The Bundy-Voyles site is a Late Prehistoric habitation site located on a low floodplain ridge along the West Fork of the White River in Washington Township, Morgan County, Indiana (Figure 3.1). The site is on the edge of a relatively level surface that dips to the north along the edge of a swale representing an old river channel. The floodplain in this area is characterized by old meander scars that form a complex series of ancient river channels. Because of the meandering nature of the river and its tributaries, the flat area around Martinsville is known to have a scattering of Late Prehistoric sites (for example, Martinsville Plaza). The swale that 12 Mg 1 is located along is crosscut by a later channel that also has sites with Late Prehistoric components along its edges farther to the east (sites 12 Mg 195, 12 Mg 197, and 12 Mg 198). The site area is now artificially drained and protected by a levee, although many of these swales were probably oxbow lakes prehistorically and represented a rich mixture of riparian and slack water resources. It is unknown if the swale along the northern edge of the site was an oxbow lake, a slough, or the river channel proper when the site was occupied. The West Fork of the White River channel is presently located about 200 meters to the west. Tall bluffs are located immediately west of the White River, and a shallow area in the river where Highway 39 now crosses it would have made these upland resources easily accessible as well. The soils on the site are well drained and represent a transition between the Genesee silt loam (0 to 2% slope) that typically forms on flood plains and the Stonelick sandy loam that typically occurs on natural levee formations (Sturm 1981).

The site was originally recorded by Curtis Tomak in 1968, who reported probable surface features and a scatter of chert, shell, faunal material, fire-cracked rock, triangular points, and pottery. During the spring of 1995, this site was resurveyed by personnel from the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology (GBL). Under poor survey conditions, the site was found to extend approximately 107.0 m by 65.0 m, including an area of slightly higher artifact concentration measuring 43.0 m by 38.0 m at the top edge of the swale. An analysis of the ceramic and lithic artifacts recovered from the 1995 resurvey and accounts of artifacts previously collected from the site (Curtis Tomak, pers. comm.) suggested that 12 Mg 1 represented an Oliver Phase (Dorwin 1971; McCullough 1991, 1992) occupation. A light scattering of early to mid-twentieth century historic artifacts was present on the surface and within plowzone contexts. Many of these artifacts were probably discarded by passing motorists, but some were associated with a historic farmstead located near the site, at least 100.0 meters to the southeast. In a 1946 aerial photograph taken by the Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (State and County Code 18-109), the house structure was still present along the brick-lined roadway, the old highway across the river.

Excavations at the Bundy-Voyles site (12 Mg 1) were conducted between May 10, 1995, and June 6, 1995, by the Indiana University field school in archaeology (DHPA permit number 950029). Stephen Ball of the GBL served as field director. Grant monies were not used to fund this excavation but were used to partially fund the processing and analysis of the materials recovered, and the results of this research contribute significantly to the goals of the current project.