Phase I Archaeological Survey of Tactical Areas 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1F, United States Army Training Center at Fort Dix (USATCFD), Burlington and Ocean Counties, New Jersey

This investigation was performed for the Fort Dix Directorate of Public Works/Environmental Division and represents partial fulfillment of Fort Dix’s ongoing cultural resources obligations under Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (as amended). The purpose of this fieldwork was to identify any potentially significant cultural resources that might be contained in Tactical Areas (TACs) 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1F, within the northwestern corner of the base, as well as to systematically test a series of 24 prehistoric and historical sites that had been previously recorded in those areas. Phase I archaeological testing of Tactical Areas 1A-C and F was completed and required the excavation of 3,692 shovel test pits which resulted in the recovery of 3,607 artifacts, including 1,479 Native American related artifacts and 1,914 artifacts associated with this area’s historic period inhabitants. Cultural deposits sampled via this investigation derived from a total of 35 separate archaeological sites. Included within this total were 24 known sites (16 prehistoric and 8 historic) that were specifically targeted for systematic testing. Subsurface examinations in other portions of the study area resulted in the discovery of another 11 previously undocumented Native American occupations. In addition,testing within these sites led to the identification of six formerly unknown prehistoric and one known but undocumented historic components. In terms of prehistoric deposits, the overall recovered artifact assemblage from this investigation represents 33 spatially distinct occupation loci and effectively more than doubled the number of identified Native American sites within this portion of the Fort.