehistoric and historic sites. and historic overviews of the area to determine the potential for locating particular types of historic sites in the project area. After the background research had been concluded a pedestrian survey was conducted in the field. This survey examined all open ground in the project area (approximately 10% of the total area) and included subsurface testing in areas with ground cover and in areas which showed high potential for site location. Testing in areas of dense ground cover included a stratified sampling technique. In areas of high site probability (high ground) tests were located every 50 meters and consisted of 50 em square holes excavated to culturally sterile subsoil. In areas of low probability such as the swamps and other very low areas tests were further apart. ranging from 40 meters separation up to 1/ 4 kilometer separation in areas that were essentially underwater where the holes filled immediately to the top with water making any such testing close to useless. Testing was more intense adjacent to the existing roadway and less intense as the edges of the 400 foot wide corridor were app roached. Three sites had already been recorded in the area. Jnvl6. and two located by a previous National Forest Service survey assigned temporary numbers CR43-186 and CR43-286. In addition. one artifact was found by this survey and one apparent historic site. In the vicinity of these sites and finds test squares one meter on a side were opened in an array to determine the quality of the site. Following the survey all data were collected and analyzed to determine if any sites met National Register criteria. While the results were not totally negative. no sites were located which were deemed eligible to the National Register of Historic Places. Jnv16 and CR43-286 were found to be entirely outside t he project boundaries. CR43-186 was found to be such a thin scatter of materials that it possessed no research potential and was clearly of no significance. One Palmer projectile point was located in the ditch adjacent to the roadway but no other artifacts were found in the vicinity making this an isolated find. One tar kiln was located, but it had been previously located by a fireplow so that nothing remained intact at this site. One hunting cabin was seen but this was modern with no research or historical value whatever. Based on these data a recommendation is made that implementation of t he plan to pave Catfish Lake Road will in no way impact any significant cultural resources.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Craven County, NC   •
• North Carolina Office of State Archaeology Collection   •
• National Archeological Database (NADB)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): North Carolina Office of State Archaeology

Prepared By(s): University of North Carolina, Wilmington

Submitted To(s): Coastal Zone Resource Corporation

Record Identifiers

NADB document id number(s): 425205

NADB citation id number(s): 000000063170

Notes

General Note: Submitted to: Coastal Zone Resource Corp., Jupiter, FL

General Note: Sent from: University of North Carolina, Wilmington

General Note: The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. The attached digital file was scanned from a copy at the Research Laboratories of Archaeology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It was uploaded to tDAR with support from the North Carolina Archaeological Council, and is managed by the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology. Please contact the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology (contact below) for access to this digital file.

File Information