Mississippi Administrative Code
Title 16 - History, Humanities and Arts
Part 3 - Historic Preservation Division
Chapter 12 - Mississippi Standards and Guidelines for Archaeological Investigations
Rule 16-3-12.6.7 - Phase III Data Recovery/Mitigation

If project plans cannot avoid impact to an NRHP-eligible archaeological site, it may be determined that the resulting Adverse Effect can be addressed through data recovery excavation. Data recovery is intended to remove and record the archaeological information at a site or sites. Because of the unique or nearly unique nature of each archaeological site, requirements for data recovery will be determined through a process of consultation between the appropriate federal agency, the SHPO, federally-recognized Tribes, and supporting state agencies.

Research Design

Phase III data recovery is a full-scale investigation of the portion of the site affected by the project. These investigations are delineated through a research design on the basis of Phase II data. The research design specifies the research questions, expected explanations from comparative research, the associated methods of field and archival investigations and analysis, connecting arguments, and public outreach that is subject to review and approval by MDAH, the appropriate federal agency/agencies, federally-recognized Tribes, and supporting state agencies. These investigations maximize the recovery of significant data available at the site, not the specific research interests of the principal investigator. The research design and public education elements are formally incorporated into a Memorandum of Agreement (see 36 CFR 800.66C) between the federal agency/agencies, federally-recognized Tribes, supporting state agencies, and, if requested, the Advisory Council, who are signatories, and others with a role in the MOA who participate as concurring parties. Although Phase III focuses investigations through the research design, it incorporates the standard steps of environmental study, research, field investigation, and data analysis into the study.

Phase II work is intended to be sufficiently thorough to determine the quantity and quality of data contained within the affected portion of the site. However, sampling does not always provide an accurate reflection of these elements. As a result, Phase III excavation may not locate the kinds of data necessary to address all the questions posed in the research design, and unanticipated data may provide material for other research questions. When ongoing excavations encounter this situation, the principal investigator should immediately notify MDAH, federal agency, federally-recognized Tribes, and supporting state agencies about necessary modification(s) of the research design.

As noted for previous phases, a principle investigator with 36 CFR 61 qualifications in the appropriate areas of specialization for the site under investigation must closely supervise research, field investigations, data analysis, and report preparation. Phase III data recovery often involves consultants with specialized training. List the types of specialists, their training, and their role in the proposal for the Phase III investigations.

Environmental Context

Review the environmental factors relevant to understanding the cultural context(s) associated with the site, its location, and the research questions. If the context has not been adequately addressed in Phase II, finish the necessary investigations. A detailed statement of the environmental context is placed in the Phase III report. The following types of information should generally be included: geology, glacial history, hydrology, physiography/geomorphology, soils, climate, flora, and fauna and the ways in which the ecology of the area has altered through time, focusing on the period of site occupation. Also describe the past and current land use/landscaping patterns and describe the existing cultural landscape/setting, identifying past and recent modifications as they relate to the significance and condition of the site under examination.

Site Specific and Contextual Research

Research depends in part on the research questions addressed by Phase III investigations. The Phase III report includes a concise description of the cultural contexts, relevant site types, and site specific information related to the site under investigation and its setting. Also incorporate data relevant to the subject site gained from Phase I and II reports completed for the project. It is through the comparative and contextual research that data from the site are given broader meaning and through it the site achieves its significance. Thus, this information is critical to the Phase III report.

The current status of research as it applies to the research questions should be summarized in the research design and provided in detail in the Phase III report. Phase III investigations include a comprehensive review of the comparable sites, including published and unpublished reports; in some cases, continued interviews with local landowners, avocational archaeologists, local and regional archaeologists and specialists; and examination of related collections in public and private ownership that enhance the understanding of the subject site and research questions. Manuscript research may add to the understanding of the site type. For example, contemporaries describing early industrial processes and machinery may permit interpretation of an industrial site. Depending on the nature and significance of the site or site complex, Phase III research in or information from out-of-state repositories may be necessary.

During Phase III investigations at historic sites and within a sufficient time frame to benefit data recovery and artifact analysis, conduct research and the analyses of the materials in relevant detailed records, for example newspapers, federal and state censuses, retail store account books and related records, diaries, detailed institutional and company records, wills and estate inventories, and private archives and public manuscript collections, and photographic collections. This detailed research continues to focus on the associated contexts and related site types, comparable sites in the region, a history of the site's development, and the research questions. This research is presented in the Phase III report.

Field Investigations

The field methods and kind of data sought for data recovery are detailed in the research design. Depending on the site type and the research questions, these investigations sample the range of significant occupations. Investigation goals in Phase III include confirming and carefully documenting site structure vertically and horizontally to understand the interrelationship of the features, strata, and artifacts of each component and determining their temporal and contextual relationship as well as addressing the research questions.

Excavation in Phase III investigations typically covers a more extensive area. If used for mapping, Phase II maps are field checked. Again the approach to excavation is dictated by the questions, type of occupation, and data being recovered. However, block excavation and trenching are the most common approaches to investigations. Levels are removed by troweling or shovel skimming in 5 to 10 cm intervals within soil strata. Store artifacts by these increments and cross-referenced by provenience. Depending on the size of the artifacts being excavated, screen dirt through one-eighth to one-quarter inch hardware cloth. Some features may require the piece-plotting of artifacts. The mechanical removal of soils is limited to the removal of recent fill and overburden identified as sterile during previous testing. Where environmental circumstances permit and when intensive excavation has sufficiently sampled the site, mechanical stripping of plowzone may expose additional features within the area of impact, permitting a more extensive investigation. Areas of the site extending beyond the project should be protected from stripping, mapped, and set aside as a protected area. Depending on site content and research design, Phase III likely involves the collection of soil samples for flotation and analysis of botanical and faunal remains, the examination of soil chemistry, and the collection of radiocarbon samples.

As in Phase II investigations of historical archaeological sites, vertical control is usually by strata and 10 cm levels within the strata. Depending on the nature of the artifact deposition, for example artifact-rich middens vs. stratified sheet middens, and the nature of the strata, recovery by strata may be sufficient. At the other end of the spectrum, piece plotting of significant finds may be necessary for other deposits. Include from earlier phases and expand the data documenting associated standing buildings and structures, their visible remains, and associated landscape features. Phase III includes an interior inspection of the building with measured sketches of the floor plan, delineating room size, window and door placement, chimney locations, storage areas, stairs, and other features significant to the study. Room function contemporary with the period under investigation is important to the study, but difficult to address. Areas of the building or structure that have undergone relatively recent modification and hold little information for analysis do not require similar detail. Also photograph representative areas. An architectural historian versed in regional vernacular forms should provide guidance in this area. The analysis of spaces represented in floor plans and site plans documenting landscaping features should be integrated with the belowground data.

Data Analysis

Analysis should examine and integrate the different forms of data collected during data recovery and those of earlier phases that relate to the site under investigation as well as those gained through comparative analysis with parallel sites within the region and other contextual information. The focus of the qualitative and quantitative analyses required to understand the artifact assemblage within its physical context will vary depending on the research questions being addressed, the site type, and the cultural context(s) to which it relates. The analysis typically includes, but is not limited to, the correlation of soil stratigraphy with the horizontal and vertical distribution of artifacts, features, and structural remains within and among the site's components; the dating of strata through radiometric and other methods; the study of the soil composition and an understanding of the past environmental contexts of the site and the significance of these variables; detailed lithic and ceramic analyses; low and high magnification use-wear analysis; detailed botanical and faunal analyses; detailed analyses of specific artifact types often involving the examination of other sources including other related site collections; comparative document and artifact research examining the technological production of classes of artifacts; and the interpretation of building remains through the examination of functionally and structurally comparable building forms as well as the associated archaeological evidence. Although the research design specifies how the analysis proceeds, unanticipated data should also receive consideration and some anticipated data may not be recovered. Again, changes in analytical strategy are confirmed with the federal agency, the SHPO, federally-recognized Tribes, and supporting state agencies and explained in the report in the statement of method.

All recovered artifacts are catalogued. Because of the large number of artifacts associated with some types of Native American and many historic sites, the principal investigator in conference with the federal agency, the SHPO, federally-recognized Tribes, and supporting state agencies may need to address which portions of the assemblage are retained. Retention includes collection sufficient to permit its reanalysis to examine the research questions of the data recovery project from a different perspective and pursue other questions and types analyses at a later date. The method of and reasons for the artifact selection and the discussions about it are documented in the Phase III report.