Archaeology in Arkansas

From  Southern Arkansas University:  Arkansas Archeological Survey

http://web.saumag.edu/aas/

The Southern Arkansas University Research Station of the Arkansas Archeological Survey (AAS-SAU) is located on the SAU campus in Magnolia, Arkansas. The AAS-SAU Research Station is responsible for the archeological resources of 11 counties in southwestern Arkansas. The station territory stretches from the southern edge of the Ouachita Mountains to the Arkansas/Louisiana state Line, and incorporates the Great Bend region of the Red River. The late prehistoric and protohistoric inhabitants within the station territory were members of the Caddoan culture (in the west) and the Plaquemine culture (in the east). Among the important sites in the SAU station territory is Crenshaw, the earliest known Caddoan ceremonial center, and Historic Washington State Park, an antebellum town restored and interpreted by Arkansas State Parks and the Pioneer Washington Restoration Foundation.

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Unique Tombs Discovered in Philippines

From Sci Tech: Unique Tombs Discovered in Philippines

A village that may be 1,000 years old has been found in the Philippines. Among the artifacts unearthed, rectangular tombs carved into limestone outcrops jutting from the forest ground are the first indication that Filipinos at that time practiced a more advanced burial ritual than thought, and that they used metal tools to carve the coffins.

Archaeologists have unearthed remnants of what they believe is a 1,000-year-old village on a jungle-covered mountaintop in the Philippines with limestone coffins of a type never before found in this Southeast Asian nation, officials said Thursday.
National Museum official Eusebio Dizon said the village on Mount Kamhantik, near Mulanay town in Quezon province, could be at least 1,000 years old based on U.S. carbon dating tests done on a human tooth found in one of 15 limestone graves he and other archaeologists have dug out since last year.
The discovery of the rectangular tombs, which were carved into limestone outcrops jutting from the forest ground, is important because it is the first indication that Filipinos at that time practiced a more advanced burial ritual than previously thought and that they used metal tools to carve the coffins.
Past archaeological discoveries have shown Filipinos of that era used wooden coffins in the country's mountainous north and earthen coffins and jars elsewhere, according to Dizon, who has done extensive archaeological work and studies in the Philippines and 27 other countries over the past 35 years.
Aside from the tombs, archaeologists have found thousands of shards of earthen jars, metal objects and bone fragments of humans, monkeys, wild pigs and other animals in the tombs. The limestone outcrops had round holes where wooden posts of houses or sheds may have once stood, Dizon told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview.
The tombs were similar to ancient sarcophagus, which have become popular tourist attractions in Egypt and Europe, although the ones found in Mulanay were simple box-like limestone coffins without mythological or elaborate human images on the tops and sides.
Archaeologists have only worked on a small portion of a five-hectare (12-acre) forest area, where Mulanay officials said more artifacts and limestone coffins could be buried.
A preliminary National Museum report said its top archaeologists found "a complex archaeological site with both habitation and burial remains from the period of approximately 10th to the 14th century ... the first of its kind in the Philippines having carved limestone tombs."
The discovery has been welcomed with excitement in Mulanay, a sleepy coastal town of 50,000 people in an impoverished mountainous region that until recently was best known as a major battleground between army troops and Marxist rebels.
"Before, if you mention this region, people will say `Oh, that's NPA country,'" Mulanay Mayor Joselito Ojeda said, referring to the New People's Army rebels. "But that era is past and now we can erase that image and this archaeological site will be a big help."
Mulanay tourism officer Sanny Cortez said that after archaeologists have finished their work in a few years, his town plans to turn Mount Kamhantik's peak into an archaeological and ecotourism park. A museum would also be built nearby.
Despite the loss of thick tree covers in the 1,300-foot (396-meter) mountain's foothills as villagers clear the jungle for homes and farms, the forested mountain still harbors a rich wildlife, including rare hornbills, wild cats and huge numbers of cave bats, including a white one recently seen by environmental officials. The mountaintop offers a scenic view of Tayabas Bay and the peak of Mayon volcano, famous for its near-perfect cone, Ojeda said.
The archaeological site is part of 280 hectares (692 acres) of forest land that was declared a government-protected area in 1998 to keep away treasure hunters and slash-and-burn farmers. Treasure hunters looking for gold exposed some of the limestone tombs years ago, but it was only last year that Manila-based archaeologists started to unearth the graves and artifacts and realize the significance of the find.
Treasure hunting has damaged many archaeological sites in the country. In the early 1990s, Filipino archaeologists led by Dizon discovered that 2,000-year-old burial jars with unique human face designs had been destroyed by treasure hunters in a cave in Maitum town in southern Sarangani province.
Archaeologists worked for a few years to glue the sack loads of clay shards piece by piece and restored more than 150 ancient burial jars to shape. Some of the Maitum jars are displayed at the National Museum in Manila with a plan to exhibit them in France next year, Dizon said.

 

Posts resume Sep 24 2012

My mom, who is 75, wants to go up to teeny tiny town near Rapid City, to see her sister, who is 80. They live in a house in the boonies and have no internet.

I'll be back online on Monday the 24th and promise not to miss another day.

Please bear with me, your patience is appreciated!

Oldest Roman military fortification in Germany discovered

From Examiner.com : Oldest Roman military fortification in Germany discovered

Archeologists reported the confirmation of the discovery of the oldest Roman military fortification found to date in Germany in the journal Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt on September 14, 2012. The research was reviewed at the Alpha Galileo web site the same day.
Archaeologists from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) confirmed that the well known location near Hermeskeil, a small town some 30 kilometers southeast of the city of Trier in the Hunsrueck region in the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate is a camp built during Julius Caesars’ Gallic War in the late 50s B.C.
Dr. Sabine Hornung of the Institute of Pre- and Protohistory at JGU confirmed the site through a systematic study of the 182,000 square meter fortress that included discovery of numerous shoe nails originating from the sandals of Roman soldiers found in a stone road that crossed the remains of the fortress. Dating of earthenware shards found within the fortress confirmed the suspected time frame.
The proximity of the fortress to the late Celtic fortified settlement known as the “Hunnenring” ("Circle of the Huns") which functioned as one of the major centers of the local Celtic tribe called Treveri confirms the location as a Roman fortress referenced by Julius Caesar in his "De Bello Gallico" (Commentaries on the Gallic War).
The encampment could house several thousand soldiers and included a fortified extension of 76,000 square meters that enclosed a spring and secured a water source for the army during the wars in Gaul.

 

Ancient Roman Shipwreck Found in Future Parking Lot Site

From the Maritime Executive:  Ancient Roman Shipwreck Found in Future Parking Lot Site

A team of Inrap archaeologists is currently excavating part of the Antique port of Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes). This research, curated by the State (Drac Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur), is being conducted in advance of the construction of an underground parking lot by QPark. The archaeologists will work for seven months at the site of "Pré aux Pêcheurs”.
The Antique Antipolis…
Antibes is the Antique Antipolis, a Greek trading post founded by the Phocaeans of Massalia. The date of its establishment is still uncertain, but it followed an indigenous habitat located in the high areas of the current city. Along the Provençal shoreline, Antipolis occupied an advantageous location on the maritime routes linking Marseille to the Italian coast. Like the Saint-Roch cove, it had a natural port that was protected from the dominant winds. The prosperity of the Greek and then Roman city was largely based on the dynamic activity of its maritime commerce, as well as on the transformation of sea products, fish salting and the fabrication of garum (a fish based sauce).
… and its port
The archaeologists are currently exploring, over 5000 m2, the bottom of an Antique port basin, which was progressively covered with sand. This obvious waste dump has yielded many objects – waste thrown from mooring boats or bits of cargo lost during transshipments – and provides information on the daily activities of the sailors and the maritime commerce. The layers of archaeological objects have been accumulating since the 3rd century BC until the 6th century AD. Several tens of thousands of objects of all kinds that were sunken underwater in the Saint-Roch cove have already been recovered, including merchandise originating from periphery of the Mediterranean basin. They alone illustrate the dynamic nature of the Antique port and commerce in this part of the Mediterranean.
The sediments excavated were located under the sea level and were not dried until the construction of the parking lot. These specific anaerobic conditions contributed to the preservation of organic materials and thus allowed the recovery of objects that are not preserved in excavations on land, including amphora corks, leather shoe soles and wood objects.
The shipwreck
In the last area explored by the Inrap archaeologists, the wreck of a Roman vessel was discovered. The boat, preserved over more than 15 m in length, is lying on its side in a shallow area (less than 1.6 m under the Antique sea level). In the context of a partnership with the Centre Camille Jullian, Inrap and a CNRS naval archaeology specialist are collaborating in the analysis and interpretation of this discovery.

The remains consist of a keel and several boards that covered the hull, held together by thousands of pegs inserted into sheave slots cut into the thickness of the boards. Around forty transverse ribs are present, some of which were attached to the keel with metallic pins.
Elements of the ceiling were also identified. The keelson, which served to house the foot of the mast, was not preserved. This vessel was a medium-sized commercial sailboat (20/22 m long, 6/7 m wide, height of the hold approximately 3 m). Conifer was the main wood used in its construction. The wood knots of the hull were reinforced by plaques of lead held in place by small nails. These plaques compensated for the faults of a medium quality wood, which was used for the construction of this vessel because is was easily available and accessible. The tool traces are clearly visible (saw and adze), as is the pitch that was used to protect the hull. These architectural features support the date indicated by the stratigraphy and pottery elements recovered in the levels accumulated after the boat was abandoned – the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD – and allow the vessel to be attributed to the Imperial Roman ships of the western Mediterranean.
The cause of its sinking is still unknown. Did it crash against the shore during a storm? Was it abandoned to rot in a corner of the port? Was it purposefully sunk to serve as a base for a wharf? These two latter hypotheses could explain the absence of cargo. The continuing investigations will surely reveal the answer.
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2012 Issyk Kul Expedition: Search for a Sunken Palace

From National Geographic:  Issyk Kul Expedition: Search for a Sunken Palace

A view of Issyk Kul. Photo courtesy Fred Hiebert.

After a year of careful planning, our National Geographic team is now set up at a base camp on the northern shore of Issyk Kul, one of the world’s highest and deepest lakes, in the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan.
So why are we here? Issyk Kul, which means “hot lake” in Kyrgyz, was a critical location along the fabled Silk Road, with routes running along its shores. Nestled in the largest east-west valley in the high Central Asian mountains, Issyk Kul was renowned in historical documents as a strategic point along the Silk Road that was vied and battled for over the millennia. Countless traders, caravans and nomadic tribes and armies traveled along the 113-mile long lake, leaving a remarkable archaeological legacy behind.

A map of the Silk Road, with Issyk Kul located in the top center of the map. Map courtesy Fred Hiebert.

Since the nineteenth century, Russian scientists and, subsequently, Soviet archaeologists and researchers from the Kyrgyz Academy of Sciences have studied the ancient remains around Issyk Kul, which range from petroglyphs and 3,000-year-old kurgans (nomadic burial mounds) to early Christian monasteries and medieval cities.

Zoomorphic petroglyphs (ca. 1500 BC) near Issyk Kul. Photo courtesy Fred Hiebert.

Early on, Issyk Kul also drew attention from researchers for the remains that lie beneath its stunning cobalt waters. It’s an endorheic lake (meaning that it has no outlet) with abundant underwater springs, and the water level has fluctuated dramatically over the centuries, submerging settlements, buildings and even entire cities that had been established on earlier shorelines. Issyk Kul was one of the earliest sites for underwater archaeological research in Central Asia, with divers exploring its depths as long ago as the 1860s.

A 19th-century diver in Issyk Kul. Photo from Vinnik 1959.

In the Middle Ages, the region around the lake was hotly contested by two divergent lines of descendants from Genghis Khan: nomadic, shamanistic Eastern Mongols and the city-dwelling, Islamic Western Mongols. The legendary Western Mongol leader Tamerlane (Timur, 1336-1405) was said to have battled for the lake region in the early 1400s, and there are medieval accounts of palace built by the conqueror on the northern shore of Issyk Kul.
This rumored building has been one of the most frequently cited phenomena in the lake, and a site associated with it was first investigated by a Russian historian, G.A. Kolpakovsky in 1869. A few decades later, the historian V.V. Bartold theorized that the site was associated with the 15^th century palace as described by the medieval Arab historian Ibn Arab Sheikh.
The existence of such a building is of major historical importance, as it would document a critical expansion of Tamerlane’s empire, and the possibility exists that the building was constructed in the style of the Timurid state buildings at Samarkand and Shakhrisabz, as well as the Taj Mahal. If this is indeed a newly discovered Timurid monumental building, it would be a very significant addition to the catalogue of Islamic architecture.

Sky-blue tiles on a Samarkand mosque preserve the ancient tradition. Photo by Gordon Gahan.

Since Bartold first presented his theory that there may indeed be a monumental building associated with Tamerlane in Issyk Kul, archaeologists and historians have repeatedly returned to the site, located near the town of Cholpon-Ata.
In 1926-27 the archaeologist P.P. Ivanov carefully studied the underwater ruins in and made a map, “so that future researchers could not spend too much time searching for their interest.” His work however, was never published and only came to light only in 1957.
In 1959, Dmitri Vinnick of the Kyrgyz Institute of History returned to the question of the nature of the remains and began systematic archaeological survey of the site. He reported regular walls made of brick, wooden beams and blue-glazed tiles of a Timurid type, but ironically, due to Soviet political repression of “Central Asian” history–i.e., finding evidence of Tamerlane’s (a Muslim) conquest of the region–his work was not followed up and he was not allowed to publish on this important finding.

A diver on the 1959 Vinnik expedition to Issyk Kul. Photo from Vinnik 1959.

Since 1985, Professor Vladimir Ploskikh, vice-president of the Kyrgyz Academy of Sciences, has been conducting underwater surveys and excavations in Issyk Kul, and beginning in 2010 we have partnered with him to explore the history of this fascinating lake, and to finally resolve the question of whether there is truly a legacy of one of the world’s most legendary conquerors beneath its waters.

National Geographic Archaeology Fellow Fredrik Hiebert at work in Issyk Kul; Photo courtesy Brad Vest/National Geographic.

Last year, a small National Geographic team conducted a visual and remote sensing survey of the site, and what we found compelled us to stage a full-scale examination this year. Armed with a toolkit of high-tech remote sensing equipment, along with traditional exploration, diving and underwater excavation, we’ll be spending a month on this beautiful, mountain-ringed lake, and we’ll introduce you to our team and share updates with you on our progress, as well as information on the fascinating history of Issyk Kul and an insider’s look at how an underwater archaeological expedition on one of the world’s highest lakes gets done. Feel free to ask questions in the comments, and stay tuned for our discoveries!

 

Grace Islet controversy hits provincial level

From Gulf Island Driftwood:  Grace Islet controversy hits provincial level

Penelakut Tribe representatives want the provincial government to preserve a small island in Ganges Harbour as memorial parkland to honour the final resting place of the area’s First Nations peoples.

A letter submitted by members of the Penelakut First Nation to the provincial Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources on Friday, Aug. 31 urges the province to negotiate an agreement that would see property owner Barry Slawsky donate or sell the property so the island’s “significant cultural values can be publicly preserved.”

Controversy arose in July when crews preparing the site of a home on the islet were believed to have violated conditions of a provincial Heritage Alteration Permit issued for work on the site.

A visit by archeologists and representatives from several of the area’s First Nation groups in August suggested that recent land clearance activity on the island may have “exceeded the scope of proposed excavation work” and that “no archaeological monitoring by a qualified professional had taken place prior to any ground-disturbing activity.”

The ensuing furor led members of the Penelakut Tribe to have the alleged permit violation investigated by the RCMP and call for the permit’s immediate cancellation.

“We further assert that the ministry’s issuance of this provincial heritage site alteration permit is discriminatory and violates the basic human rights of our First Nations people to allow our dead to rest in peace and to respect the sanctity of our family graves and historical cemeteries, equal to other citizens, cultures and religious groups in Canada,” state the Penelakut in their letter to the forests ministry.

According to Eric McLay, a University of Victoria Ph.D. candidate in archeology, the letter argues that the [provincial] Archeology Branch failed in its Crown duty to meaningfully consult the Penelakut Tribe or local First Nations on the original alteration permit application that approved the proposed house construction on Grace Islet.

“Recent unauthorized land clearance activity at Grace Islet now under investigation by the RCMP,” he said, “has utterly voided and negated the original intent of the alteration permit; namely, that the proposed land clearance activity would be monitored.”

McLay said many of the issues that surround the Grace Islet situation resemble factors at play during the 2005 prosecution of Poets Cove resort on South Pender Island under similar Heritage Conservation Act charges

Kevin Twohig, an archeologist with Terra Archeology Ltd. and joint-permit holder, forwarded a request for comment to Slawsky, the Edmonton-based owner of San Francisco Gifts Ltd., on Tuesday afternoon. A spokesperson from the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources contacted on Tuesday said his office had yet to receive the Penelakut Tribe’s letter.

Grace Islet is a .74-acre islet off the tip of Grace Point. Kayakers visiting the site in 2006 discovered a human jawbone on the property. Since that time, the skeletons of at least two people and 15 burial cairns have been found and catalogued.

“Recent unauthorized land clearance activity at Grace Islet now under investigation by the RCMP,” he said, “has utterly voided and negated the original intent of the alteration permit; namely, that the proposed land clearance activity would be monitored.”

McLay said many of the issues that surround the Grace Islet situation resemble factors at play during the 2005 prosecution of Poets Cove resort on South Pender Island under similar Heritage Conservation Act charges

Kevin Twohig, an archeologist with Terra Archeology Ltd. and joint-permit holder, forwarded a request for comment to Slawsky, the Edmonton-based owner of San Francisco Gifts Ltd., on Tuesday afternoon. A spokesperson from the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources contacted on Tuesday said his office had yet to receive the Penelakut Tribe’s letter.

Grace Islet is a .74-acre islet off the tip of Grace Point. Kayakers visiting the site in 2006 discovered a human jawbone on the property. Since that time, the skeletons of at least two people and 15 burial cairns have been found and catalogued.

 

Canada: Sask. archeology student helps unearth victims in Spain

From  Leaderpost:  Sask. archeology student helps unearth victims in Spain

On a hot, dusty day in late May, Danee Wilson and a team of volunteer archeologists begin their search. It is the last of three planned digs in which Wilson, a University of Saskatchewan archeology student, travelled to Spain to participate. If anything, the previous two outings were surer bets than this one. But they didn't find anything.
Wilson is wary as she fights the summer heat and walks to the edge of Abenojar, a small town in south central Spain, where a mass grave of human remains is believed to be located. She is not sure her trip will go as planned.
But this time is different. On the third day of digging in a cramped enclave near the local cemetery, the team discovers a skull. As their shovels and pickaxes go deeper, they unearth the bodies of three victims killed in the early 1940s during General Francisco Franco's regime.
"On one hand, you're excited because you've finally found what you're looking for, and perhaps will be able to recover the victims and go through the process of ... returning the body to the family," Wilson said in a recent interview.
"However, you're also looking at three people that were murdered 70 years ago, and you have to think about their story and their family at the time and what had actually happened to them. So it's emotional as well, and difficult to take that in and continue to work. It's definitely a mixed bag of feelings."
Wilson, 26, spent the month of May volunteering in Spain with the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory (ARMH), an organization working to exhume the remains of victims killed during the Spanish Civil War and in the years following during Franco's dictatorship.
Since 2000, the ARMH has found over 150 mass graves and recovered 1,324 bodies. According to association vice-president Marco Antonio Gonzalez, it is difficult to quantify how many bodies are still missing, as their deaths were not documented by government officials. Based on the work of historians, however, the ARMH believes the remains of over 100,000 victims have not been recovered.
Gonzalez expressed his appreciation that international students have volunteered their time to further the cause.
"We are always proud that young people from other countries are interested in the subject and want to use their free time to help us," he said in an email. "They transmit this support to the family members of the missing."
Wilson found in the association a platform to explore her two passions: forensic anthropology and humanrights work. She is hoping to return to Spain next summer for a second volunteering stint with the ARMH.
"I've always been interested ... in the importance of not forgetting what has happened in the past," Wilson explained. "I think that's the biggest problem that has happened in Spain - that because the dictatorship lasted so long after the war, people weren't able to talk about what had happened and they weren't allowed to recover the remains of their family members."

Turkey Lobbies Museums Around World to Return Artifacts

From VOA News:  Turkey Lobbies Museums Around World to Return Artifacts

ISTANBUL — Turkey is following an increasingly aggressive policy of getting top museums around the world to return its heritage. Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertugrul Gunay says that in the last decade, more than 4,000 artifacts had been brought back to Turkey from world museums and collections.

Turkey's minister of culture recently opened a new archeological museum in the western city of Izmir. Ertugrul Gunay is the architect of a museum revolution in the country aiming to harness Turkey's rich heritage.

New archeological museums across the country have been opened, with even more planned, while established ones have had expensive makeovers. But as Gunay made clear in opening this latest museum, his revolution has international implications.

Gunay says when you visit the world's big museums in the US, England, France, Germany, you see that most of the precious artifacts came from Turkey, Italy, Egypt and Greece. Some of these, he says, were looted, and he is fighting to get back historical artifacts that went to the big museums of the world illegally from Turkey.

Along with aggressively taking action in court for the return of artifacts from major museums around the world, Gunay has adopted a new approach.

Earlier this year, he vetoed the lending of artifacts to a major exhibition by the British Museum until it returned artifacts Ankara claims were illegally removed. Similar sanctions are also being applied to other major museums.

Nezih Basgelen, editor of a leading Turkish archeological magazine, says the policy could have far reaching consequences for museums around the world.

"We have some lists many, many lists, for Germany, United Kingdom, United States, for France and maybe Austria. More than a thousand - thousands of pieces, some ceramic material too much, some of them coins. Many marble things, big objects - sarcophagus, and big statues - many things," Basgelen said.

Turkey's ministry of culture also uses the country's continuing popularity for archeologists as a means to apply pressure. Ankara threatened to suspend a German archaeologist's permit on a major site unless a German museum returned a disputed artifact back to Turkey. The museum eventually complied last year.

But the tough policy has drawn criticism that the ministry should set its own house in order before looking abroad. Ozgen Acar, a columnist for the Turkish newspaper Cumhurriyet, has devoted much of his life to the return of stolen artifacts from abroad.

"This looting anarchy in Turkey is getting bigger and bigger, at the same time they are trying to retrieve the items from different museums in the world. But the government is not taking care of this kind of looting at home, this is big mistake," Acar said.

The minister disputes the charge claiming there has been a 12-fold increase in resources for archeological excavations in the past 12 years.

There is also a powerful economic factor behind Turkey's drive to return of high profile artifacts.

Turkey's archeological past is now a key part of the government's drive to attract tourists, with commercials like this one promoting the country as a destination that offers more than just sun and beaches.

Part of that policy includes the building of one of world's largest archeological museums for the capital, Ankara.

Basgelen, the archeological magazine editor, worries the aggressive policy of returning artifacts could end up hurting Turkey's museums and archeology projects. He suggests a compromise in which artifacts could be loaned to museums for 40 years.

But the Turkish culture minister appears determined to pursue the return of the artifacts.  He has announced an agreement with Greece to join forces in their struggle, and negotiations are continuing with Italy and Egypt.

Observers warn the implications of the controversy could well be far reaching for the world's greatest archeological museums. 

 

Air India Plane Wreckage From 1966 Found In French Glacier

From HuffPost:  Air India Plane Wreckage From 1966 Found In French Glacier

PARIS -- As the Alpine glacier melted, a curious discovery emerged after decades beneath the ice: a plane wheel, a shoe – and an intact pouch of Indian diplomatic mail from 1966.

It all appears to be part of the wreckage from an Air India plane crash that hikers and a rescue worker found this week on the slopes beneath Mont Blanc.

Rescuer Arnaud Christmann said the hikers alerted the tourist office in Chamonix that they had seen something beneath a glacier that looked like a wheel. He went to investigate and found pieces of the plane and "a gift from the mountain," a bag containing Indian and English newspapers from 1966 and other documents, labeled "diplomatic mail."

The Indian Embassy in Paris confirmed the discovery but gave no details.

 

Archeology search set at court site

From Fredericksburg.com:  Archeology search set at court site

There may be historic treasures below where the new courthouse will be built in Fredericksburg.
Or there may be nothing.
That’s what archaeologists from Fredericksburg-based Cultural Resources Inc. will find out when they begin digging at the site at the corner of Princess Anne and Charlotte  streets next week.
With the demolition of the former Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courthouse building nearly finished, the city wants to determine if anything of value can be found underground before  construction begins.
When the city’s Architectural Review Board granted permission for the demolition, the board asked that the archaeological evaluation be done when the demolition was completed.
 So the city put out a request-for-proposals and received five responses, said Bob Antozzi,  director of Parks, Recreation and Public Facilities.
The city interviewed the top three and awarded the contract to CRI, he said.
The cost will not exceed $34,000, he said.
The evaluation is expected to take about six weeks and at the end of it, the archaeologists will determine if a second phase is needed based on their findings.
The archaeologists will work with several organizations, including the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, to search for information about the site, inventory other historical documents, maps aerial photos, Civil War studies and any information that the city might have about the site.
They’ll also visit the city’s library and the Library of Congress, speak with other local preservation organizations, such as the Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Antozzi said.
They’ve already started the research phase of the project, he said.
 The spot has been home to a variety of buildings over the years, according to a timeline compiled by HFFI.
Some of the uses included a two-story livery and a blacksmith shop in 1907 and in 1927, a two-story 40-car capacity garage and miscellaneous other associated buildings, including an auto repair shop, “stone cutting” structure and smaller auto garage, according to the timeline.
After 1927 it was a two-story funeral home.
The earliest entry on the timeline is from 1788, when the lot was owned by William Jackson.
A similar archeological search was conducted in 2006 before the nearby Marriott Courtyard hotel was built.
Crews then found what was believed to be the foundation of a structure that may have been a former slave quarters.
The work revealed details about the way Fredericksburgers of the 18th and early 19th centuries lived, as archaeologists study what remained of the Indian Queen hotel, which stood on the corner of Caroline and Charlotte streets from 1771 until it burned in 1832.