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Introduction

[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=””]After Phase I archaeological survey identifies an archaeological site, Phase II evaluates the site’s eligibility for inclusion on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places. If a project will adversely affect an eligible site (a historic property), the site will require further analysis. This includes development of ways to avoid and/or minimize impacts through project redesign.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1713275938211{margin-bottom: 32px !important;}”][info-box-shortcode icon=”fas fa-globe” title=”Publications of the National Register of Historic Places (NPS)” buttonlink=”https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/publications.htm”]Download the National Register of Historic Places Bulletins referenced on this page and other guidance publications.[/info-box-shortcode][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

National Register Criteria for Evaluation

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]NPS describes all applicable criteria for eligibility in a National Register Bulletin, How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation (formerly NRB 15). Others may also apply, but Criterion D, or information potential, is the most frequently used criterion for archaeological sites.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]

Criterion D requirements

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Criterion D evaluation requires assessing the significance and integrity of the archaeological property’s data set(s) to

• Answer research questions
• Place the resource(s) within the appropriate historic context
• Evaluate potential to yield important information in history and/or prehistory

Archaeological integrity under Criterion D evaluates

• Location
• Design
• Materials
• Association

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Important research questions

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Cultural and natural alterations reshape an archaeological site into a different form than it existed in the past. Researchers address this change by identifying important research questions. Tailored to the site type and setting, these assess the site’s potential to yield specific data. Researchers identify these questions within any of the following:

• Historic context document
• Statewide comprehensive preservation plan
• Project research design meeting the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Archeological Documentation.

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Steps for Criterion D listing

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]A Criterion D assessment’s research design includes the following steps:

1. Identify the property’s data set(s) or categories of the following types of information:
   • Archaeological
   • Historical
   • Ecological
2. Identify the historic context(s) — that is, the appropriate historical and archaeological framework in which to evaluate the property.
3. Identify the important research question(s) that the property’s data sets can be expected to address.
4. Taking archaeological integrity into consideration, evaluate the data sets in terms of their potential and known ability to answer research questions.
5. Identify the important information that an archaeological study of the property has yielded or is likely to yield.

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Phase II methodology

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Purpose

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Determine the historical and cultural significance of archaeological materials and deposits identified during the Phase I archaeological survey.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Components

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Phase II builds upon Phase I results to achieve the following goals for each site:[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]

Evaluation

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Recover a sufficient sample of information about the archaeological site to support a National Register eligibility assessment.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]

Research questions

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Develop appropriate research questions for recovering important information, specific to the

• Site type
• Data sets
• Features
• Context

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Test units

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Systematic excavation of test units collecting data on

• Site integrity
• Cultural composition
• Feature classes
• Site stratigraphy

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Site boundaries

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Refine and confirm the horizontal and vertical site boundary based on the extent of associated

• Artifacts
• Features
• Topographic landforms

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Site features

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Identify and classify features, if present.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]

Distribution

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Analyze horizontal and vertical intra-site artifact and feature distribution.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]

Dating

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Date the site, context and feature(s) through comprehensive analysis.

This can include:

• Diagnostic artifacts
• Artifact assemblage(s)
• Geomorphology
• Relative dating techniques

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Site condition and potential

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Determine the site’s preservation, integrity and research potential.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]

Specialized collection

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Consider resource-specific specialized collection and analysis, such as:

• Radiocarbon samples
• Botanical resources
• Pollen resources
• Faunal resources

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Specialized testing

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Consider specialized testing methodology, including:

• Geomorphology in riverine settings
• Geophysical remote sensing
• Metal detecting for military engagements

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Technical report

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Present the Phase II survey effort’s results in a clearly written technical report. Include National Register recommendations with the rationale and supporting documentation.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]

Logs and catalogs

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Report appended soil testing logs and artifact catalogs. Tabulate all artifacts by:

• Type
• Provenience unit
• Stratum (or arbitrary level)
• Feature

Categorize them in a manner that allows for comparisons with other sites or artifact collections.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]

Mitigation recommendations

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Prepare recommendations if the project will affect identified historic properties. As needed, provide any of the following:

• Avoidance
• Minimization
• Phase III archaeological mitigation

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What to consider

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Cultural considerations

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• Regionally appropriate subsistence and settlement models/historic context.
• Cultural/ecological adaptation strategies.
• Cultural sequence and chronology.

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Environmental considerations

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• Environmental reconstruction and environmental evolution of a site over time.
• Environmental variables and qualities influencing the site’s …
  • Location
  • Size
  • Complexity
  • Function to the site landform
  • Relationship to other known sites within that drainage/landform/region.

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Artifact data

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Detailed physical and chronological data on artifacts.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]

Site analysis

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Functional site analysis with discrete stratum and feature discussion. Support this with

• Graphics
• Tables
• Appendixes

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Plow zones and integrity

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]One common assumption is that plow zone deposits lack integrity due to disturbance. Contemporary mid-Atlantic archaeological research asserts the opposite. The plow zone’s spatial distribution and artifact assemblage composition reveals:

• Preferred refuse deposition locations
• Work areas
• Domestic occupation

Despite plowing, we can still learn about historic and precontact sites’ formation and evolution. Plowing may have displaced some artifacts without compromising the site’s most valuable data. If the plow zone still has discernable activity areas or important information, then the site still has integrity. The National Register program within the National Park Service (NPS) says the following:

• 98% of all archaeological sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places exist within a plow zone context (NPS archaeologist Erika K. Martin Seibert, New Jersey Historic Preservation Conference, 5/29/2012).
• The National Register Bulletin Guidelines for Evaluating and Registering Archaeological Properties (formerly NRB 36), states plowed sites possess archaeological integrity as related to integrity of location or design.

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Other phases

[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_btn title=”Go back to Phase I: Identification” style=”3d” color=”white” align=”center” i_icon_fontawesome=”fas fa-arrow-left” button_block=”true” add_icon=”true” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fdeptest.nj.gov%2Fhpo%2Fprograms%2Fsurvey%2Farchaeology%2Fphase1%2F”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_btn title=”Move on to Phase III: Data Recovery” style=”3d” color=”white” align=”center” i_align=”right” i_icon_fontawesome=”fas fa-arrow-right” button_block=”true” add_icon=”true” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fdeptest.nj.gov%2Fhpo%2Fprograms%2Fsurvey%2Farchaeology%2Fphase3%2F”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][/vc_section]