Archeological Impact Evaluations and Surveys in the Texas Department of Transportation's Abilene, Austin, Brownwood, Bryan, Fort Worth, Waco, and Yoakum Districts, 2001-2003

Abstract

This document constitutes the final report of work done by Prewitt and Associates, Inc. (PAI), under a contract from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to provide archeological services in seven TxDOT districts—Abilene, Austin, Brownwood, Bryan, Fort Worth, Waco, and Yoakum. Under this contract, PAI completed Impact Evaluations and Surveys to assist TxDOT in meeting the requirements of their Memorandum of Understanding with the Texas Historical Commission and a Programmatic Agreement among the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the Federal Highway Administration, the Texas Historical Commission, and TxDOT. The contract began on 21 September 2001, and the last work authorization was issued on 15 September 2003. During those two years, fieldwork was done under 96 work authorizations. The 97 work authorizations consisted of 94 Impact Evaluations, 74 Surveys, and 14 Surveys with Geoarcheological Evaluation. Combined, these work authorizations entailed efforts at 128 bridge replacements, 40 road realignments or widening projects (many also involving bridge replacements), 5 new road construction projects, 4 hike-and-bike trail construction projects, 4 rest area construction projects, 3 projects involving upgrades to 9 existing bridges or culverts, 2 projects where new borrow pits are planned, 2 projects involving relocation of historic bridges to public parks, 1 project involving construction of 2 new bridges, 1 project involving replacement of an interstate highway interchange, and 1 project involving establishment of a wetland mitigation area. During completion of these work authorizations, 43 newly discovered or previously recorded archeological sites were investigated, although in the case of 14 previously recorded sites, no archeological remains were observed in the areas that will be affected by the proposed Transportation Activities. Twenty-three of the Impact Evaluations led to recommendations that survey could be needed before construction, in some cases depending on whether new right of way would be required. Based on the limited potential for sites with good integrity, the other 71 Impact Evaluations resulted in recommendations that no survey be required before construction. Twenty-two of the Surveys investigated a total of 17 newly recorded and 9 previously recorded sites. Of these 26 sites, 6 were recommended for testing to assess eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and designation as State Archeological Landmarks. The other 82 Surveys either did not find any archeological sites or investigated sites that could be assessed as ineligible for National Register listing and State Archeological Landmark designation using the survey data. All artifacts collected and records generated by projects done under this contract are curated at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL), The University of Texas at Austin. Artifacts were collected from four sites. Those from 41GM3 are from state-owned lands and thus are curated in a held-in-trust status at TARL. The artifacts from 41BU51, 41BU54, and 41LE325 are from private lands and are curated in a non-held-in-trust status.