Data Recovery at the Mt. Hope Site (1La601)

The University of Alabama, Office of Archaeological Services (OAS) conducted a Phase III mitigation at the Mt. Hope site (1La601) in Lawrence County, Alabama. This research was conducted during the winter of 1994-1995 under contract with the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDoT). Although the Mt. Hope site was contained within a disturbed plowzone context, the site was excavated in hopes of finding significant Paleoindian deposits, as artifacts from that time period had been located during earlier phases of research. While no Paleoindian materials were recovered during the excavation, the presence of large Early and Middle Archaic components has proved to be the most significant aspects of the site. Excavations at the Mt. Hope site suggest that use of the uplands, outside of the Tennessee River valley, included relatively substantial residential occupations during the Middle Archaic. Activities at the site involved processing of hunted and collected resources, manufacture and maintenance of chipped stone tools, manufacture of ground stone, scraping hides, woodworking, and boneworking. The site appears to have been occupied during the fall, and manufacturing activities may be indicative of preparation for the coming winter. Despite the site's stratigraphic shortcomings, the Mt. Hope site has contributed significant data on Late Pleistocene, Early Holocene, and Middle Holocene hunter-gatherer use of an upland area within the Moulton Valley.

Goldman-Finn, Nurit S.
1998 Data Recovery at the Mt. Hope Site: A Prehistoric Occupation in the Moulton Valley of Northwestern Alabama. DRAFT REPORT.