Agenda - 05-04-1999 - 6e - Laserfiche WebLink

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04/09/1999 09:14 9196443002 OR. CTY. PLAt~IING 9 Proposal for Developing an Archaeological Context for the 3t. Mary's Road ~ Corridor, Orange County, North Carolina Llnda Franca Stine, Ph.D. March 22, 1999 Orange County Is using a landscape perspective to create a preservation plan for the St. Mary's Road Corridor (SR1002) (8dk 1999). A landxape approach is an integrative study of how people shape, and are "shaped by the land in dynamic cultural and natural contexts. A landscape approach in preservation guides intordisciplinary research and evaluation of historical propertips...[and] fosters a regional perspective for evaluating and managing a project's historic properties" (Stine and Stine 1997: !89). Interdisc:lpllnary researchers using thin perspective will identify natural and farmland resource areas, scenic viewsheds, and above and below ground cultural resources (Belk 1999), The approximately fi.4.mile stretch of St. Mary's Road, beginning at its Intersection with Hwy 7Q and contlnuinp eastwards to the Durham County line, forms the baseline for the project area. Orange County's Preservation Plan for the 9t. Mary's Road Corridor will be predicated, in part, on the results of archaeological and hi~oric structure resources surveys. This proposal addresses three major tasks assodated with investigating the archaeological properties within the St Mscry'g Raad Corridor (SR1002). The primary task is to conduct a thorough background study of the known archaeological sites, standing structures, historic documentary resources, and modern cartographic souroe3 pertaining to the project environs. This background research, Task One, forms the core of the study, providing information to develop a view of relevant past landscapes. Task Onv will also provide data on possible site Ioeatic~nR, forming the basis ter the second task, "ground-frothing" site locations. Possible sites include traces of historic rude!-tied, artifact scatters, historic and/or prohistorie structural romnants, and/or oilier hypes of cultural remains. Task Two will entail archaeological site reconnaissance to verify the presence/absence of cult«ral remains in areas of high potential for prehistoric and historic sites. Part of this task will be to integrate the data from background and archaeological field reconndlsaance to create an archaeological context for the 6t. Mary's Road Corridor. (t wilt provide preservationists, planners, and the public with a visbn of past land-use patterns, settlement choices, and the cultural Interplay that ~~.curred in this area. Task Three entail developing a research design and concomitant scope of work for future archaeological studies in the proj®ct area. This will ovontually nerve aE p3rt of Or~.ange County's Preservation Plan, enabling residents to place modem Issues {e.g., erosion, clean water, land-use) within a broader historic context.