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 Constitution Pipeline Wetland Mitigation
New York and Pennsylvania
Landmark Archaeology, Inc. conducted a series of archaeological investigations in 2013 and 2014 in New York and Pennsylvania for the 124-mile Constitution pipeline project. These investigations, ranging from 0.72 to 58.5 acres, were located in a variety of environmental and landform settings being considered for wetland mitigation. Much of the work was within the Schoharie Creek and Susquehanna River Drainages following areas along the I-88 corridor. A total of 12 parcels within New York and two in northeastern Pennsylvania were investigated.
The archaeological investigations identified two prehistoric sites and reexamined six previously recorded archaeological sites. The prehistoric sites ranged from small surface flake scatters to large multi-acre, semi-permanent habitations that yielded evidence of buried features and possible houses. One of the proposed wetland mitigation areas included a 45-acre parcel within the floodplain of Cobleskill Creek. The shallowly buried Early Archaic Haviland Site is located within the project area. Excavations at the site in the 1990s yielded bifurcate points that are morphologically similar to Kanawha points, dating ca 8,000 BP. In addition to the Haviland Site, Phase I and II archaeological investigations conducted in the 45-acre project area identified a series of prehistoric loci on the floodplain, grouped together as a single prehistoric site. Temporally diagnostic artifacts recovered during investigations included projectile points from the Late Archaic and Middle Woodland/Late Woodland cultural periods: a Brewerton Side-notched projectile point (2980-1723 BC), Snook Kill points (1800-1400 BC), a Genesee-like point (3000-1500 BC), and a Jack’s Reef Corner-notched point (AD 500-1000). Shovel and auger testing and the excavation of 1 x 1-meter test units documented that the floodplain contained stratified Holocene alluvium covering a chert-rich fluvial gravel bar. The undulating gravel bar is exposed on the plowed surface in some locations and buried in other areas. As a result, early occupations such as the Haviland Site can be at or near the surface while later occupations can be buried in alluvium beneath the reach of the plow.
The setting was favored throughout much of New York’s prehistory as a location to acquire and manufacture tool preforms from high quality Esopus chert. Across the floodplain, variation in the Holocene alluvium was found to range from near surface to over one 1 meter in thickness. Large numbers of chert debitage, hammerstones, tested and exhausted cores, and broken bifaces indicate that tool manufacturing was conducted at this location for thousands of years.
   
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Saratoga Waterfront Park
Saratoga County, New York
During 2011 and 2012 Landmark Archaeology, Inc. conducted Phase I/II/III archaeological investigations at the SSWP Site located in portions of the proposed City of Saratoga Springs Waterfront Park. The SSWP Site is situated on a high terrace overlooking Saratoga Lake where the lake empties into Fish Creek. The SSWP Site was considered eligible for listing in the NRHP under Criterion d as it contained Late Archaic, Middle Woodland, and Late Woodland cultural period occupations in unplowed and well-preserved cultural deposits.
The Phase III field data identifies the SSWP Site as a processing center extensively used from the Late Archaic to the Late Woodland cultural periods (4000 BC-1300 AD). Evidence of cooking dominates the excavated area of the site. The arrangement of thermal features across the site combined with the burned rock midden blanketing the site indicates the repeated use of earth ovens at this location. Earth oven use leaves a strong physical signature due to the process of oven construction, clean-out, and reuse.
Flotation analysis results show that thousands of charred sclerotia were present in features on the site. Sclerotia is a tough, tuber-like fungi that can be used as a food source. It is processed through burning, then dried, ground and mixed into flour.
Phase III excavations included 50 square meters and all individual artifacts (over 9000) and feature locations were recorded with total station survey equipment. Collection of field data in this manner provided superior spatial data than would have been collected through traditional excavation methods of levels within units and blocks. Esri ArcMap and ArcScene 3D modeling software were utilized to display the spatial distribution of artifacts and features in relation to soil horizons and topography. These applications not only provided a three dimensional picture of the site as a whole, but also allowed for spatial analysis for filtered categories so that associations between features and artifact classes can be displayed.
  
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New Boston Air Force Station 
Hillsborough County, New Hampshire
Landmark Archaeology, Inc. provided cultural resource management support for a major environmental restoration program at the New Boston Air Force Station (NBAFS) in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire from 2009-2011. The 2,826-acre Station straddles the towns of New Boston, Mont Vernon and Amherst and has a long and diverse land-use history. NBAFS was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 as the “New Boston Air Force Station Archaeological District” and it includes over 50 contributing properties representing thousands of years of human use of the landscape. Sites include short-term pre-Contact sites, 18th and 19th century farmsteads and rural-industrial sites, and military sites related to WWII and the Cold War.
Beginning in 1942 the U.S. Military used NBAFS as a bombing and strafing practice range for aircrews out of Grenier Field, regional Army Air Corps Squadrons and later for Navy pilots. Pilot training continued until 1959, when the Air Force built a satellite tracking station on 60 acres in the northeastern portion of the property. Between the 1970s and 1990s, areas of the vast, undeveloped parcel were also used to conduct ground-training exercises by several branches of the U.S. military. As a site containing munitions and explosives of concern and munitions constituents, the Station is now covered under the Department of Defense military munitions response program. A Memorandum of Agreement, between the U.S. Air Force and the State Historic Preservation Officer required cultural resource management support for this effort. In providing that support, Landmark Archaeology, Inc. continued building on almost two decades of historical and archaeological research at NBAFS begun by other CRM firms in the 1990s and 2000s.  This work provided a unique opportunity to investigate the ways the U.S. military used and altered the Station’s natural and cultural landscape through their training activities. It also provided valuable information regarding the nature and location of cultural resources on the Station, permitting NBAFS to better protect and manage the Archaeological District.
Remedial investigation work at NBAFS consisted of surface clearance and subsurface investigation with Schonstadt magnetometers and Digital Geophysical Mapping equipment, hand and machine excavation of finds and disposal of munitions. To facilitate surface clearance, unexploded ordnance (UXO) technicians divided the project area into 200-foot square survey grids. During surface investigations, UXO technicians flagged any non-munitions related items they encountered and recorded these items on a rough sketch map of each grid. Archaeologists, escorted by UXO technicians for safety, then walked all of the surface-cleared grids and documented the flagged materials, along with any additional cultural artifacts or features they encountered. Each artifact or feature was measured, photographed, and recorded using a sub-meter, high-precision GPS receiver. Commonly encountered cultural resources included historic foundations, wells, stone walls and other farmstead features, agricultural tools, household items, vehicle parts, barbed wire, C-ration can scatters, and bomb craters.
Fieldwork examined 39 archaeological sites of which 26 were previously recorded sites and 13 were identified by the current study. The archaeological investigation resulted in the identification of additional cultural material and/or features at 18 of the 26 previously recorded sites, and in some cases, this additional information altered the interpretation and/or size of the site. Archaeological fieldwork also resulted in the identification of isolated artifacts and features that are not related to archaeological sites. A total of 32 nonmilitary features, 479 military features, 642 nonmilitary artifacts, and 53 military artifacts were documented as isolates in the APE by the current study.
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Postfield analysis was conducted at the offices of Landmark Archaeology, Inc., in Altamont, New York after the 2010 and 2011 field seasons. Major postfield tasks included the analysis of artifacts and features, formatting and storing GIS data in a geodatabase compliant with Spatial Data Standards for Facilities, Infrastructure, and Environment (SDSFIE v2.6), and the creation of an Archaeological Inventory Record Database (AID). Spatial data collected during fieldwork was used to create detailed distribution maps of different types of artifacts, sites and features, and 3-dimensional models of the project area, such as the one pictured above.
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Newburgh Courthouse African-American Burial Project
Orange County, New York
Landmark Archaeology, Inc. recently completed fieldwork at the Broadway School African-American burial ground in Newburgh, New York. Archaeological investigations were prompted by the unanticipated discovery of three sets of human remains in March 2008 during renovation of a public school building into a courthouse by the City of Newburgh under the direction of the New York State Office of Courts Administration. Initially treated as a crime scene and investigated by local police, City officials quickly realized that construction had encroached upon what is identified as the “Colored Burying Ground” on an 1869 dated map.
In May 2008, Landmark’s first efforts concentrated on systematic examination of the location of the initial burial discoveries, about 1.5 meters below surface grade of a new addition in the north side of the Broadway School. Three additional articulated human burials were identified shortly after initiating fieldwork. The graves were oriented east/west and lying in a supine position. Preservation of the skeletal remains was generally good. No personal items were recovered. Coffin wood was not present, though coffin nails were recovered from each grave.
Based on the identification of the three additional graves and cartographic evidence indicating that the 19th century cemetery extended into other areas of construction, Landmark was retained to systematically examine and disinter all graves within the 0.5-acre project area. Fieldwork was conducted and organized within a sequence of zone excavations that allowed construction activities to proceed uninterrupted throughout the duration of the four-month archaeological investigation.
In total, 106 graves were identified in the project area. Though post field osteological analysis has only begun, field examination of the cemetery’s population identified 19 children, 11 adolescents, 70 adults and six individuals indeterminate in age. The cemetery was organized along north/south rows with only one interment facing west. Personal items buried with individuals were scarce and very few pieces of clothing were recovered. The most common artifacts found in association with the burials were coffin hardware, buttons, buckles, and straight pins. Coins, two of which date 1832 and 1850, were found in several graves. Except for one coffin, substantial pieces of coffin wood were rarely observed. However, based on grave stains and the spatial patterning of coffin nails, most burials were interred in a six-sided “shouldered coffin” that tapered at the head and foot and was widest at the shoulder.
 During the onset of the project, the City formed the Courthouse Burial Ground Working Group. Comprised primarily of Newburgh community leaders, the group was instrumental in establishing dialog between the descendant citizens of Newburgh, the City, Landmark, and the New York State Historic Preservation Office in terms of determining an acceptable level of effort and protocol for burial disinterment, post field osteological analysis, and planning a fitting memorial for onsite reinterment. An important aspect of the committee’s work was planning a series of brief ceremonial events that were held immediately prior to burial disinterment by Landmark. The ceremonies involved African, Native American and Christian religious elements and were attended by members of the community, City officials, construction workers, and archaeologists. The ceremonies provided an opportunity to celebrate human life (past and present), reflect on complex ethical issues, and a respectful venue to commemorate the dead.
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Culinary Institute of America Dormitory Project
Dutchess County, New York
In 2003 Landmark Archaeology, Inc conducted Phase IA/IB archaeological investigations of a 36-acre campus expansion for The Culinary Institute of America, and subsequent Phase II site evaluation of a five-acre, mid eighteenth to mid twentieth century mill/agricultural historic district. The site contains an extensive built environment which includes two house structures, a dam, a mill, a network of retaining walls, and several outbuildings/barns. It was determined eligible as to the National Register as a Historic District. Phase III data recovery was conducted in 2003 and 2004.
Historic records document site occupation by 1750 with a mill on the property as early as 1780. The property changed ownership numerous times throughout the 1800s and in the 1820s was part of the estate of James Roosevelt. Photographs from the 1890s show a large Victorian style home on the site with several outbuildings, barns, and at least one tenant house. The photos confirm the property as a lavish rural estate, common to the area as exemplified by the Roosevelt and Vanderbilt homes of Hyde Park.
Over 200 square meters were hand excavated across selected areas of the site. Excavations unearthed several architectural features such as foundation walls, a well, a cistern, and numerous post molds, plus yielded over 40,000 artifacts.  Three large block excavations exposed key site areas of different time periods and use. Eighteenth century artifacts and a well were found in Block D where the original living surface was found preserved and littered with butchered faunal remains and household items. Block A excavations uncovered a cistern, cobble floor, two outbuilding foundations and hundreds of household and personal artifacts from the mid nineteenth century. Late nineteenth and early twentieth century materials were revealed in Block B where terrace walls and barn foundations were found. Archaeological data indicate historic occupation of the site dates from the 1750s to the mid twentieth century.
Excavations also found several areas of the site where prehistoric deposits exist below historic materials. Fieldwork recovered stone tools and flakes, lithic byproducts of tool making, and identified several fire hearths. These artifacts date the prehistoric occupation to the Late Archaic period.
Photo Gallery:
The Culinary Institute of America Project
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Hoffmeister Cemetery Preservation Plan
Lee County, Iowa
In 2000, Phase I archaeological investigations along a proposed pipeline corridor recorded a small family cemetery adjacent to the corridor. A Preservation Plan was developed to outline procedures to ensure long term  protection of the cemetery from impacts associated with the construction, operation, and maintenance of the sewer pipeline. The cemetery is considered potentially eligible to the National Register under Criterion b and/or Criterion c.
The cemetery consists of ten crypts capped at ground surface by large limestone slabs. The Fort Madison Democrat published an article in 1973 that associates the cemetery with Augustus Hoffmeister. Hoffmeister was a German immigrant who came to America in 1848 and moved to the Fort Madison area in 1854 to practice medicine. He served as a surgeon in the Iowa Eighth Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War and he was appointed surgeon at the Iowa penitentiary after the war. He and his wife, Bertha, had ten children. Augustus’ tomb was not identified in the cemetery. Legible dates on the tombstones include 1860, 1916, 1917, 1926, and 1962.
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Clifton Park - Halfmoon Public Library
Saratoga County, New York
Archaeological investigations at the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library were completed during 2004 and 2005. Phase I fieldwork identified a prehistoric site across fairly  level to slightly undulating sandy terrain. Subsequent excavations yielded projectile points associated with the Middle Archaic period in interior eastern New York and the site was considered eligible to the NRHP. While the artifact assemblage is relatively small totally 250 artifacts, data collected at this site provide insight into two main issues.
 First, this site provided a rare opportunity to examine discrete, concentrated Middle Archaic deposits and offers information about patterns of site selection, site function, and site reuse. The site’s location, adjacent to a wetland, would have offered occupants a variable resources and the site appears to be a temporary encampment used during seasonal circuit of resource and food gathering.
Second, Middle Archaic artifacts at this site were buried within near surface soils providing information regarding site formation processes. Research included soil development analysis by a geoarchaeologist which provided data on how artifacts get buried within upland sandy soils in areas away from active floodplains.
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Halfmoon Town Park
Saratoga County, New York
In 2005 Phase I archaeological investigations began at the 64-acre Halfmoon Town Park Project. Six prehistoric sites and two historic sites were identified within the park parcel by the archaeological survey and subsequent Phase II fieldwork documented occupation of the park area from Early Archaic times through the Colonial period and found the sites to be National Register eligible. Additionally, the prehistoric sites, all located along sandy dune terrain next to small upland tributaries, were considered an archaeological district.
In 2007, Phase III data recovery included further fieldwork of three prehistoric sites and one the historic sites. Fieldwork used traditional methods combined with large block excavations where artifacts were piece plotted using total station and GPS technology. Geomorphologic analysis of dune features was a vital part of the Phase III fieldwork in determining relative age of these features and potential for buried  late Pleistocene-age cultural deposits.
Excavations at the historic site uncovered a dry-laid stone foundation, well, numerous features and outbuildings dating to the eighteenth century. Domestic  artifacts include brass buttons, ceramics, shoe buckles, and glass items. Archival research found the historic house site was situated on the Van Schaick Patent, originally leased from Anthony Ten Eyck by Coonradt Nessle in 1774. The site was occupied by several members of the Nessle family following Coonradt's death in 1796. Based on archaeological and documentary evidence, it is believed the site was occupied until the late 1830s. Analysis of the sites in the park parcel continues.
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Site Last Updated 5/6/2015
© 2015 Landmark Archaeology, Inc.
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