Barry A. Vittor & Associates, Inc. (BVA) was contracted by the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce to conduct a Phase III data recovery mitigation program of Site 1Mb414 located on the ThyssenKrupp Steel and Stainless Mill (ThyssenKrupp) project. The proposed development required one or more federal permits and therefore constituted a federal undertaking as defined under 36 CFR Part 800 Protection of Historic Properties; Final Rule, the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation’s administrative regulations implementing the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA).
The initial Phase I survey revealed and the Phase II evaluative testing program determined that sufficient information was present to determine that Site 1Mb414 is considered to be potentially eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The research plan included excavating a series of 2 x 2 meter excavation test squares, as well as mecha
nical stripping, to expose cultural features and generate data about the occupation history of the site as reflected by additional diagnostic temporal markers (projectile points and decorated ceramics), as well as absolute carbon dates from feature contexts. A more complete picture of the site’s chronology was achieved and revealed 6 generally successive occupations of the site, beginning in the Late Archaic period (3000 B.C to ca. 1000 B.C.) and terminating at some point during the Mississippi Period (ca. A.D. 1250). These observations have important implications for understanding the poorly documented culture history of southwestern Alabama as well as the types of sites that occur north of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta and Mobile Bay/Coast strip where a greater number of sites have been documented and studied.
