| (a) Each of the following methods will be employed
for test excavations.
(1) Mechanical trenches will be excavated and profiles
documented in order to characterize the area's potential for archeological
deposits with sufficient integrity to be eligible to occur at the
site.
(2) The extent of the site within the APE will be sampled
through some combination of shovel-testing, column sampling, augering
with an auger diameter of not less than 12 inches, surface collection,
and geophysical prospection in order to characterize the distribution
of archeological materials across the site.
(3) Additional units will be excavated and screened
to evaluate site areas that appear to have the best potential for
yielding important data with good integrity, based on the results
of previous work.
(4) The materials analyzed will comprise those materials
most likely to contribute important information about prehistory or
history.
(5) TxDOT reserves the right to depart from these methods
in cases where it deems appropriate and shall justify deviations in
the report.
(6) Testing procedures conducted for underwater archeological
investigations shall be coordinated and approved by THC Marine Archeological
Program (MAP).
(b) Data from test excavation projects shall be made
available to qualified researchers.
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