ROI116, An Archaeological Survey of Morgan-Monroe State Forest Monroe County, Indiana

Kevin Nolan

ROI116, An Archaeological Survey of Morgan-Monroe State Forest Monroe County, Indiana

Summary

This is the tDAR Project page that represents Reports of Investigation 116 from the Applied Anthropology Laboratories (AAL) at Ball State University. The AAL conducted a Phase 1 archaeological investigation at the Morgan-Monroe State Forest (MMSF) with support from a Historic Preservation Fund grant (Grant No. 20FFY-03). The Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology (DHPA), Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR), administers the grant. The primary goal of this research was to further document two historic Civilian Conservation Corp. (CCC) camps, and other potential historic or pre-contact cultural resources at the MMSF. Data from this project contribute to future MMSF resource management planning.

A total of 83.47 acres (33.78 hectares) of forested land was surveyed. Research focused on two survey areas: 1) an approximately 39.43 acres (15.95 hectares) area near the forest headquarters and Cherry Lake where the CCC Company No. 516 camp is located; and 2) an 44.04 acres (17.82 hectares) area surrounding the previously documented CCC Company No. 542-C camp (Site 12-Mo-1083), that was used by African American CCC enlistees.

The present survey reinvestigated a known site (12-Mo-1083) and documented three new sites (12-Mo-1684, 12-Mo-1685, and 12-Mo-1687). Recovered artifacts include 97 historic metal, glass, and ceramic objects dating to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and two pre-contact lithic artifacts. Seventy-eight features were documented between both survey areas. Fieldwork did not encounter human remains. Cultural periods represented in the artifact assemblage include Unidentified Prehistoric and late nineteenth and early twentieth century Historic.