ANTIQUITIES PERMIT APPLICATION FORM ARCHEOLOGY

Transcription

1 TEXAS HISTORICAL COMMISSION ANTIQUITIES PERMIT APPLICATION FORM ARCHEOLOGY GENERAL INFORMATION I. PROPERTY TYPE AND LOCATION Project Name (and/or Site Trinomial) _C=o"-'u=n""'ty'-'R:...:.;o=a=d--'--=-..:... County (ies) Williamson USGS Quadrangle Name and Number Round Rock, TX and Hutto, TX UTM Coordinates Zone 14 E N _ --::.;33:!.!8~5~I::LO Location County Road III between Round Rock and Georgetown, Texas Federal Involvement DYes [8J No Name of Federal Agency ----'-N...:.:../.:...:A'-- Agency Representative -'N...!.C/-'-A'-- II. OWNER (OR CONTROLLING AGENCY) Owner Williamson County Representative Judge Dan A. Gattis Address 710 Main Street, Suite 107 City/State/Zip Georgetown, Texas Telephone (include area code) Address ---->::c.!:..lty..l-.iu=d:cg=e@=w.-.-.i1=co=.=or.-l::g~ III. PROJECT SPONSOR (IF DIFFERENT FROM OWNER) Sponsor N/A Representative. Address City/State/Zip Telephone (include area code) Emaii Address PROJECT INFORMATION I. PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (ARCHEOLOGIST) Name David Yelacic, RPA Affiliation Terracon Consultants, Inc. Address 6911 Blanco Road City/State/Zip San Antonio, Texas Telephone (include area code) Address d..-!.m..ly"...el ac=i.><.lc@~te~rr a~co~n!..:.!.c~o~m (OVER)

2 II. PROJECT DESCRIPTION ANTIQUITIES PERMIT APPLICATION FORM (CONTINUED) Propo~dS~~ngDa~ofFicldwo~~~6~J=u~~~2~0~IL5~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Requested Permit Duration 2 Years 0 Months (I year minimum) Scope of Work (Provided an Outline of Proposed Work) Basic background research in the Texas Archeological Sites Atlas (already performed with negative results); visual pedestrian surface examination on approximately m transect intervals or equivalent; excavation of approximately 64 shovel tests, as per Minimum Survey Standards for such a project of 4 linear miles; recording and registration of sites discovered with T ARL; recording of any cultural materials and/or standing structures by photography, field notes, and handheld GPS; all done per Archeological Survey Standards for Texas, Minimum Survey Standards, Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines: and preparation of a report of findings and recommendations, as per CTA guidelines III. CURATION & REPORT Temporary Curatorial or Laboratory Facility T"'-'e""rr.!.!a=c""o.!.!n...::C~o<.!.n""s.=ul""ta=-n'-"ts"'"',--'-ln!-"c""'. Permanent Curatorial Facility Center for Archaeological Studies, Texas State University IV. LAND OWNER'S CERTIFICATION I, Judge Dan A. Gattis,as legal representative of the Land Owner, Williamson County, do certify that I have reviewed the plans and research design, and that no investigations will be preformed prior to the issuance of a permit by the Texas Historical Commission. Furthermore, I understand that the Owner, Sponsor, and Principal Investigator are responsible for c~mpletin2the term~ of the permit. ~ Slgnature~~~ Date b7-61'"t~/-:r V. SPON 'S CERTIFICA TI? I, Judge Dan A. Gattis, as legal representative of the Sponsor, Williamson County, do certify that I have review the plans and research design, and that no investigations will be performed prior to the issuance of a permit by the Texas Historical Commission. Furthermore, I understand that the Sponsor, Owner, and Principal Investigator are responsible for completing the terms of this permit. Signat~= ~~ VI. IN ~O;';:;:~TION I, David Yelacic, as Principal Investigator employed by Terracon Consultants, Inc. (Investigative Firm), do certify that I will execute this project according to the submitted plans and research design, and will not conduct any work prior to the issuance of a permit by the Texas Historical Commission. Furthermore, I understand that the Principal Investigator (and the Investigative Firm), as well as the Owner and Sponsor, are responsible for completing the terms of this permit. Signature Date Principal Investigator must attach a research design, a copy of the USGS quadrangle showing project boundaries, and any additional pertinent information. Curriculum vita must be on file with the Archeology Division. FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Reviewer Date Permit Issues Permit Number Permit Expiration Date Type of Permit Date Received for Data Entry Texas Historical Commission Archeology Division P.O. Box 12276, Austin, TX Phone 512/ TEXAS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Tbe Stale Agency If»' Historic Presenlillioll

3 June 25, 2015 lrerracan Mr. Mark Wolfe State Historic Preservation Officer Texas Historical Commission 108 West 16 th Street Austin, Texas Attention: Telephone: Mark Denton, Program Coordinator RE: Research Design for Intensive Pedestrian Survey County Road 111 Williamson County, Texas Terracon Project No Dear Mr. Wolfe: Terracon Consultants, Inc. (Terracon) is pleased to submit the following research design for an Antiquities Permit application for 1 ~O-percent systematic intensive pedestrian survey of approximately four miles of existing and new roadway along County Road (CR) 111 in Williamson County, Texas. We appreciate your rapid attention and commitment to the cultural resources of Texas. We understand the area of potential effect (APE) for direct impacts to include approximately four miles of CR 111, CR 110 and CR 105 extending east from Farm Road 1460 to approximately 0.3 miles east of State Highway 130. The ultimate right-of-way will primarily include existing road sections and additional land totaling approximately feet in width. Vertical impacts, as designed, appear to be relatively shallow (i.e., less than three to five feet) where portions of the proposed construction is cut rather than filled; overall, it appears that much of the proposed roadway would be built up to grade. Stream crossings are designed to use culverts to span the narrow, intermittent channels. The APE for visual effects will consider a buffer of 150 feet from the roadway. The project's landowners and sponsor, Williamson County is a political subdivision of the State of Texas, and therefore the road project is subject to provisions of the Antiquities Code of Texas (Texas Natural Resource Code, Title 9, Chapter 191), the procedures and practices of which are overseen by the Texas Historical Commission (THC) (Texas Administrative Code, Title 13, Chapter 26). A. SITE SETTING 1. Physical The proposed APE is situated in the Blackland Prairie ecoregion of central Texas, and it is surrounded by farmland with homesteads and residential subdivisions scattered along the right- Terracon Consultants, Inc Blanco Road San Antonio, TX P [210] F [210] terracon.com Geotechnical Environmental Construction Materials Facilities

4 Project No June 25, 2015 Page 2 of 4 lrerracan of-way. Geomorphology of the APE is generally upland, but there are three crossings of low-order intermittent streams, McNutt Creek, Mankins Branch, and an unnamed tributary of San Gabriel River, east to west. Each stream appears to have man-made modified channels in proximity to the APE. Bedrock geology of the APE is mapped as Eagle Ford Formation and Buda Limestone undivided (Keb) and Austin Chalk (Kau) (Barnes 1974). The faulted transition between the two underlying rock formations is situated just west of the intersection between CR 111 and Rockride Lane. Soils of the APE are mapped as Calstephen silty clay (CaC, CaB), Austin-Whitewright Complex (AwC2), Austin silty clay (AuB), Houston Black clay (HuB), Tinn clay (Tn), and Eddy very gravelly clay loam (EyO) (Werchan and Coker 1983). All except Houston Black and Tinn clays are shallow soils. Houston Black clays are found in low-lying settings and are moderately deep with shallow calcic horizons, and deep Tinn clays are found along the channel of McNutt Creek. 2. Historic Properties A review of the Texas Archeological Sites Atlas database indicates that no previously known sites are located within the APE. The Atlas also indicates that only an approximately 500-foot length of the current APE has previously been surveyed. This survey was conducted in 2003 during the design phase of the State Highway 130 project. Beyond the current APE, only two archaeological sites are located within a 0.5-mile radius, and neither site has readily available detailed information or site forms. Adjacent to the western end of the APE is a historic cemetery, St. John's Cemetery, which also appears to an archaeological site trinomial, 41WM907. This cemetery contains the remains of early Swedish immigrants to the county, and the range of burials date from 1881 through the twentieth century. South of the intersection of State Highway 130 and CR 111 is site 41WM895; the site is situated on the unnamed tributary of the San Gabriel River along the periphery of a residential subdivision. B. SCOPE 1. Field Services This scope of services is intended to assist the client in evaluating and complying with state I cultural resource protections afforded by the Antiquities Code of Texas. To meet this objective, Terracon will perform a 100-percent systematic intensive pedestrian survey of the APE. Fieldwork To explore the possibility of the APE containing previously undocumented cultural resources, a qualified professional archaeologist will supervise a 100-percent systematic intensive pedestrian over the approximately four-mile, 150-foot wide corridor according to Minimum Survey Standards defined by the THC. Field personnel will excavate approximately 64 shovel tests to the bottom of Holocene deposits or one meter, whichever is encountered first. Each shovel test will be excavated in arbitrary 20-centimeter levels, and excavated sediment will be passed through Y..-inch hardware mesh. Each shovel test and its contents will be documented by photograph, field notes, and handheld GPS. Cultural materials encountered will be recorded and returned to the excavation prior to backfilling, and new archaeological sites will be documented with the Texas Archeological

5 Project No June 25, 2015 Page 3 of4 lrerracon Research Laboratory. Records will ultimately be curated at the Center for Archaeological Studies at Texas State University upon completion of the project. 2. Reporting Comprehensive reports for monitoring projects typically address the applicable regulatory framework, describe the physical setting, provide cultural context and archival/historical background, outline assessment methodology, detail results, and provide site-specific conclusions and recommendations, as appropriate and required by Council of Texas Archeologists standards adopted by the THC. Exhibits such as figures, referenced resource documents, data forms and photographs are included as appendices. A draft of the report will be distributed to THC for review, comments, and concurrence. C. LIMITATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS This research design does not include mechanical excavation, given the relatively shallow impacts designed for the project and the primarily shallow soils. This research design does not include testing or data recovery levels of effort, and should such services be determined necessary by survey and required by the THC, then a separate research design would be prepared. Please accept this letter as a proposed research design for survey of cultural resources in advance of CR 111 improvements. We look forward to working with you on this project. If you have any questions or require additional information, please feel free to contact David Yelacic by (david. [email protected]) or by telephone at Sincerely, Terracon Consultants, Inc. f ' /j'! r;jv~;j~ I 'f David Yelacic, RPA Principal Investigator Archaeologist

6 Project No June 25, 2015 Page 4 of 4 lrerracan D. REFERENCES CITED Barnes, V. E Geologic Atlas of Texas, Austin Sheet. Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin. Werchan, Leroy E., and John L. Coker 1983 Soil Survey of Bell County, Texas. Soil Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.

7 N Legend - 2,700 Project Site 1,350 o 2,700 Feet reject Mngr: ADP rawn By: rojectno i><;ale: RB hacked By: in = feet BPE Firm No. F-327 JEH Approved By: ADP pa te: June 2015 lrerracon C()n ~ultin g Engineers & Srif'nti..;rs 6911 Blanco Road PH San Antonio IX Fax Site Map CR 111 CR 111,110, & 105 (between FM 1460 & SH 130) Georgetown, Williamson County, Texas I

8 Legend _ Project Site 2,700 1, ,700 I z ~~ ~L- ~ N froj ecl Mngr. Oject No. ADP rawn ~y : ""ale: RB in = feet hecked ~y : BPE Firm No. JEH F-327 ~p roved By: Date: June 2015 ADP lrerracon Con"ulting Engirwers & Sr ipntisls 6911 Blanco Road San Anlonio TX PH Fax USGS Topographic Map CR 111 CR 111,110, & 105 (between FM 1460 & SH 130) Georgetown, Williamson County, Texas