Article date: December 20, 2000

By Ashley May

If the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority and FMC Corp. can agree to share the cost, shovel test pits and extensive excavations may qualify 12 acres of the Avtex Superfund site for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, an excavation proposal says.

Evidence that American Indians once occupied the only undisturbed portion of the now-defunct Avtex Fibers plant site came as a surprise to economic development and Superfund remediation officials alike when it was uncovered in August, and the discovery put into question the future of two sites near the former administration buildings.

Because the land on which artifacts were identified cannot be disturbed until a more-detailed study is undertaken, EDA Executive Director Stephen A. Heavener recommended the board ask FMC Corp. to pay for phase two, the active archaeological dig phase. The EDA and FMC are now negotiating that decision.

The goals of the phase two evaluation are to determine whether the site is eligible to become a national historic site, and to provide EDA and FMC officials recommendations for future treatment of the site, a scope of work study provided by Fairfax-based Parsons Engineering Science Inc., it says. Research strategies will focus on determining the timeline of the site, its function, relationship to other sites and integrity, it says.

In August, Parsons archaeologists found flakes of stone, pieces of ceramic and fire-cracked rocks in two places on about 12- acres of a 37-acre study area, evidence that American Indians once occupied two clear sites, both near the administrative buildings of the plant. While neither site yielded actual tools, a broken stone point found on the southern site looks as if it might be a "bitface" broad spear point, archaeologist Cynthia Auman has said. Because it was incomplete and broken, there is no way to determine exactly what it is or when it was tooled, she said.

Without a known tool pattern, it is hard to determine who occupied the site, how long ago or for how long, she said.

"At the conclusion of a Phase II evaluation, the site occupation should be characterized insofar as possible, site boundaries should be accurately defined, and the horizontal and vertical integrity of the site assessed," Parson’s Phase II proposal says.

Two stages of fieldwork will be used to expose possible features and deposits, it says. In stage one, shovel test pits will be excavated, followed by the excavation of one-by-one-meter test units, used to define site integrity and refine areas of artifact concentration, it says.

The quantity and type of artifacts recovered in each test unit "will hopefully pinpoint activity areas in each site," areas that will be the focus of the stage two study, it says. In those areas determined to have the greatest potential to provide data to answer research questions, lnear trenches will be dug to expose possible cultural features, it says. Should human remains be discovered, that portion of the study area will be cordoned off and left alone, it says.

"Avtex Sites 1 and 2 are considered potentially eligible under National Register eligibility Criterion D for their ability to contribute important information to the understanding of Virginia prehistory," the phase II proposal say.

On Friday, FMC Remediation Project Manager William G. Cutler showed EDA members examples of the stone and tool fragments and proposed a cost sharing plan between FMC and the EDA to pay for the estimated $93,000 phase II study. He suggested that FMC pay $50,000 and a $50,000 lease payment to the EDA be eliminated, but EDA board members asked him to see if the cost could be reduced if the scope of the project was limited.

Cutler said that Parsons has already reduced its initial estimate for the phase two study from $160,000 to $93,000, but said that engineers may be able to identify parts of the study area that won’t be needed for development, reducing the cost of the study further.

According to the Parsons proposal, state Department of Historic Resources guidelines say that "if all portions of a site are to be totally avoided in perpetuity, Phase II investigations may not be conducted. If any portion of a site is to be impacted, then Phase II evaluation must be undertaken, and evaluation must take into consideration all portions of a site in order to be considered complete and valid."

"The Phase II research design has been developed to meet all specifications recommended for archaeological site documentation before impact byconstruction," Parsons proposal says.