Pace, Robert E. (Anthropology Laboratory, Indiana State University)
STATUS OF DATA CENTERS PROJECT, SOUTHWEST INDIANA
Four years of intensive reconnaissance in 21 "Data Centers," which comprise a
systematic, geographic sample of 16 southwest Indiana counties, has documented
1,971 new sites. Each center consists of approximately 5 square miles. Within
each 1,000 acres a sample of major topogaphic features are being surveyed in 15-foot
pedestrian paths. Some 19,390 acres (30.3 square miles) have been examined to
date. When the initial phase of this long-range project is complete in 1988, it
is anticipated that more than 2,200 sites will have been recorded, at the frequency
of approximately 1 site per 9 acres. Centers, named after nearby towns, include
Bowling Green, Dugger, East Mt. Carmel, Elberfeld, Francisco, Grandview, Hudsonville,
Huntingburg, Hutton, Lewis, Mineral City, Montezuma, Petersburg, Plainville, St.
Meinrad, Shoals, Staunton, Tennyson, Wheatland, Winslow, and Worthington. Each
center provides a systematically produced data base that can be used to predict
frequencies and types of sites in adjacent, unexamined areas. The data base also
is being used to generate and test hypotheses, and to construct theoretical models
of prehistoric cultures throughout the several cultural-historical periods in
the region. As a consequence, both scientific research and management of cultural
resources in the region has been served by this project. [return to 1987 abstracts menu][continue to next]