Baltz, Christopher J. (Gray & Pape Cultural Resources Consultants, Cincinnati)
DATA BASE ENHANCEMENT III; COALFIELDS OF SOUTHWESTERN INDIANA
The Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, Indiana University, conducted a
data base enhancement project in the coalfields of southwestern Indiana during
the fall and winter of 1988-89. This project was the third in a series that focused
upon artifact collectors and their knowledge of archaeological sites within the
coalfields. The Coalfields I and II projects were completed in 1987. These three
projects were supported by a cost-sharing grant from the Indiana Department of
Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, and by Indiana
University.
For the Coalfields III project, five counties (Clay, Gibson, Knox, Martin, and
Sullivan) were added to the original six counties that were the focus of the Coalfields
I and II projects (Davies, Dubois, Greene, Pike, Spencer, and Warrick). These
five counties were the primary focus of this project. During the course of the
project, site information was collected for adjacent counties when such was readily
available. It was anticipated that the project would gather information on about
400 previously undocumented archaeological sites.
The project was directed by Cheryl Munson. The interviews were set up and conducted
by Christopher Baltz. Baltz and Munson authored the final report. Jill Heilman
aided in the completion of state inventory fomms for each site. Noel Justice aided
in the identfficuion of many of the projectile points.
Twenty-three individuals were interviewed during the project. Five of these had
been interviewed during the Coalfieds I and II projects. These individuals provided
information on 476 previously undocumented sites within the 11 county study area
and information on 32 sites withy 4 adjacent counties (Posey, Vanderburgh, Lawrence,
and Crawford). In addition, new information was collected on 218 previously documented
sites in the 11 counties and 7 sites in the adjacent counties. Twenty-six sites
were inspected by project archaeologists.
As with the earlier projects, an unexpected outcome of the Coalfields III project
was the donation of materials by some of the collectors. The Laboratory received
donations from two individuals representing collections from 25 sites. All materials
from the Coalfields III project are curated at the Laboratory. [return to 1989 abstracts menu][continue to next]