An Archaeological Survey of Wilbur Wright Fish and Wildlife Area

Summary

The Applied Anthropology Laboratories (AAL) at Ball State University conducted a data enhancement project for archaeological resources within Wilbur Wright Fish and Wildlife Area (WWFWA), Henry County, Indiana for a FY2019 Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) grant (Grant # 19FFY-08). This HPF grant project included the investigation of the archaeological resources of the WWFWA in Henry County, Indiana with a focus on the area south and west of recently discovered site 12-Hn-458 (Szmutko et al. 2019). A total of 65.95 acres (26.69 ha) of fallow agricultural land was surveyed (Permit # 2019027). As a result of this survey, four new archaeological sites were documented and the boundaries of site 12-Hn-458 were greatly extended. The survey recovered 179 pre-contact artifacts, three historic artifacts, and one faunal artifact from the survey area. No diagnostic artifacts were recovered during the survey. No archaeological features nor human remains were discovered as a result of this grant project. Site 12-Hn-458 is recommended as potentially eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) under Criteria A and D (36 CFR § 60.4[a,d]) due to its ability to yield data relevant to important trends in Woodland period settlement and subsistence patterns, and the ability of any future data generated to reduce local and regional uncertainty about the nature of the archaeological record. The remaining sites as currently documented are recommended not eligible; however, being on a former floodplain, there is potential for buried archaeological deposits in the area.

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Erin Powers

Principal Investigator(s): Christi Thompson

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