EFTA00595330.pdf

REVISED FOR PHASE II MANAGEMENT SUMMARYEVALUATION ARCHAEOLOGICAL. TESTING AND PERFORMED FOR GREAT ST. JAMES HISTORIC VILLAGE SITE GREAT ST JAMES, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS Prepared for: Marin Box 10829 St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 00801 Prepared by: Soltisipternational Inc. M. Box 267011 Weston, Florida 33326 _ 1_ 2001 EFTA00595330  „egererfied, I N. • ••••-••1 %••••••••.• ' IV.... If 4n •• In•f•An• •••• I ' h aat .40, ••flet....• now* as/ 71..eens %I I IOW nitre N. • 41•04 I de I .0 SolICC Iloilo I Int: I Arehtletdogleal Solite) Ii,s "'lig "nil compicivel the fi eld ‘'atitnil work for the It Site Ir nt I ). th (ShIlly) for the (Oval PlInc, AtrorrIcY e SI. James thstont r .”" 111e o wners performed on behalf of Mr. KeN;111 I) ' Amour. in alle reqUireineitiS it)t . the 01 Great 11$ proposed subdivision and Si. James Island, as pan or thy P"an" development of the Island. One of the primary all the planning and Ihis study d(cikisciviiii‘Xti‘i)ef .ne data tot she intent or avoiding t‘tvert‘l isell ‘clipoib n t : riT I lie study and/or lll i ll i lll saci::117:sIterrisiePtattirt W1.1:1111 was perlbrmed izing adverse or effects to significant cultural resources. November I 7, 2006. to the Research Ilan approved by your office on depicting the location of Styli ore 1: USGS Quadrangle: Eastern St. Thomas a EFTA00595331  hm"v+w".w„-- raiwar. • NMI nn... r. 4104014,0 La A Phil" NAtti/NOUNI) i by M. uhnionominn Iiihralyth ArChaallinainil SinVeY Righter of Wet M r ilItIlldld kir the Island ad nf a booted on the northern pone of Areheolink vomplint Mohave ruins the Arehetettek sWillyetlessened /west hens in Mara te Om howl Village llte of ith and stot. boo" roottoo to to to Arroollith urciletiMintiete tmninidi tats gravestudyshe, lalso in. James %/Magdescribe and what they ow a. oomed inenitheg • well, day laid ',sums CHUM M oft chin motion" but einnsicrnet wells. i /,,. ri twiny objective of outbids la Ms (neat the current Phase ,„ r.,1 I lc, .fridii I ffff III 4110 Chao l o assitti II Argliaqui ,nt Tooting IIIIIIIII II/e •Ill‘ el "C tellP 4ICIS in the develop III of sits albs,owls VIIIttithtkr3 W. (guy, II % l . a li• '".; i Ili i$ kt :IS (I IQ gi elline•IIII Co Itorol r4gt,o 10,0,6 or. To occompt hal the CHlulled In tAlitlet rocii. dfilii conecrol og du s? . Tho horizontal and following: , The contextual vertical limits • The existing et integrity of the of the Great St. James Village f"le• "lions of archaeological deposits • The potential c 'stone architectural National Regis the cultural resource to meet resources criteria f I listorie Places (Nk!IP) eligibility to the 3.0 FIELD WORK The field work 11w the Phase ll between December I anti December Archaeological 2I, 200 Testing and !:valuation was oetforme4 the implementation of .6. The field work was accomplished through the seven tasks enumerat ed below: 1. Site Reconnaissance 2. Site Clearing .3. Site mapping and establishment of a site grid 4. Recordation of constructed features .5. Controlled Surface Collection (CSC) 6. Excavation of Shovel Tests 7. Excavation of one by one meter test units 3.1 Site Reconnaissance Thc first task performed tau, a reconnaissance of the site area to familiarize the team wit MIL' area and its immediate environs. The reconnaissance also served to assist in t planning and ac heduling of the other tasks. EFTA00595332  sai management SlonmarE /TIhr Aatkiesi Rev James thgtors Village Stir. SI ceral SI Thooriai. (Mu ult 'Hi re'sift tchruien I. qui? Ershadhm 814" Prolect Nu nlw4 3.2 Site Clearing The site area was found to.be heavily 01 brushy and thorny species prior vegetated and required the cutting of lurge LIMOIMIN to or during co expose constructed features. the estublishinent of survey trunsects and 13 Mapping and Site Grid Brian Moseley and Associates established the site grid bin:clines and mapped the constructed features. 3.4 Recordation of constructed features The constructed features were photographed and measured sketches of the plan of each building made, examples are provided in later section's of this document. 3.5 Controlled Surface Collection (CSC) A controlled surface collection (CSC) of the site area was made using collection units that measured 1.75 meters square and were established at 10 meter intervals. collection activities in progress Figure 2: Controlled surface 3.6 Excavation of Shovel Tests performed at l0 meter intervals to define the horizontal and vertical Shovel testing was excavated to Each test measured 30 by 30 centimeters and was limits of the site. v, inch mesh artilactually sterile depths; all excavated soils were screened through hardware. 3 EFTA00595333  4 uwwwrowifi Aiw•MPFM frk 0 Now" ttioN, mar Nis kfrolow. ,el INfootion I INIO tang 771.01.4N. um, t.tulwalim, Rohl Aw Mem104 Figure 3: Photograph of shovel testing activities In progress 3,7 Excavation of one by one meter test units areas Five one by one meter units were excavated to test select areas of the site. The discrete selected included thick midden deposits (Figure 4), general site contexts, concentrations of artifacts and one area in the central part of the site that appeared to be vegetation. devoid of materials. In addition to the test units, large areas were cleared of rubble and colluviutn to expose and record architectural features (Figure 6). 1. Note shell and artifacts Figure 4: Surface of Test Unit 4 EFTA00595334  Reign! avamcvnint siffigniity for sloe Phase II .Ire loginifew. (item St Immo Iltalterit. Pillage Sof,xr. rer,,,„m• O8:1 fiv•Ifesg anal t raluatton ruined* I. 2007 !toilet I•rujng Vo 0511414N 4,0 LAIIORATort v The material recovered from the Phan being processed. We are scheduled to ii Archaeological Testing and Evaluation are complete analysis by the end of January. 2001. 5.0 REPORTING The report of the investiy,ations will be submitted to the VISIIPO for review on or before March 9. 2007 6.0 PRELIMINARY FINDINGS 61 VI I [AGE PLAN James se It Arc hae olog ical Tes ting and Evaluation performed for the Great St. 'Mc Pha ly structures of varying forms and like Historic Village resulted in the identification of 17 than this number of structures is six less function within the historic village. We note that plan that is er exhibits a symmetrical reported by Righter in 2005. The village prop ctures and t are likely to be small domestic Stru rectilinear iri (aim (Figure 7) with wha es are ure t; alig ned alon g, the nor th edg e of the saddle. The larger structur ascociatod te;it th to south axis. the wes t side of the s Wag e and gerierady trend along a nor located im loca ted to the wes t of the village core area (P and Q); these two 1 \No I structures are n or perhaps specific function buil dings rese nt ear lier con stru ctio structures may rep Additional possible associated features include a cor e villa ge area . separated from the Christmas Cove to the west of the village, and const-rnettd path s, a wel l at r number of cart the villa ge, incl udi ng one that was considered by Righte theast of features to the nor a grave, (20(15) to represent EFTA00595335  ReVlied Management Summary. he hase Great Si James Historic Villagefor Archaeological Testing and Eval Sat SP Thom11s. USV1 ti uaon February t. 2007 Sant Protest No 050414.4 Figure 7: Map depicting the location of the Great St. James h istoric illage Structures 6.1.1 Village Architectural Remains es were located and recorded by The remains of seventeen readily definable structur es of the level of documentation is shown in measured drawings and photography, exampl s 8-1 0. We not e that 23 stru ctur es were recorded by Righter; the discrepancy Figure re een our findin gs and Rig hte r's may be in part attributable to the level of exposu betw siderable de for eac h stru ctur e; we suspect that because of the thick vegetation and con ma red by materials, some structures may have been conside disarticulation of building re than one structure. Righter to represent mo y foundation walls ic and stor e bui ldin gs are represented by rubble masonr The domest erst ructures. An exception to this pattern is a small building ted tim ber sup that suppor tingly, no evidence for the use of con tain ed a full elevation of stone. Interes (M) that ter was not ed at the site . Significant amount of the recycling of plas wattle and lime the late 19th-century as evidenced by ma teri als appears to have been made in building ble and artifact scatters in fou nda tion wal ls, an absence of surrounding rub ground level Oth er stru ctures include a large rectangular cistern with a vaulted the building's inte rior s. trough. chm ent bas in ( Fig ure 10) , other cisterns, bathhouse and a water cat roof and EFTA00595336  on/ t summary Phase I/ ai Jame, /horn*. Sae, Alle. A nuimas. Art.hugyaltv•ili (No TrAimx E‘aluala FrAnsin I 2007 Suhn rnyn0 Vo 05041414 he buildings arc generally poorly to onion) numerous diagonal fissures moderately well or disarticulated the surviving walls readily discernable. wall However, then plan Figure 8: Example of plan view for Structure A I Figure 9: Photograph of Structure NI EFTA00595337  g....a`I mews „ win. S.'"" "" S. if Phew II Irthotifri rytk ,„, whom toted IP tflaftit ffing tahn I Stat ion &att. pn.frveto ., ". atsk olont• figure 10: Plan View of Structure 1, cistern and catchment basin 6.2 ARTIFACT BEARING MATRICES s proposal that the artifact bearing matrice We had initially hypothesized in our research ely ce contexts. This proposition was larg would be restricted to surface or very near-surfa to 20 arti fact hea ring mat rice s wer e foun d to extend to depths as much as 18 refuted as near the exception to this general pattern is an area centimeters below surface (curbs). An larly swept, as evidenced by the absenc e that app ears to hav e bee n regu center of the site along the edges arti fact s. The mos t extensive midden deposits are located of top soil and ely down slope from the structures. of the settlement and larg 6.3 GRAVES es pres ent in betw een Structures A and B (Figure 7): both grav found Two graves were ch shells. def ine d by arrangements of rocks and con are EFTA00595338 "NIENIPti eel Piimigenorf Affinu711,1%).- ibo MUM* i ^ etre P. .10 re,s Iiistitic Villag e $09, SI, ?tom ArChemehigletil T oplfiS arid gloChltiliv4 . 7 FBI' Sohec P roierca. OJOS11: 4 ti Figure I I : Nan leSS of graves recorded !whs.:ell SI ructuves A and B 6.4 OTHER CONSTRUCTED FEAR RES James Historic con stru cted feat ures that are likely associated with the Great St. Other e from the village age wer e rep orte d by Rig hte r (2005) are located quite some distanc Vill the village. These features per , to the wes t on Christmas Cove and to the northeast of were pro us dur ing the cou rse of our presence on Great St. James and were visited by raphy. recorded by photog Christmas Cove 6.4.1 The Features at erved. me istm as Cov e con tain s a dry laid rubble casing that is well pres Chr from the The well at cte d at a loca tion whe re it intercepts a small gut descending constru well was the well. slopes above EFTA00595339  Sunman /or the Phan . 11 AN I hue" ; toe . anh., 14,,tort, I Maw Sae. Si Thontai I.:yri "Inc 6 -al " Sidlt. Figure 12: Well at Christmas Cove 6.4.2 Features to the northeast of the Village The features to the northeast of the village are in, or in close proximity to, the large salt pond located on the extreme north pan of the island. These features include a dry laid rubble wall constructed with rock and coral was identified by Righter in 2005. The purpose of this wall remains undetermined. Similar additional walls are reported by Righter in this same general area. laid coral and rock wall Figure 13: Dry EFTA00595340  ttfanaventen, s„mntary IT the pauyr He"' 1-allage • Ott 4., itureslosesnal O,e." nuinoto, !i%1'1 Trjuati; mu/ ..... tr.,. tn.• • gilt' loose rock ~Oigt P•plc, t vc. A causeway of I f, and coral or crosses the pan the island. The rock alignment (in the eastern end of a salt pond on the northern slows above. to a location that mop tone of a stone -wins lined path) continues ties on the undetermined. Figure 14: Photograph of causeway lined path (continuation of causeway ) Figure 15: Stone EFTA00595341  stn .,/ Jewirseihereera /or Me " woe 6 „.. Si a Mart refer Silk kryta,,:ititranar re ay! The pine ant defused 844., by niosaa as aioni 44.04)Ovir comoucted feature that has brae meng as n 499n„,n, faceted coral and slant blocks ar partiagy issanica gains then mi.. meters in diameter and along the e knead scaliared ge edges of a large. Savages 0 rev* twat delwesa Figure Grave pfatifirtri vicntaied in Righter (2005:44) a lter (2005:43 and 44) suggests that the disaniculated coral and stone represents the remains oral/tenor-nem that was set on top of the grave and the depression to be a robbed izsve. We are not entire!), convinced that this is a grave site, as the amount of worked rock. and coral appears w be far greater than necessary for a monument (s). and the depression is far larger than necessary to rob a grave. Additionally, neither Righter nor stic of robbed grave our team reports seeing loose skeletal remains that are characteri contexts (although we did not screen the sods). l constructed leanife w the south r)f the grave platform We did however. note an additiona areas and the described by Righter (Figure 17). Additionally, a number of le-Med laid walls. causeway. stone linvi path) were noted by features described above (dry to the putative grave. Righter and us in close proximity EFTA00595342  wooer ihs /'brae 01 0 ,,,,,,..lerl,tiwtolowleol v. ri,cri &wok. (ow hton ormiNivion figure 17: Photograph showing relationship of grave platform and additional constructed feature (north arrow sits on top of additional constructed feature) 7.0 PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS 7.1 The Great St. James Historic Village Evaluation perefonntnhed for the Great St. James The Phase II Archaeological Testing and settlement contains some evidence Historic Village resulted in the identification of a howevert atht e preponderan he -century; of having been occupied in the late 18th with some minor 'amounts dating tocetheof20tth- -Century artifacts appear to date to the 19th remains of 17 rubble masonry structures in varying contains the century. The settlement states of preservation. contextual integrity. Faunal matrices appear well preserved with conch The artifact bearing large amounts of whelk and moderate amounts of of were also remains in the form remains of fish, birds, large and small mammals the for predominate; additionally, James Historic Village is considered to meet the criteria St. defined recovered, The Great Register of Historic Places under Criterion D which is National prehistory or inclusion in the likely to yield, information important to having yielded or may he as history. EFTA00595343  ¶.. an fee tit rever4e •*; 111488aerimtal /law Sue a `1 ‘. ro t° hoer HI Oar •C and • 1‘. ~VI • 'r at' 'stun- the phase rebrben I. 20n, pop from Study provides Sober Prelect ures and archaeological a 030414.4 sufficient amount of or strict contexts to assist in of the island. A proposed dus Pfined to avoid impacts to mad on the the historic strue plantriesine:tfuoi:ltibeasdteovtehloepinoct:nttioinn western side of the redesirrnad alignment Fi (highlighted in deep gure 17 shows village has been P eCc"azi blue). the location of the 73,2 Christmas Cove Features itowisuras cove features of concern include a well and a trough which appears to be etier eclustrisctIon• The well is most Righter suggests, possibly also likely associated with the hininic settlement and provided mariners with a water supply. Features to the northeast of village The. walls, causeay, rock pathway, potential "grave site", and leveled areas, dose, proXimtly to each other all within strongly indicate this area to have been the locus activities a as yet undetermined nature, most for likely related to the village settlement, but ,..vise possibly, independent of it. 8.0 RECOMMENDATIONS preserved in snu within a Soltec recommends that the village structures he avoided and afforded to developing the deer spaced area. We recommend that consideration he like setting. village aria as an interpreted culturally sensitive park complex (Figure 18) will of the core of the ruins The proposed road alignment to the west make specific recommendations for mitigating Soltec will cut through midden deposits. of investigations. adverse impacts in the final report Features 8.1 Christmas Cove Christmas Cove should be preserved in sift and trough located on development. We recommend that The well and overall landscape design for the Islands licensed incorporated into theChristmas Cove features be mapped by a Virgin opening as a location of the recommend that a grate be placed over the well the Additionally, we Surveyor. safety measure. EFTA00595344  r• t. rye 44. rva t it III c, .11( c c c eViii,c ILr foul 148 lhr /Aran t PIAPAcrit. lay, t nrtimisalticirc M- 1'.•11 1 1 10 , Liam 1 'Ir. , November 20. 20015 Memorandum To: Victor Somme, Dire ctor. CZ.M From: M D. JacksgtC Director Subject: VISHPO Review and Com ments regarding Technical Propos Perform a Phase I/ Arc al to haeological Testing and Evalua Historical Archaeological Site tion Study for an Located on the Island of Great St. U.S. Virgin Islands by Soiree James, International Inc. (11/15/06) for CZM Application No. CZ Ma jor T-12-06 / Christian Klatt- VISHPO has received the technical proposal referenced above follows: and our comments are as • Pursuant to the Phase I Cultural Res ources Survey investigations carried out Ms. Holly Righter of Archaeolink in by 2004, which resulted in the Report of a Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of Great St. James Island, St. Thomas, several significant cultural resources we IJSVI, re identified. • The significant cultural resources identified by Ms. Righter included the remains of at least 23 structures, refuse middens, a well, a gra ve, cart paths, and other landscape features. • As a result of the identification of these significant cultural resources, and in light of the proposed development by Great St. James Properties for residential housing, further Phase II Testing and Evaluation Study is req uired to determine boundaries, depth, documentation, and level of significa nce for a determination eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places for the resources identified The sites are already considered significant for inclusion onto the local Virgin Islands Registry of Historic Buildings, Sites, and Places . EFTA00595345  • 17 rem .7•••••2"...1....-- n t iVritigUllOn Nfudics. ivin.nocil 1 1 cvn int e d k.tri,::,. , 41:::;:r;Clitt Pb),. %VI erat s . ' :::1% proposed devetopmem plain '' i tt g. 11.11VA nlitikih: WM\ • Based on the review of the Phase II Technical Proposal submitted by soltec, it appears that it meets the recommendations necessary to as and evaluate the identified cultural resources as per VISHPO requirements. concept, the culturally significant The VISHPO also notes that "as a preliminary site area will be developed as an interpreted , culturally sensitive, passive park-like setting that maintains the s ite's inherent archaeological character", and it is our wish that this concept is supported throughout the planning process; at the same OP time, we applaud the developer for this foresight and sensitivity. • Our only further concern regarding the Phase II Testing and Evaluation is that the historic well, which is outside the described "culturally significant site area" be documented and preserved, with any mitigative testing to be discussed with the VISHPO prior to disturbance, and the grave site, already identified, be preserved in place, restored as a marked place of burial, and fenced in, with access allowed. If either of these alternatives is not conducive to planning and development, the VISI-IPO is to be contacted and consulted prior to any measures that may impact the site. • As discussed in the proposal (Reporting, p. 5) a Managem ent Summary report will be prepared for submittal to the VISHPO within three days of the conclusion of field activities, and as a result this document will be sufficient to issue a conditioned finding for the purposes of the CZM permitting process. Should further work be necessary, once agreed-upon and signed, a Memorandum of Agreement can be put in place to allow the permitting to proceed. c: Dean C. Plaskett, Esq., Commissioner and Virgin Islands State Historic Preservation Officer Manny C. Ramos, CZM Environmental Engineer EFTA00595346 EFTA00595347