September 2009 Archeology E-Gram
John Jarvis Confirmed as new Director of NPS
NPS Regional Director John Jarvis was confirmed by the Senate on September
24, 2009, as Director of the National Park Service. In a message to NPS
employees, Jarvis identified stewardship of National Park system resources
as one of four priorities.
“Stewardship of our natural and cultural resources has always been a core
value of mine. Our mission is to manage these treasured landscapes
unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. This mission is being
challenged, particularly by global warming. But at the same time, these
challenges are pushing us to think and act at the ecosystem scale, creating
unprecedented partnerships with other land managers. We must apply the very
best science and scholarly research. To do so, I will create the position
of Science Advisor to the Director. As stewards of our national parks,
especially considering the challenges of climate change, we must be visible
leaders using the sustainability of our facilities and operations, to
demonstrate the best in energy and water conservation.”
National Park Service Chief Archeologist Retiring
National Park Service (NPS) Chief Archeologist and Departmental Consulting
Archeologist Francis P. Pierce-McManamon is retiring from the agency he has
worked for over the past 32 years. McManamon will officially retire in
November 2009.
“Dr. McManamon leaves a legacy that defines the Federal archeology
program,” said Dr. Janet Snyder Matthews, NPS Associate Director, Cultural
Resources. “We anticipate a nationwide search to replace Dr. McManamon,
relying on the broad network of scientific organizations, academic
institutions, and CRM professions.”
McManamon has served the NPS as Chief Archeologist since 1995 and
Departmental Consulting Archeologist since 1991. He graduated with a B.A
from Colgate University and achieved his M.A. and Ph. D. from the State
University of NY at Binghamton (SUNY) - now Binghamton University. Frank
began his NPS career in 1977 as Regional Archeologist for the North
Atlantic Region, headquartered in Boston. There he developed and oversaw
archeological investigations at many North Atlantic region units, including
Saint Croix Island, Acadia, Saratoga, Martin Van Buren, Boston parks,
Lowell, Minute Man, Adams, Roger Williams, Cape Cod, Fire Island, the
William Floyd Estate, Gateway, Manhattan sites, and Morristown. In 1980, he
became Chief of the regional cultural resources program.
In 1986 he moved to the NPS Washington office as Chief of the Archeological
Assistance program. McManamon and his staff developed government-wide
training in archeological resource protection, methods, and management;
several ongoing series of technical publications; and, a variety of public
outreach products. He began a series of NPS newsletters reporting about
archeological resources and resource management that continues today as the
award-winning quarterly Common Ground and the monthly electronic newsletter
Archeological E-Gram. McManamon organized and coordinated the participation
of Federal agencies and national archeological organizations in conducting
the Harris poll, the first national public opinion survey of Americans’
attitudes about and understanding of archeology
www.nps.gov/history/archeology/PUBS/Harris/index.htm.
McManamon oversaw the initial implementation (1990-1999) of the Native
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, including preparation of
the basic regulations, creation of the initial Review Committee, and the
grants program. He represented the Secretary of the Interior and
coordinated archeological, historical, and physical anthropological
investigations related to the Kennewick Man case. He and his staff assisted
the Department of State in treaty negotiations about the prevention of
archeological trafficking and the protection of submerged cultural
heritage. They have conducted peer review studies of prominent
archeological programs and projects for the Bureau of Reclamation, Corps of
Engineers, and Department of the Army. McManamon assisted the GSA in
reviewing their treatment of the African Burial Ground, now a national
monument, in New York City.
McManamon is the author of many articles and has edited several books and
other publications on topics related to public archeology. Most recently,
he edited Archaeology in America, a four-volume encyclopedia. His work has
been recognized during the course of his career by several awards,
including the Department of the Interior Meritorious Service and Superior
Service awards; the Outstanding Public Service Award from the
Archaeological Institute of America; a Certificate of Commendation from the
Department of Justice; and the Presidential Recognition Award from the
Society for American Archaeology.
As Chief Archeologist, McManamon and his staff in the WASO Archeology
Program provide leadership, coordination, and oversight for archeological
activities and resources in National Park units. They stress the importance
of up-to-date information about site condition; maintaining archeological
sites in good condition; regulating of archeological activities in National
Park units through rigorous permitting procedures; public outreach and
education about archeological resources; and the care of and access to
archeological collections and data. The Archeology Program website
www.nps.gov/history/archeology/ presents information on these and
additional topics for professionals, students, teachers, resource managers
and others concerned with archeological preservation, and members of the
general public with an interest in archeology.
As Departmental Consulting Archeologist (DCA), McManamon and his staff
coordinate and provide leadership for Federal agency archeology. Over 30
Federal agencies have archeological programs or require archeological
investigations as part of the activities they undertake. The DCA office was
created in 1927 to review the Antiquities Act permit program for the
Secretary of the Interior and advise the Secretary and other officials
about archeological resource protection and treatments,
www.nps.gov/history/archeology/sites/dca.htm. The functions have evolved
over time, but continue to focus on providing advice, coordination, and
technical assistance regarding archeological resources to Federal officials
and agencies
The DCA, acting on behalf of the Secretary of the Interior, drafts
regulations, policies, and guidelines regarding the treatment of
archeological resources that have governmentwide scope. For example, The
National Strategy for Federal Archeology
www.nps.gov/history/archeology/tools/natlstrg.htm, affirmed by
administrations since 1990, calls for the focus of agency programs on
preservation and protection of archeological sites; the conservation of
archeological collections and records; archeological research and the
sharing of research results; and, public outreach and education in Federal
archeology. The DCA and Archeology Program have reported to Congress for
the Secretary of the Interior on Federal agency archeology since the
mid-1970s. This series of reports is available at
http://www.nps.gov/history/archeology/SRC/src.htm.
Frank lives with his wife of 36 years, Carol Pierce-McManamon, in Oakton,
VA. Their daughters, Adalie and Kate, live in Cambridge, MA and
Goppingen,Germany respectively.
Project Archaeology: Reaching the Next Generation
In 2006, the NMNH Department of Anthropology partnered with Project
Archaeology, a national heritage education program, to help elementary
through high school students learn to value and preserve the past.
Developed by the BLM in 1990, and directed by Jeanne Moe, Project
Archaeology is affiliated with Montana State University and has regional
offices in 20 states.
The strength of Project Archaeology lies in its innovative approach:
instead of teaching students directly, the workshops and teaching materials
show educators ways to incorporate archeology into their teaching. One of
the workshops held at the museum focused on slave quarters at Thomas
Jefferson's Poplar Forest plantation in Virginia. Educators practiced the
basics of scientific inquiry and used archeology, geography, history and
oral histories in their investigation of the slave cabin. They analyzed
artifacts and historic structures using soil chemistry, spatial reasoning,
ethnobotany, and zoology. They also discussed issues of cultural
sensitivity involved in interpreting the archeology of enslaved peoples.
One to two Project Archaeology workshops are held at the museum each year.
For more information, go to www.projectarchaeology.org.
Scholarship to Study Coastal Climate Change Available to Native Americans
Texas A&M University and the American Museum of Natural History are
soliciting applications for a graduate scholarship directed towards
evaluating climate change risks to indigenous cultural sites along North
American coasts. The programs are particularly seeking American Indian and
First Nation students with knowledge of indigenous cultural practices to
explore these issues. Race or ethnicity will not be used to evaluate and
select among the candidates that apply.
The scholarship will fund two years of study in a Master of Science program
at Texas A&M University Department of Ecosystem Science & Management.
Students will create ranked listings of indigenous cultural sites at the
highest risk for destruction from climate change impacts, including current
in–use places as well as areas of archaeological significance along North
American coastlines. Students are expected to develop research in climate
change impacts on coastal regions, the preservation of indigenous cultural
sites, and the use of geographic information systems (GIS) to address both
natural and social science questions. The scholarship will also enable
participation at meetings of the Coastal Barrier Island Network (CBIN), a
National Science Foundation–funded Research Coordination Network in
Biological Sciences.
The program begins in January, June, or August of 2010. The scholarship is
valued at approximately $60,000 over a two–year period. Awards are
approximated at $2,000 per month directed to the scholar. Health and dental
insurance is included; remaining funds are distributed for tuition support,
travel, and research supplies.
For additional information, contact Rusty Feagin at: [log in to unmask]
Written in Bone: Forensic Files of the 17th Century Chesapeake
Curated by Douglas Owsley and Kari Bruwelheide, the recently-opened
exhibit, Written in Bone: Forensic Files of the 17th-Century Chesapeake,
tells the story of the settlement of the Chesapeake through the bones of
the settlers themselves. Using a combination of bones and over 300
archeological objects, the exhibit reveals what life was like over 400
years ago, from the stories told by the bones of Jamestown, Virginia,
settlers to the tales told by the skeletons of the more privileged
residents of St. Mary’s City, Maryland.
The exhibit includes a 600-square-foot forensic anthropology lab, where
visitors learn firsthand how forensic anthropologists analyze bones.
In conjunction with the Written in Bone exhibit, Forensic Fridays give the
public an opportunity to meet the exhibit curators, Doug Owsley and Kari
Bruwelheide, and learn about forensic investigation in the exhibit’s
forensic lab. The schedule for the next few months is:
September 25: Watch a forensic facial reconstruction being made and
see how the likeness of an individual is created from the skull.
Kennewick Man will be the subject of the facial reconstruction.
October 16: Talk to researchers from the Smithsonian’s Human Origins
Program about how clues on fossil bones tell us about the lives of
human ancestors.
November 13: A boy is buried in 1852. His iron coffin is discovered
from construction work in Northwest Washington, DC, well over a
century later. Learn how museum investigators are able to get an
“insider’s view” of this burial and other iron coffins to learn about
people and mortuary practices in the mid 1800’s. David Hunt and
Deborah Hull-Walski will share some of the information learned from
this project in a talk at Baird Auditorium at 11:00.
December 4: Join visiting archeologists from the Jamestown
Rediscovery Archaeology Project as they showcase how recent
archeological discoveries help us learn more about the first
permanent English settlement in America.
Archeology Events at the 2009 American Anthropological Association Meetings
in Philadelphia
There are some great archeology offerings at the upcoming AAA meetings in
Philadelphia:
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Historical Archaeologies of Christianity, Capitalism, and
Collaboration 2:00-3:45 PM
General Session
Independence Ballroom I
Archaeology of the Near and Middle East
4:00-5:45 PM
General Session
Independence Ballroom I
Heritage as Applied Anthropology: Setting the Agenda for the 21st
Century 4:00-7:45 PM
Organized by Elizabeth Chilton, Neil Silberman
Liberty Ballroom A
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Historical Indigenous Archaeologies in the Americas (general)
8:00-9:45 AM
General Session
Room 409
Cartographies of Belonging: Materiality, Circulation and Production
of Political
Subjectivity
8:00-11:45 AM
Organized by Lisa Poggiali, Alexandra Kelly, Sarah Ives
Liberty C
Two States, Ancient States: Archaeology, the Israeli-Palestinian
Conflict and New
Political Realities
1:45-5:30 PM
Organized by Lynn Swartz Dodd and Ran Boynter
Room 413
Workshop (Walking Tour): Interpreting the Archaeology of 'We the
People': A
Behind the Scenes Look at the Public Archaeology of Independence NHP
1:30-4:30 PM
Organized by Patrice Jeppson
T.B.A.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Colored Things, Chromatic Stories: Searching for the Pigments of the
Past 8:00-9:45 AM
Organized by Cameron McNeil and Alexandre Tokovinine
Grand Ballroom Salon L
Maya Worlds: Iconography, Power, and Households
10:15AM-12:00 PM
General Session
Room 410
Archaeological Approaches to Landscapes and Settlements
1:45-3:30 PM
Poster Session
Grand Ballroom Salon G
Tourism, Archaeology, and Development
1:45-5:30 PM
Organized by Rachel Giraudo
Independence Ballroom II
Business Meeting of the Archaeological Division of the AAA
7:00-8:00
PM
Grand Ballroom Salon J
Archaeology Division Annual Distinguished Lecture by Dr. Barbara J.
Little 8:00-9:00 PM
"Reintegrating Archaeology in the Service of Sustainable Culture"
Grand Ballroom Salon J
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Alternative Freedoms: Vantages from Historical Archaeology
8:00-9:45 AM
Organized by Christopher Matthews
Room 305
Theoretical and Political Issues in Contemporary Archaeology
8:00-9:45 AM
General Session
Room 408
New Analytical Approaches in Archaeology
10:15 AM-12:00 PM
Poster Session
Grand Ballroom Salon G
Indigenous Knowledge and Archaeology- Part I
8:00-11:45 AM
Organized by Desiree Martinez, Robert Preucel
Juniper's
"Queering" the Archaeology of Identity
1:45-5:30 PM
Organized by Chelsea Blackmore
Independence Ballroom II
Ceramic Ecology XXIII: Current Research on Ceramics 2009
1:45-5:30 PM
Organized by Charles Kolb
Grand Ballroom Salon III
Indigenous Knowledge and Archaeology- Part II
1:45-5:45 PM
Organized by Desiree Martinez, Robert Preucel
Juniper's
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Food and Culture in the Old and New Worlds
8:00-9:45 AM
General Session
Room 301
Meeting information can be found at http://www.aaanet.org/meetings/
Film Collection Added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register
The John Marshall Ju/'hoan Bushman Film and Video Collection, 1950-2000,
held in the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) Anthropology
Department’s Human Studies Film Archives, has been added to UNESCO's Memory
of the World Register. The Marshall collection provides a unique example of
a half century of sustained audiovisual documentation of one cultural
group, the Ju/'hoansi, of the Kalahari Desert in northeastern Namibia,
recording the transformations of their lifeways in the rapidly changing
political and economic landscape that developed in concert with the
struggle for Namibian independence.
The Marshall collection was one of 35 items chosen for its exceptional
value as part of world documentary heritage. The collection is only the
fourth documentary property held in a United States archive or library to
be added to the Memory of the World Register.
More details about the collection can be found in the finding aid:
www.nmnh.si.edu/naa/fa/marshall.pdf and on the UNESCO website at
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=46187&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
Projects in Parks: Fort Washington Park Yields Unusual Find
By Mike Antonioni
In the spring of 2006, a cache of objects was found in an attic of the
Enlisted Men’s Barracks at Fort Washington, a fortification overlooking the
Potomac River in Maryland, now part of the NPS National Capital Parks. NPS
staff found an unusual collection of diverse items dating to 1861-1869.
These objects have the potential to enlarge our understanding of living
conditions at the fort during and after the Civil War.
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. The Archeology E-Gram is available on the News and
Links page www.nps.gov/archeology/public/news.htm on the Archeology Program
web site.
Projects in Parks is a feature of the Archeology E-Gram that informs others
about archeology-related projects in national parks. Prospective authors
should review information about submitting photographs on the Projects in
Parks web page on InsideNPS. The full reports are available on the Projects
in Parks web page inside.nps.gov/waso/custommenu.cfm?lv=3&prg=279&id=3670
on InsideNPS or through individual issues of the Archeology E-Gram on the
on the News and Links page http://www.nps.gov/archeology/public/news.htm on
the Archeology Program web site.
Contact: [log in to unmask] to contribute news items, stories for “Projects in
Parks,” and to subscribe.
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