Crews from PAF identified the Stratton Mill Creek site in 2005 as part of an archaeological survey prior to the relocation of Stratton Mill Creek and associated reconstruction of NY12 (Grills 2005). Based on the material culture recovered during the reconnaissance testing, archaeologists concluded that the Stratton Mill Creek site was a precontact occupation dating to the Late Archaic and early Transitional periods. Testing showed that the material culture clustered into four discrete loci.
As part of the 2005 site examination, PAF crewed focused on Loci 1 (17,744 m2) and 2 (324 m2) (Grills 2006a). Loci 3 and 4 were outside proposed site impacts. Site examination excavations produced 1,259 precontact material culture (flakes, formal and expedient stone tools, rough stone tools, fire-cracked rock) and three features (two possible hearths and one pit feature). Following site examination, archaeologists recommended that the Stratton Mill Creek site was eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
PAF prepared a data recovery plan (DRP) for Phase 3 archaeological work (Grills 2006b), which was approved in 2007. Archaeologists implemented the DRP and completed fieldwork for the Data Recovery between July 2007 and August 2008 (Miroff and Kudrle 2017). PAF produced an End-of-Field Letter (Grill 2008), which was accepted by the New York State Museum (NYSM), NYSDOT, and New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (NYS OPR&HP).
Prior to the data recovery, Locus 2 was determined to be outside the revised APE. No data recovery investigations took place in this locus. Fieldwork focused on the hand excavation of 1 x 1 m2 units in Locus 1. PAF crews excavated a total of 326 units during the data recovery.
