November 2007, Archeology E-Gram
Fresh look for the NPS Archeology Program home page
We invite you to visit the NPS Archeology Program home page at
http://www.nps.gov/archeology/index.htm to explore our latest
mini-feature highlighting National American Indian Heritage Month. We
will be updating the front page regularly to highlight national
commemoration months and current archeological topics. In October, we
highlighted the many state archeology celebrations that occur during
that month. As we celebrate National American Indian Heritage Month in
November, we highlight some of the ways that archeology investigates and
celebrates the achievements of hundreds of generations of American
Indians. Upcoming features in future months will focus on
archeoastronomy, archeological world heritage, the archeology of African
American sites, and more.
Park Archeologist Part of IC Team for Oil Spill
On November 7, 2007, the container ship Cosco Busan hit the San
Francisco Bay Bridge, releasing fuel oil into San Francisco Bay. Many
beaches within Golden Gate NRA, San Francisco Maritime NHP, and Point
Reyes NS remained closed over Veterans Day weekend due to contamination
by the oil. The oil spill has affected 127 miles of NPS shoreline and
230 acres of beach. The NPS has assigned 131 employees to the incident.
Through the unified Incident Command (IC) team, the national parks are
coordinating response and cleanup efforts with the US Coast Guard,
California State Fish and Game Department, and a contract incident
management team retained by the responsible party.
Golden Gate NRA Park Archeologist Leo Barker is part of the unified IC
team assisting with monitoring and assessment of oil spill impacts on
cultural/historic resources throughout the San Francisco bay area
including those on Alcatraz Island. The team visited the island to
assess how deep cleaning of the shoreline might be accomplished while
controlling impacts to natural and cultural resources. Historic debris
and structural remains on the southwest side of the island and in the
dock area are a particular concern.
Tonto NM Celebrates Centennial
Tonto NM will be celebrating its centennial on December 19, 2007. The
cliff dwellings at Tonto NM are but two of hundreds of farming
communities occupied during the 13th, 14th, and early 15th centuries.
Threatened in the late 19th century by the Western expansion and
fascination with Native American artifacts, President Theodore Roosevelt
declared the site a national monument under authority of the Antiquities
Act. Originally overseen by the U.S. Forest Service, the national
monument became a part of the National Park System in 1933.
Tonto NM protects the dwelling places of the Salado, a cultural group
melding characteristics of Hohokam, Mogollon, and Puebloan communities,
such as the Hopi, that settled Arizona's Tonto Basin, where Tonto Creek
joins the Salt River. By 1300, a growing population and shrinking
resources probably pushed Salado occupations out from the valley and
into the region's hillside slopes, plateaus and caves. The Salado
constructed cliff dwellings in erosion-carved caves above the valley.
Then, sometime around 1450, for reasons attributed to increased
population pressure and depleted resources, the Salado moved away from
their cliff dwellings. For hundreds of years, rugged terrain, and
natural camouflage isolated and protected the remote cliff dwellings
from further disturbance. The cliff dwellings were threatened in the
mid-1870s, however, when Western expansion encompassed the Tonto Basin.
Recognizing the significance of the Salado ruins to America's cultural
heritage, President Roosevelt declared the site a national monument.
Tonto NM and its Arizona gateway communities of Superior, Globe, Miami,
and Payson have scheduled a series of day and evening events to
celebrate the centennial and mounted exhibits about the monument in
public buildings. A new exhibit also was developed for the park’s
visitors’ center and special tours to the upper cliff dwellings and open
air sites in the nearby national forest are scheduled.
For more information about Tonto NM, go to
www.nps.gov/archeology/sites/Antiquities/profileTonto.htm . Teaching
with Historic Places (see Archeology E-Gram, September, 2007) also has a
lesson plan "Tonto National Monument: Saving a National Treasure" at
www.nps.gov/history/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/125tonto/.
For more information about centennial events at Tonto NM, go to
www.nps.gov/tont/.
Contractor Karolyn Kinsey Departs the NPS Archeology Program
Karolyn Kinsey, a long term contractor with the Archeology Program, left
in September and returned to her family home in Kansas. Among Karolyn’s
most significant contributions to the program was updating the National
Archeological Database Reports module when over 110,000 records from 28
SHPOs, California Information Centers, and the Bureau of Reclamation
were added. The two-year effort resulted in more accurate and
up-to-date information on over 350,000 records in NADB-R. In addition,
Karolyn co-authored (with S. Terry Childs) the online publication of “A
Survey of SHPO Archeological Report Bibliographic Systems, 2002” in the
Studies in Archeology and Ethnography series on the NPS Archeology
Program website www.cr.nps.gov/archeology/pubs/studies/STUDY05A.htm.
Karolyn also played a key role in a study of archeological repository
fees across the U.S.; assisted with the Secretary's Report to Congress
on Federal Archeology and the Listing of Outlaw Treachery (LOOT)
databases; and participated on an interagency deaccessioning work group.
Her assistance, helpful nature, collegiality, and hard work are greatly
missed by her colleagues inside and outside the Archeology Program.
U.S. World Heritage Tentative List offered for public comment
The UNESCO World Heritage List is a list of international cultural and
natural properties of outstanding universal value designated by the
signatories of the World Heritage Convention (1972). A World Heritage
Tentative List is a list of candidate sites which a country intends to
consider for nomination within a given time period.
The NPS Office of International Affairs published a notice in the
Federal Register on October 31, 2007, inviting public comment on the
draft U.S. World Heritage Tentative List. Of the 19 properties
recommended, 4 are archeological properties: Poverty Point State
Historic Site in Louisiana; Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks in Ohio;
Serpent Mound in Ohio; and Moundville Site in Alabama.
Inclusion in the U.S. World Heritage Tentative List does not confer
World Heritage status on a property, but indicates that it appears to
qualify for World Heritage status and may be further examined for
possible World Heritage nomination during the next decade by the United
States.
The current draft list published for public comment reflects an interim
step in the process and is not the final version of the new U.S. World
Heritage Tentative List. After public comment, the Secretary of the
Interior, through the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and
Parks, will determine the composition of the new U.S. World Heritage
Tentative List and will submit it through the U.S. Department of State
to the World Heritage Committee.
NPS specifically requests public comments on: (1) the qualifications of
the properties on the draft list for inclusion in the U.S. World
Heritage Tentative List; (2) the assignment of the properties to the
categories in which they are grouped on the draft list; (3) how the U.S.
World Heritage Tentative List should be added to or revised in the
future; (4) how and by whom U.S. World Heritage nominations should be
prepared; and (5) how to improve public awareness and understanding of
the World Heritage program in the United States.
Comments are due by November 30, 2007 to Jonathan Putnam, Office of
International Affairs, National Park Service, 1201 Eye Street, NW
(0050), Washington DC 20005.
To read the Federal Register Notice about the U.S. World Heritage
Tentative List, go to
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/E7-21377.pdf
Visit these web sites to learn more about the U.S. World Heritage
Tentative List:
NPS Office of International Affairs
http://www.nps.gov/oia/topics/worldheritage/tentativelist.htm
U.S. National Commission for UNESCO
http://www.state.gov/p/io/unesco/
ARPA Violators Sentenced
On March 11, 2007, three men were apprehended after metal-detecting and
digging up relics on the Spotsylvania Battlefield in Virginia. Over 460
holes were found and documented on and around park earthworks where the
men had been seen digging, making the incident one of the most
destructive ARPA violations in NPS Northeast Region history.
All three men appeared in court and either pled or was found guilty and
sentenced. In June, Vincent Williams, 37, pled guilty and was ordered
to pay $1,400 in restitution. In September, Fenton Terembes, Jr., 28,
was sentenced to twenty-four months in jail, followed by a year of
supervised probation, and ordered to pay $28,600 in restitution
following his guilty plea to a felony ARPA charge. In November, Jeremy
Burroughs, 30, was sentenced to eighteen months in jail, followed by
three years of supervised probation, and ordered to pay $28,600 in
restitution. This was Burroughs’ second felony ARPA violation; his
previous conviction was in 1998.
All three men forfeited their equipment and the seized artifacts. The
park also recovered a CSA belt buckle valued at $3,300 that had been
removed from the park by Terembes earlier in the same week.
FLETC offers Archeological Resources Protection Training.
The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) is offering training
in archeological resources protection training in three segments in
CY2008. Developed for Permanent Type 1 Law Enforcement Park Rangers and
Archeologists, students participate in integrated sessions where
advanced and specialized training is offered to both the law enforcement
officers and the archeologists in the same classroom setting. At other
times, the students participate in separate sessions where law
enforcement training is provided to archeologists and archeological
training is provided to law enforcement officers.
The Archeological Resources Protection Training Program (ARPTP) was
developed by the FLETC in conjunction with the USFS, BLM, and NPS. The
course developers from these Federal agencies were experienced in the
disciplines of both criminal investigation and archeology. The training
identifies the team concept for archeological resource crime scene
investigation.
Schedule:
ARPTP 801: March 10-14 - Columbus, OH.
The application closing date is February 1, 2008.
ARPTP 802: April 7 – 11 - Bar Harbor, ME.
The application closing date is March 1, 2008.
ARPTP 803: April 21– 25 - Panama City, FL.
The application deadline is March 7, 2008.
Contact: Law Enforcement Development Center (912) 267-2246; Greg Jackson
(912) 267-2245
ACHP Releases Course Schedule for CY2008
The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) is responsible for
administering National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106
review. The ACHP now offers an introductory and an advanced class on
Section 106 activities.
The Section 106 Essentials
This two–day course is designed for individuals who are new to Section
106 review or who want a refresher. The course explains the
requirements of NHPA Section 106, which applies any time a federal,
federally assisted, or federally approved activity might affect a
property listed in or eligible for the National Register of Historic
Places.
Schedule:
January 16-17 - Hyatt Regency Downtown, Houston, TX
March 12-13 - Hotel Providence, Providence, RI
April 8-9 - Hilton Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM
May 14-15 - The Old Post Office Building, Washington, DC
June 17-18 - Ramkota Hotel & Conference Center, Pierre, SD
July 8-9 - Courtyard by Marriott Downtown, San Diego, CA
August 26-27 - Crowne Plaza Seattle, Seattle, WA
September 3-4 - Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, Atlanta, GA
October 20-21 - Tulsa, OK (in conjunction with the National Trust for
Historic Preservation annual meeting)
Advanced Section 106 Seminar
This advanced class is designed for environmental and cultural resources
personnel and focuses on the effective management of complex or
controversial undertakings that require compliance with NHPA Section
106. Taught in a small, interactive setting, topics will include use of
consultation to resolve disputes, creative ways to address conflicts
between development plans and preservation values, and negotiating and
preparing agreement documents.
Schedule:
April 8 - Hotel Monaco, Salt Lake City, UT
June 19 - Serrano Hotel, San Francisco, CA
August 20 – Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center,
Washington, DC
For more information and registration, go to www.achp.gov/106.
Contact: Cindy Bienvenue, 202-606-8521.
NPS Solicits Sponsor Proposals for Diversity Internships
The NPS Cultural Resources Diversity Internship Program (CRDIP) provides
career exploration opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students
in historic preservation and cultural resources management. The program
also gives NPS offices, national park units, government agencies at all
levels, and private organizations opportunities to meet promising young
people who might choose a career in this field. The NPS, through the
CRDIP, cooperates with intern sponsors to provide students who have
limited or no exposure to this field with quality work experiences.
During 2008, the CRDIP will sponsor 15 to 18 diversity interns during a
10-week summer session, beginning June 2, 2008. The sponsoring agency
is expected to contribute half of the $11,062.00 cost for each intern.
The balance with be paid by CRDIP. CRDIP will hold a three-day Career
Workshop in Washington, DC during the tenth week of the summer
internship. The cost for each intern’s participation will be covered by
the NPS, Cultural Resources Program.
The NPS has issued a call for project proposals from agencies for the
2008 CRDIP summer internship program. The due date for proposals is
December 10, 2007.
For more information about the program and an application, go to
http://www.cr.nps.gov/crdi/internships/intrnCRDIP.htm
Contact: Turkiya Lowe (202) 354-2266
DOI and NPS to provide training in Managing Museum Property
The Interior Museum Program, Department of the Interior (DOI), and the
National Park Service’s Western Archeological and Conservation Center
(WACC) is co-sponsoring Managing Museum Property in Tucson, AZ. This
five day (36 hour) course provides training in the fundamentals of
managing museum property. The training is designed for Federal property
managers, interpreters, historians, archeologists, natural history
specialists, and other resource specialists with museum
responsibilities, as well as staff in repositories that manage Federal
collections. Topics include:
· An overview of the DOI Museum Program and the Office of Property and
Acquisition Management
· How Museum Collections Support DOI and Bureau Missions
· Identifying Museum Property
· Managing Archive Collections
· Guidance on Reporting Requirements
· Scope of Collections Statements
· Museum Documentation (Accessioning, Cataloging, Loans, Inventory,
Insurance, and
Deaccessioning)
· Museum Collection Preservation (Environmental Factors, Monitoring and
Controls, Integrated
Pest Management, Handling Museum Objects)
· Exhibiting and Storing Museum Property
· Museum Protection (Fire Protection, Security, and Emergency
Management)
· Working with non-federal repositories
· Ideas on how to use museum collections
The class will be held January 14-18, 2008, at WACC in Tucson, AZ.
There is no tuition for this training event. Additional information and
an application can be found at the Interior Museum Program website at
www.doi.gov/museum/classroom.html. The application deadline is December
10, 2007.
Contact: Brian Biegler 202-208-4698
ICOMOS Executive Committee Approves Ename Charter
At the ICOMOS Advisory Committee meeting held in Pretoria, South Africa
in October, the proposed ICOMOS Charter on Interpretation and
Presentation was unanimously endorsed by the Scientific Council and the
Advisory Committee. The Scientific Council is composed of the
representatives of all International Scientific Committees while the
Advisory Committee is composed of the representatives of all
International Scientific Committees and National Committees. The ICOMOS
Executive Committee approved the submission of the draft charter to the
ICOMOS General Assembly for ratification in Fall 2008 in Quebec. The
charter will become a part of the select group of ICOMOS doctrinal texts
after official ratification by the General Assembly.
The ICOMOS drafting committee requests that members visit the ICOMOS
website to review the charter text at
http://icip.icomos.org/downloads/ICOMOS_Interpretation_Charter_EN_10-04-07.pdf
and submit illustrations of the charter’s various principles from
specific sites in the reader’s country or region. The illustrations
will be compiled into a useful publication that communicates the basic
principles of interpretation developed in the charter.
RPA Amends Code of Conduct
The Register of Professional Archaeologists (RPA) has amended its code
of conduct as follows:
I. The Archaeologist's Responsibility to the Public
1.2 An archaeologist shall not:
e. knowingly be involved in the recovery or excavation of
artifacts for commercial exploitation, or knowingly be
employed by or knowingly contract with an individual or
entity who recovers or excavates archaeological artifacts
for commercial exploitation.
In adopting this amendment, the RPA’s Board of Directors acknowledges
that the commercial exploitation of archaeological heritage for sale,
trade, speculation, or its irretrievable dispersal is fundamentally
incompatible with the protection and proper management of the
archaeological heritage. No registered professional archaeologist (RPA)
shall knowingly engage in such commercial exploitation. Commercial
exploitation is defined as the sale, trade, purchase, or barter of
archaeological objects and/or sites by entities or individuals whose
motivation is primarily profit driven.
In adopting this amendment, the Board of Directors further seeks to
bring the Register into concordance with current ethical positions of
heritage organizations, governments, and non-government organizations
regarding the commercial exploitation of the world’s cultural heritage
as represented by artifacts and other archaeological remains and
information. The amendment should not be construed to prohibit the
actions of registered archeologists engaged in exhibit or education
projects for which a fee is charged, or by video or book projects which
are intended to generate revenue, or where revenue is realized that does
not result from the sale of artifacts, or from the exchange or transfer
of artifacts to another museum following practices accepted by
legitimate museum accrediting organizations such as the American
Association of Museums. The amendment would prohibit a registered
archeologist from being knowingly involved with an individual or entity
that recovers or excavates artifacts for commercial exploitation,
including association with related exhibit, video, and book projects.
For more information about the code of conduct and the Register of
Professional Archaeologists, go to http://www.rpanet.org/.
New CRM Journal Available in March 2008
The first issue of a new cultural resource management journal, Heritage
Management, will be available in March 2008. Heritage Management is a
global, peer-reviewed journal that will provide a venue for using
scholarly, professional, and indigenous knowledge to address broader
societal concerns about managing cultural resource heritage. Issues of
resource management, cultural preservation and vitalization, education,
legal\legislative developments, public archeology, and ethics will be
addressed. The journal will present a forum for those who work with
governmental and tribal agencies, museums, private CRM firms, indigenous
communities, and colleges and universities. It facilitates a
multi-vocal arena for dissemination and critical discussion of cultural
heritage management issued collaboratively between professionals and
stakeholders. Heritage Management will include peer-reviewed research
on policy, legislation, ethics, and methods in heritage management, and
will showcase exemplary projects and models of public interpretation and
interaction. A peer-reviewed Forum section presents position statements
and responses on key issues. The journal will also include reviews of
books, web pages, exhibits, and resources in various media.
Additional information about Heritage Matters is available at
www.lcoastpress.com
Projects in Parks: The Montana-Yellowstone Archeological Project
During the summer of 2007, the Montana Yellowstone Archeological Project
field school surveyed and tested sites in the 700 acre Boundary Lands
parcel of Yellowstone NP. Located north of the North Entrance Arch in
Gardiner, Montana, along the Yellowstone River, the project area had a
high potential for prehistoric and historic archeological sites.
Research goals included the identification of stratified prehistoric
occupations along the river and the relocation of the former Northern
Pacific railroad station of Cinnabar, occupied between 1883 and 1903.
Field school participants documented boundaries and conducted condition
assessments of 14 archeological sites, including 8 with evidence of
historic period occupation and 11 with evidence of prehistoric use. In
addition, the team located Cinnabar and conducted excavations around the
foundation of the hotel.
NPS employees who can access the NPS intranet can read the full report
by going to Projects in Parks <
http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custommenu.cfm?lv=3&prg=279&id=3670> on
InsideNPS. Other readers can access the full report through the What’s
New page http://www.cr.nps.gov/archeology/NEW.HTM on the Archeology
Program website.
Archeology E-Gram, distributed via e-mail on a regular basis, includes
announcements about news, new publications, training opportunities,
national and regional meetings, and other important goings-on related to
public archeology in the National Park Service and other public
agencies. Recipients are encouraged to forward Archeology E-Grams to
colleagues and relevant mailing lists. Past issues of the Archeology
E-Gram are available on the Archeology E-Gram webpage
http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custommenu.cfm?lv=3&prg=279&id=3867 on
InsideNPS; and on the What’s New page
http://www.cr.nps.gov/archeology/NEW.HTM on the Archeology Program
website.
Projects in Parks is a feature of the Archeology E-Gram that informs
others about archeology-related projects in a national park.
Prospective authors should review information about submitting
photographs on the Projects in Parks webpage. The full reports are
available on the Projects in Parks webpage
http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custommenu.cfm?lv=3&prg=279&id=3670 on
InsideNPS; and through individual issues of the Archeology E-Gram on the
Archeology Program website.
Contact Karen Mudar, Archeology Program, NPS, (202) 354-2103,
[log in to unmask] to contribute news items, stories for “Projects in
Parks,” and to subscribe.
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