A Holocene geoarchaeological record for the Upper Willamette Valley, Oregon

Archaeological investigations at the Chalker (35LA420) and Long Tom (35LA439) sites were prompted by the Oregon Department of Transportation's plan to realign a segment of the Florence-Eugene Highway (OR 126) between the communities of Noti and Veneta. When these sites were discovered in the proposed new highway corridor, additional survey and testing was done to identify an alternate route that would avoid the sites. For every new alignment examined, however, additional significant cultural sites were encountered. While the final construction design avoided most of the identified sites, impacts on two, the Chalker and Long Tom sites, were found to be unavoidable. Data recovery excavation at these two sites was accomplished during the summer and fall of 1986, and is reported here.