(a) 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, 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; and
- (4) the materials analyzed will comprise those materials most likely to contribute important information about prehistory or history.
- (b) TxDOT reserves the right to depart from these methods in cases where it deems appropriate and shall justify deviations in the report.
- (c) Data from test excavation projects shall be made available to qualified researchers.
Source Note:The provisions of this §2.262 adopted to be effective May 16, 2013, 38 TexReg 2861.