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2. Previous Cultural Resource Investigations in the Vicinity of Fort Polk
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Chapter 2 Previous Cultural Resource Investigations in the Vicinity of Fort Polk This chapter provides a brief history and description of the cultural resource investigations undertaken on and near Fort Polk through early a.d. 2002.Alisting of these projects is given in Table 2.1, together with summary data on the total acreage investigated or number of sites excavated. As can be seen from the table, almost 5,000 sites and isolated finds have been reported to date on the installation, and 646 of these have received further examination, most in the form of intensive testing. The discussion here focuses primarily on the larger projects that have occurred, including the five major excavation projects at prehistoric sites, for which the work is described at some length. Prehistoric research findings are emphasized in this chapter and in Chapters 3 through 6. The results of investigations at historic sites, briefly noted in this chapter, are summarized in considerable detail in Chapters 7 and 8. The emphasis in this chapter on prehistoric research is related, in part, to the nature of the Fort Polk landscape, on which prehistoric sites and isolated finds outnumber historic sites and isolated finds by almost an order of magnitude. The reasons this is the case are discussed in the pages that follow. Much greater detail about individual projects, of course, can be found in the original documents and in the collections and records curated at Fort Polk and elsewhere. It must be emphasized that all of the archaeological research that has occurred on Fort Polk is the direct result of federal funding and legal mandates. Prior to 1972, when the first cultural resource management (CRM) work was done, only a handful of sites had been recorded from this part of Louisiana. Indeed, were it not for the federally funded activity that has occurred on Fort Polk, as well as in the nearby Kisatchie National Forest, this part of Louisiana would still be largely unknown and unexplored archaeologically. With the establishment of the Louisiana Regional Archaeology Program in 1989, however, state-supported research carried out in recent years in west-central Louisiana has increased dramatically (e.g., Girard 1998, 2000a; McGimsey 1996). The information gained and lessons learned from the CRM programs conducted on and near Fort Polk have helped shape much of our understand- Table 2.1 — Cultural resource investigations undertaken on Fort Polk, Louisiana, 1972–2002 Project Name Date Range Acres Sites Isolates NRHP Location Density References Examined * ** *** Survey Projects Diamond Ore 1972 ? 10 0 0 PR n/a Gregory and Curry 1972 Fort Polk Archaeological Survey 1976–1979 10,600 352 196 n/a MF/PR 5.17 Servello, ed. 1983 Bayou Zourie 1980 800 9 10 n/a MF 2.38 Jolly and Gunn 1981 NWR Sample Survey 1981 8,096 215 133 n/a MF/PR 4.30 Thomas et al. 1982 MPRC Survey 1985 17,275 339 216 129 MF 3.51 Campbell and Weed 1986 Kisatchie Regional Environmental Management Group (7 projects) 1984–1986 348 n/a n/a n/a MF n/a Servello 1985a–e, 1986 Family Housing Area Survey 1987 1,125 18 0 4 MF 1.60 Poplin 1987 NPS Surveys (2 projects) 1987–1988 100 3 1 1 MF 4.00 Husted 1988; Husted and Ehrenhard 1988 Earth Search (17 projects) 1989–1992 4,685 121 78 16 MF/PR 4.25 (See Table 2.2) Earth Search, Fullerton Area 1993 2,745 20 35 4 MF 2.00 McMakin et al. 1994 R. Christopher Goodwin (19 projects) 1992–1995 12,159 309 280 38 MF/PR 4.84 (See Table 2.3) Gulf South Research (7 projects) 1994–1996 5,180 94 55 17 MF/PR 2.88 (See Table 2.5) SCIAA Intensive Survey #1 1993–1994 8,027 154 127 18 MF/PR 3.50 Abrams et al. 1995 New South Associates Survey 1995–1996 14,622 342 414 38 MF 5.17 Cantley et al. 1997 SCIAA Intensive Survey #2 1996–1997 12,538 310 168 76 MF 3.81 Clement et al. 1998 TRC Garrow Associates 1998 6,407 68 79 14 PR 2.29 Ensor et al. 1999 SEAC Surveys (2 projects) 1999 119 4 8 0 MF 10.1 Heide 1999a, 1999b University of Memphis 1999–2000 4,579 118 90 29 LUA 4.54 Ensor et al. 2001 Panamerican Consultants #1 1999–2000 6,535 27 19 7 LUA 0.70 Saatkamp et al. 2000 Panamerican Consultants #2...