September 2010 Archeology E-Gram
Back to School with Archeology!
The NPS has lots of great archeological learning resources for everyone
headed back to class this fall. Visit the NPS Archeology Program website
for a guide to links ranging from Junior Ranger programs to classroom-based
curricula, as well as links to other institutions' archeology education
programs. In addition to web-based resources, the page encourages visiting
archeology at the parks in person.
For more information, go to www.nps.gov/archeology/months/september10.htm
Contact: Teresa Moyer, 202-354-2124
Alaska High Students Participate in Dig in Bering Land Bridge National
Preserve
Five high school students from villages in northwest Alaska had a rare
opportunity this past July to learn firsthand about the ancient people of
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve. Kaare Erickson, a senior in
anthropology at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, also participated in
the project.
Students from the villages of Shishmaref, Golovin, Stebbins, and Kotzebue
excavated three house pits once inhabited by ancestors of the Inupiaq
people of northern Alaska. The high school students were paired with
college students from the University of California, Davis, as they learned
to carefully excavate within the whalebone and driftwood structures
situated on the sandy beach ridges of Cape Espenberg. Elders from
Shishmaref, who joined the field party, contributed their knowledge about
the traditional ways of life on the northwest Alaska coast. Erickson’s
great-grandmother was born in a sod house at Cape Espenberg, which made the
experience particularly meaningful for him.
This large-scale project, funded by the National Science Foundation, is
addressing human responses to climate change from A.D. 800 to 1400 at Cape
Espenberg. The students joined an international team of researchers, headed
up by John Hoffecker, University of Colorado, Boulder, and Owen Mason, an
independent archeologist from Anchorage.
For more information about Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, go to
http://www.nps.gov/bela/
David Yubeta Announces Retirement
David “Mud Man” Yubeta has retired following 25 years of service at
Tumacacori NHP, Arizona. Seeking a job with benefits, Yubeta began his
career with the NPS in 1985 as a seasonal laborer at Tumacacori. He worked
in a variety of positions, including a four-year stint as facility manager
for the park. Since 1998, Yubeta has been the Tumacacori’s exhibits
specialist and responsible for the historic preservation program.
Widely recognized for his expertise in adobe, lime plaster, and earthen
architecture, Yubeta was often called upon to provide assistance to other
NPS areas and other agencies, and state and municipal parks in the United
States and Mexico. He also served as an instructor at Albright, HPTC, and
Snow College, Utah. In addition, Yubeta played a key role in the vision
for, and the creation of, the NPS Vanishing Treasures program.
Yubeta has received numerous awards for his outstanding contributions to
historic preservation. In 1993, he received the Arizona Governor’s Award
for Historic Preservation. He received the Maintenance Advisory Committee
Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Preservation of Resources in 1996.
In 1998, Yubeta was the recipient of the NPS Appleman-Judd Awards for
Historic Preservation. That same year he was also recognized for his work
in Mexico with an award from INAH, Sonora, Mexico. Yubeta has twice, in
2002 and in 2006, been given the National ‘Windows on the Past’ Award by
the U.S. Forest Service.
Yubeta’s friends and colleagues wish him the very best for his retirement.
For more information about Yubeta’s work, go to “Of Adobe, Lime, and
Cement: The Preservation History of the San José de Tumacácori Mission
Church: Part 1-3,” E-Gram Project in Parks September-November 2008, at
www.nps.gov/archeology/sites/npSites/tumacacori1.htm, and www.nps.gov/tuma/
NPS National Register of Historic Places Celebrates Archeology Month
The NPS National Register celebrated Archeology Month in August 2010 with
an online feature highlighting archeological sites on the Register. The
online feature explored the culture and history of the American Indians who
dwelt in northwest Iowa from A.D. 1100-1250. Two sites explored in depth
are Kimball Village, which provides a view of a domesticated landscape
previously unknown in the history of the Prairie-Plain American Indians,
and the West Oak Forest Earthlodge Site, which gives clues about the earth
lodge-dwelling hunters and farmers who lived during the 10-14th centuries
A.D. in what are today Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa. The larger themes of
these cultures are explored in “Archeological Resources of the Central
Plains Tradition in the Loess Hills Region of Iowa, Multiple Property
Submission (MPS)” and the “Archeological Resources of Initial Variant of
the Middle Missouri Tradition in Iowa Multiple Property Submission (MPS).”
The feature promotes archeological sites as significant historic properties
on the National Register, and encourages the public to think more deeply
about the significance of archeological properties as well as the role of
the National Register and the NPS in preserving them.
More information about archeological resources in the National Register can
be found online at www.nps.gov/history/nr/feature/archeology/index.htm.
Contact: Erika Seibert, (202) 354-2217
Sauk-Suiattle Tribe Retraces Ancient Travel Route
On July 26 and 27, 2010, members of the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe hiked
from the Skagit Valley to Stehekin Valley in North Cascades NPS Complex.
Their path followed a route over Cascade Pass, which has been used for at
least 9,600 years to cross this area, the highest and most rugged segment
of the Cascade Range. The crest is a divide between the traditional
Northwest Coast and Columbia Plateau culture areas. “The purpose of the
trip is to revitalize cultural connections with the natural environment
that were historically maintained by tribal members who routinely journeyed
to the east side of the Cascades to hunt, trade, and meet with relatives,”
said tribal chair Janice Mabee.
The Sauk-Suiattle tribal council and staff initiated planning for le?ibeŠ
te hik,w (“the big walk”), as this trans-Cascade journey is called in the
Coast Salish language. Council member Norma Joseph, along with tribal staff
Chris Danilson and Jean Wessel, coordinated the hike with the park’s
wilderness and cultural staff.
The party of six tribal hikers carrying full packs – Mike Wolten, Kevin
Lenon, Jaimie Kenoyer, Alan Bill, Joe Bill, and Tyler Edwards – ascended
the pass. After camping the first night in the upper Stehekin Valley, the
hiking party proceeded the next day to lodging in the lower Stehekin
Valley, culminating the 21-mile mountain journey in a rendezvous with other
tribal members and staff who had arrived via an alternate route on the Lake
Chelan ferry boat.
“This event not only assists tribes in renewing traditional connections to
special places in the park, it also assists in our collective work to
preserve, protect and help people understand the homeland of the
Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe,” said park superintendent Chip Jenkins.
For more information about North Cascades NPS Complex, go to
www.nps.gov/noca/
NPS Awards $2.1 million for Civil War Battlefields
Through the American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP), the NPS awarded
over $2.1 million in grants for land acquisition at two endangered Civil
War battlefields: Spring Hill Battlefield, Tennessee, and Cold Harbor
Battlefield, Virginia. Both sites are among the nation’s most endangered
and threatened battlefields. ABPP prioritizes funding for battlefields
listed in the NPS Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the
Nation’s Civil War Battlefields. Funds are awarded based on the
significance of the land to be acquired and the availability of required
nonfederal matching funds.
The Tennessee Historical Commission received $1.9 million to buy the
General Motors Tract of the Spring Hill Battlefield. The fighting at Spring
Hill was significant as part of the larger story of General John B. Hood’s
1864 campaign in middle Tennessee and as a prelude to the Battle of
Franklin, Tennessee. It set the stage for one of the worst disasters of the
war for the Confederacy. On November 28, 1864, General Hood’s Army of
Tennessee marched toward Spring Hill with the intention of cutting off
Union Major General John M. Schofield’s line of retreat to Nashville.
Schofield reinforced the crossroads at Spring Hill and successfully
repulsed a disjointed Confederate attack, allowing him to safely move his
troops.
The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation will use its grant
of $203,000 to acquire one parcel of the Cold Harbor Battlefield for the
Central Virginia Historic Preservation Foundation Tract. The Battle of Cold
Harbor was one of the bloodiest and costliest battles of the Civil War.
General Ulysses S. Grant sent thousands of Union soldiers to their death in
a hopeless frontal assault against fortified positions held by Confederate
troops of General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Union soldiers
going into battle at Cold Harbor were so sure they would be killed that
they wrote their names on scraps of paper and pinned them to their coats to
make it possible to identify their bodies.
In FY 2010, Congress appropriated $9 million from the Land and Water
Conservation Fund to help nonfederal entities acquire and preserve Civil
War battlefields. Already in 2010, $7.8 million for 21 projects at 15
battlefields in 5 states has been awarded. State and local governments, or
qualified nonprofit historic preservation organizations acting through an
agency of state or local government, can submit proposals, which are
accepted year-round and reviewed monthly or quarterly, depending on the
degree of priority of the battlefield in question.
For more information about the American Battlefield Protection Program, go
to www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp/.
NPS Awards $1.3 Million in Preserve America Grants Projects in 16 States
The NPS has awarded $1.3 million in Preserve America grants to 22 projects
in 16 states. Among the projects funded are: King County Heritage Barn
Guide, Seattle, WA; a Heritage Design Plan for Baltimore’s Carroll Park,
Baltimore, MD; Austin Historical Survey Web Tool, Austin, TX; Edmonds
Downtown Cultural Heritage Tour, Edmonds, WA; Montana Community
Revitalization Project: Heritage Planning for the New Decade, Helena, MT;
Rural Heritage Survey Phase III, Development of Farmstead Heritage
Websites, Frankfort, KY; and Preserve Little Italy, San Diego, CA. Earlier
this year the NPS awarded grants totaling $2.9 million to support 31
preservation projects in 17 states.
The Preserve America grant program is administered by the NPS in
partnership with the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation. The
competitive matching grants fund Preserve America communities, state
historic preservation offices, and tribal historic preservation offices to
support their preservation efforts through heritage tourism, education, and
historic preservation planning.
More information on Preserve America, including the complete list of grant
recipients, criteria, and application forms can be found at
http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/hpg/PreserveAmerica/index.htm.
NTHP Report on Section 106 Released
The National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) recently issued a
report evaluating Federal agencies efforts to meet their statutory
obligations to consider the effects of their undertakings on historic
properties. The report, "Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation
Act: Back to Basics," urges Federal agencies to take the mandate of Section
106 more seriously. The NTHP commissioned Leslie Barras, a lawyer and
consultant on environmental and historic preservation advocacy and
compliance issues, to explore and address Federal compliance with
consultation obligations of Section 106. Barras concluded that, “…while the
statutory and regulatory framework of Section 106 remains sound, actual
implementation of this important preservation tool suffers in several key
respects.” Many Federal agencies recognize their responsibilities and
ensure that their paperwork is managed well, but tend to apply their
obligations in a "rote" manner that gives little serious consideration to
planning to avoid or minimize harm to historic places. Second, other
Federal agencies "do not often understand, or give only perfunctory
attention to, their compliance responsibilities" under Section 106. In both
cases, Barras concluded, "there is a compelling need for attention to and
reinforcement of the basic purpose of the [Section 106] review and
consultation process.”
The report may be downloaded at:
www.preservationnation.org/resources/legal-resources/understanding-preservation-law/federal-law/section-106/back-to-basics.html
.
On October 18, 2010, at 2 p.m. EDT, the NTHP plans to host a "live chat" on
its website “PreservationNation” with Barras, giving an opportunity to
discuss her findings with her. Instructions on how to participate in the
online chat will soon be posted at: www.preservationnation.org/106.
ARPA Cases in South Dakota Completed
The last of five men indicted for ARPA violations in South Dakota in 2009
was sentenced on September 13, 2010. Brian Ekrem, Richard Geffre, Elliot
Hook, Scott Matteson, and John Sheild pleaded not guilty in Federal court
in Pierre, South Dakota to charges that include excavating and trafficking
in archeological resources and trafficking in Native American cultural
resources. Over 13,300 archeological and paleontological items excavated
from Federal and tribal lands along the Missouri River were confiscated.
The investigations were conducted by the FWS and the cases were prosecuted
by AUSA Eric Kelderman. Sentences ranged from 8 to 10 months in prison,
12-36 months of supervised release, and up to $20,000 in fines.
Archeologists Assessing Damage to a 1,000 Year Old Petroglyph in Northern
Arizona
A hiker in August reported damage to a petroglyph at the Kaibab National
Forest's Keyhole Sink, named for the keyhole-shaped lava flow. The word
"ACE" is written in what appears to be white paint over the rock art.
Kaibab archeologist Neil Weintraub said that it is often difficult to catch
those responsible for defacing petroglyphs. "This senseless act not only
damaged the fragile rock art, it degraded a special place enjoyed by
several thousand visitors each year."
Keyhole Sink is one of the only sites in northern Arizona where hikers can
learn about petroglyphs. The prehistoric cultural group most likely to have
made the petroglyphs is the Cohonina, potentially ancestors of the Hopi,
Hualapai, and Havasupai tribes. The bear paws, snakes, and lizards in the
rock art panel are similar to Hopi clan symbols. The panel also depicts a
hunting scene. The national forest offered guided tours during Archeology
Month in March to see the petroglyphs.
The lava flow was also defaced four years ago when vandals scratched names
on it, which later were rubbed out. Weintraub said the petroglyphs were not
affected. The petroglyphs are protected under the Archaeological Resources
Protection Act. If the damage is more than $500, the penalty for a first
offense is up to two years in prison and $20,000 in fines. A second offense
carries penalties of up to five years in prison and $100,000 in fines.
100th Anniversary of the Big Burn
August 20-21, 2010, marked the 100th anniversary of the Big Burn,
record-setting fires that destroyed between 40-50 million acres in the
west. In the spring of 1910, a La Nina drought created prime conditions for
wildfires that burned off and on throughout the summer. These conditions
changed on August 20, when strong winds fanned fires that then raced
through forests in Idaho and Montana.
Wallace, Idaho, which was in the path of the moving wildfire during the Big
Burn, commemorated the event with a parade and speakers. Wallace was the
home of Edward Pulaski, who invented the quintessential fire-fighting tool
that bears his name. A U.S. Forest Service employee, Pulaski fought fires
during the summer of 1910, and survived the Big Burn by herding his men
into a mining shaft when the fire storm occurred.
Over 100 people died in the fire, including many firefighters. Congress,
impressed by the heroism and dedication of U.S. Forest Service rangers who
fought the fire, doubled the budget of the young agency. A national Forest
Service firefighter program was established less than a year later that
served as a prototype for fire fighting programs in other Federal agencies.
The Weeks Act, passed in early 1911, also allowed the Federal government to
establish forest reserves in the East, by purchasing private lands to add
to the public sector.
Among these legacies of the Big Burn was a Federal fire code that stressed
that all wildfires must be extinguished as quickly as possible, a policy
that is only recently being re-assessed in the face of present climate
change. The protection of cultural and natural resources has also become an
integral part of strategies for fighting wildfires throughout Federal
agencies. Archeologists work closely with park Fire Management Programs to
protect archeological resources during wildfires.
For more information about the Big Burn, visit the 1910 Fire Commemoration
website at http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/1910-centennial/index.html
Projects in Parks: The Ceramics Assemblage from the Kingsley Plantation
Slave Quarters
By Karen McIlvoy
For the past four years, a University of Florida field team has conducted
archeological excavations at Kingsley Plantation, located in the NPS
Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve in Duval County, Florida.
Kingsley Plantation was active in the early 19th century. The excavations
have focused primarily on the slave quarters from the period in an attempt
to reconstruct the daily lives of their inhabitants. The report describes
the ceramics assemblage recovered from the Kingsley Plantation Slave
Quarters and compares it to the archetypal antebellum plantation of
Cannon’s Point Plantation, GA. The basic analysis of the ceramic artifacts
is a fundamental first step in the broader goal of interpreting the role of
material objects in the slaves’ daily lives.
Read the full report at
www.nps.gov/archeology/sites/npSites/kingsleyCeramics.htm
Projects in Parks is a feature of the Archeology E-Gram that informs others
about archeology-related projects in national parks. The full reports are
available on the Research in the Parks web page
www.nps.gov/archeology/sites/npSites/index.htm or through individual issues
of the Archeology E-Gram. Prospective authors should review information
about submitting photographs on the Projects in Parks web page on
InsideNPS.
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 NPS and other public agencies. Recipients are
encouraged to forward Archeology E-Grams to colleagues and relevant mailing
lists. The Archeology E-Gram is available on the News and Links page
www.nps.gov/archeology/public/news.htm on the NPS Archeology Program web
site.
Contact: [log in to unmask] to contribute news items, stories for Projects in
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