ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF A PROPOSED GREENHOUSE SITE ON THE
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FARM, APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY,
ASHE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
Thomas R. Whyte
Department of Anthropology
Appalachian State University
Boone, North Carolina
December 2011
Submitted to the Appalachian State University Sustainable Development Program, Boone,
North Carolina, and the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology, Raleigh.
Introduction
On November 11th, 2011 an archaeological survey was conducted on the 64-hectare
Appalachian State University (ASU) Sustainable Development (SD) Blackburn-Vannoy
Foundation Farm in Ashe County, North Carolina (Figure 1). This survey was conducted under
state ARPA general permit #98 by the author. The purpose of the survey was to identify potential
cultural resources in the ground prior to construction of a greenhouse on a gentle slope
overlooking the existing 19th-century frame house to the southwest (Figure 2).
Figure 1. Location of the proposed Sustainable Development Farm greenhouse near Fleetwood
in Ashe County, North Carolina.
Figure 2. Detail of the Sustainable Development Farm plan showing the Greenhouse location.
At the time of the survey, the location was in pasture with no surface visibility (Figure 3).
The landform of the greenhouse site is a colluvial, south-facing slope of approximately 10%. The
nearest source of water, 100 m to the southwest, is an unnamed stream that flows southeast along
Catherine Ct. toward the South Fork of the New River (Figure 1). The vacant 19th-century
Blackburn house is situated approximately 70 meters to the southwest. A functioning barn is
situated approximately 60 meters to the south-southeast.
Survey Methods
After a visual inspection of the ground surface, a 40 x 40 cm test unit was excavated to
the base of a plowzone at the exact center of the proposed 15 x 11 m greenhouse construction
site. A second test unit was excavated immediately southeast of the proposed greenhouse site
where the slope becomes nearly level. This “bench” may have been formed by artificial means to
create a level garden space or building site associated with the historic farm. Both units were
excavated by shovel and all fill was dry-sieved through 1/4th inch (6 mm) mesh. The soil profile
was documented and photographed.
Figure 3. Southwestern view of the greenhouse site (foreground) with the Blackburn house in the
background.
Survey Results
No artifacts or other evidence of past humans was recovered from either test unit. The
unit at the approximate center of the greenhouse locus revealed a shallow (12 cm) plowzone of
dark brown silty loam overlying light yellowish brown clayey loam subsoil. The unit
immediately east of the building site, being on a level space at the base of the slope, revealed a
deeper (30 cm) plow zone of the same color and texture overlying a light brown silty clay loam
subsoil. Both units produced pebbles and small cobbles of quartz and gneiss, and the latter
produced pieces of wood charcoal likely resulting from historic burning.
Recommendations
The archaeological survey identified no cultural resources that would be impacted by the
proposed greenhouse construction. Based on a casual inspection of other settings on the
Sustainable Development farm, however, it is predicted, based on previous research in the region
(e.g., Whyte 2010), that potentially significant prehistoric and historic cultural resources,
including archaeological sites and historic structures, exist on the property and should be
discovered and evaluated for proper management in future farm modification activities.
References Cited
Whyte, T.R.
2010 Archaeological Investigations at the Colvard II Site (31AH266) on the South Fork of
the New River, Ashe County, North Carolina: Field Season 1. Submitted to the North
Carolina Office of State Archaeology, Raleigh.