January 2011 Archeology E-Gram

NPS Archeology Program Releases 2004-2007 Report on Federal Archeology
Since the 1970s, Federal agencies with archeological resource stewardship
responsibilities, coordinated by the Departmental Consulting Archeologist
(DCA), Department of the Interior, have collected and published
government-wide information about the Federal Archeology Program. The NPS
Archeology Program has released the report on Federal archeology for years
2004-2007. The report covers activities to recover, protect, and preserve
archeological sites, collections, and data. In addition to providing data
and analysis, the 2004-2007 volume commemorates 25 years of reporting on
Federal archeology by presenting an overview of the past 3 decades of
efforts to provide information about archeological stewardship.

The report is only available as a pdf on the NPS Archeology Program website
at http://www.nps.gov/archeology/SRC/INDEX.htm .

NPS Archeologist Virgil Noble wins Ruppé Service Award from Society for
Historical Archaeology
Virgil Noble of the Midwest Archeological Center was honored in January
with the SHA’s Carol Ruppé award. Noble served as the society’s president
in 2002, and has been active in its governance for many years. In addition,
he has held several volunteer editorial positions, including Memorials
Editor (1994-1997) and Reviews Editor (1997-2001) for the journal
Historical Archaeology.

Created in 1988 and announced in January 1990, the Carol Ruppé award honors
Carol V. Ruppé for her long service to the society in creating and running
The Society for Historical Archaeology Book Room at the annual conference.
The Ruppé Award is internal to the society and honors individuals who have
a record of sustained and outstanding service to The Society for Historical
Archaeology.

Archeologist to Speak in NPS “Climate Change in America’s National Parks”
Webinar
Marcy Rockman, PhD, will speak on "The Many Roles of Archaeology in Climate
Change Mitigation and Adaptation Planning" in the NPS “Climate Change in
America’s National Parks” webinar on February 10, 2011. She asks how can
the modern world actually go about doing the human behavior parts of
mitigation and adaptation and increasing resilience? This talk will outline
the contributions that archeology can make to the question, including the
roles of developing human barometer and shifting baseline data to
complement climate science models; expanding understanding of cultural
evolution and adaptation; and providing an unparalleled source of detailed
stories and narrative about how human societies think about and interact
with their natural environments.

Rockman is currently a Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) placed with the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Homeland Security Research
Center (NHSRC) in Washington, DC. In her role as an AAAS Fellow at NHSRC,
she is working with topics of long-term patterns of risk perception and
population response to both abrupt (as in terrorism) and longer-term (as in
climate change) environmental change and translation of archaeological
information into forms useful for federal-level discussions about
adaptation and resilience.

The monthly webinar series on climate change is presented by the NPS
Climate Change Response Program. The purpose of the series is to connect
NPS employees, volunteers, and partners with scientists and experts in the
field of climate change research. Presentations begin at 2pm EST, on the
second Thursday of the month, and last about 90 minutes (a 60 minute
presentation and 30 minutes for questions).

For more information, contact: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]

Download webinar materials by visiting the Climate Change site on
Sharepoint (must be on the NPS network); look in the Web Seminars Document
library under the Climate Change Communication subsite:
http://nrpcsharepoint/climatechange/communication/Web%20Seminars/Forms/AllItems.aspx


Former Chairman of Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Wins
Archeology Award
John L. Nau, III, former chairman, Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation (ACHP), was recognized in January by the Society for
Historical Archaeology (SHA) with an Award of Merit for his outstanding
commitment to ensuring that the preservation of Texas’ and the nation’s
archeological heritage are fully considered in the development of
preservation policy. The award, which was presented by SHA President
William Lees, recognized Nau’s efforts as chairman of both the Texas
Historical Commission (1997-2009) and the ACHP (2001-2010). In both
organizations, Nau significantly raised the visibility of archeology in the
preservation process through his tireless efforts to include archeology.
Nau was cited especially for his role in the raising of the ship, La Belle,
from Texas’ waters, and for having an archeologist appointed to the ACHP
for the first time in the agency’s history.

The SHA is the largest scholarly group concerned with archeology since the
beginning of European exploration. SHA promotes scholarly research and the
dissemination of knowledge concerning historical archaeology. Established
in 1988, the SHA’s Award of Merit recognizes specific achievements of
individuals and organizations that have furthered the cause of historical
archeology.

For more information about SHA, go to http://www.sha.org/.

NPS Northeast Museum Services Center Offers Archeology Blog
As one component of an ongoing social media initiative for the NPS
Northeast Museum Services Center (NMSC), the NMSC Archeology Collection
Management Program has initiated a blog. The blog will showcase
archeological collections from throughout the NPS Northeast Region and the
ways that NMSC works to preserve these important resources. The blog will
encourage collaboration by sharing research, spotlighting collections and
parks, and asking for help in identifying objects.


The blog is split into four categories:  Behind-the-Scenes, an inside look
at collections management: Name that Artifact: photos of objects that need
identifying; A Bit of History, to share research findings, and; Spotlight
On…, that highlights individual artifacts and museum objects. The NMSC has
had 6 blog postings and 402 visitors since November 2010.



Other components of the NMSC social media initiative are Twitter and
Facebook. The NMSC has two Twitter accounts that contain slightly different
content. The web address http://twitter.com/NPS_NMSC  contains information
about NMCS work, NER museum collections, and curatorial news from various
sources; http://twitter.com/NMSC_Volunteers to showcase volunteers’ stories
and promote volunteer opportunities at NMCS. Anyone with a valid email
address can join and search for "Northeast Museum Services Center” on
Facebook.



Public outreach enables archeologists in the NPS and other Federal entities
to fulfill their responsibilities as stewards of the nation's archeological
heritage. Through forms such as blogs, Twitter, and Facebook, the NMSC
encourages the public to care about archeological resources and promotes a
stewardship ethic.



For more information about social networks and NMCS, contact Giles Parker
(617-242-5613 x214) or Megan Lentz (617-242-5613 x227)

From story by Megan Lentz

Archives Research Project Pays Off
Virgin Islands NP historian Milagro Flores traveled to Spain last summer to
conduct research and compile documentation in Spanish archives relating to
the history and cultural resources of the park. After Europeans discovered
the New World in 1492, Spain maintained control over islands in the
Caribbean until the English and French began to take control of Spain’s
colonies a few decades later. The Danish government also sent out settlers,
in defiance of both British and Spanish imperial claims to St. John and St.
Thomas, as early as 1672.

While the Danish history of St. John is currently being studied (see
Project in Parks: Making Contact with the Archeological Record: Identifying
Contact Period Sites on St. John USVI
www.nps.gov/archeology/sites/npSites/stJohn.htm), limited research has been
conducted about the numerous Spanish expeditions that mapped and recorded
every move of English, French, and Danish voyages to keep any founding
colonies from becoming a threat to Spanish territories. The purpose of the
research project was to try to find information about Spanish activities in
St. John.

About 27 primary sources were successfully identified. Among other
documents, the park now has copies of a 1767 agreement between the kings of
Spain and Denmark for the return of fugitive slaves; an account from the
governor of Puerto Rico claiming fugitive slaves; a 1765 treatise on the
management of slaves and on the establishment of a warehouse for fugitive
slaves; and a 1776 ordinance about the restitution of fugitive slaves from
Spanish territories. Documentation confirmed that there was extensive
negotiation between Denmark and Spain to control fugitive enslaved in the
Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico the 18th and 19th centuries.

The research project was successful in finding accounts relating to St.
John Island and confirmed the richness of documentation still awaiting
research. The sources will expand the depth and focus of the park’s
interpretation of the history of St. John. Improvement of the interpretive
and educational programs will benefit St. John communities and visitors
through more informed visitor experiences.

This research project was possible through the Friends of Virgin Islands
NP. Flores was assisted by intern Doris M. Diaz, also funded by the Friends
program. These important discoveries establish a base for Phase II of the
same project, approved by the Friends for FY 2011.

From story by Milagros Flores, Historian, Virgin Islands NP

2011 NPS Park NAGPRA Intern Projects Selected
The NPS Park NAGPRA internship program provides opportunities for students
to work in parks, centers, and offices nationwide on projects related to
the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Four
projects from three regions – Intermountain, Southeast, and Pacific West –
have been selected for support in 2011.

Channel Islands NP The intern will carry out comparative bioarcheological
analyses to assist the park in making cultural determinations required by
NAGPRA. ($5,500)

Little Bighorn Battlefield NM The project will support one part-time
student during FY 2011 at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument to
assist park staff during the consultation process. ($7,900)

Mesa Verde NP The intern will assist with completing NAGPRA compliance for
cultural items subject to the Future Applicability regulation and will also
document and research cultural items controlled by the Bureau of Indian
Affairs that are in the park's possession. ($8,000)

Southeast Archeological Center The intern will help complete preparations
of cultural items from the Mangum Site, Natchez Trace Parkway for
repatriation and reburial and will assist with new and ongoing NAGPRA
projects. ($8,000)

Fort Vancouver NHS Offers 2011 Artifact Calendar
Calendars offered annually by Fort Vancouver NHS feature treasures from the
park’s museum collection. The 2011 calendar focuses on the Village, the
community that grew up in the 19th century beside the fort. The Village was
home to Europeans and Euroamericans, Native Americans from 30 different
tribes, and Hawaiians, among other cultural groups. Families in the Village
supported the agricultural and mercantile activities of Fort Vancouver
through their labor. The expansion of the post resulted in unprecedented
self sufficiency and agricultural surplus and allowed Chief Factor John
McLoughlin to aid travelers on the Oregon Trail, opening the way for
full-scale Euroamerican immigration. The U.S. Army followed soon after, and
established a military post adjacent to the Hudson Bay Company’s fort. The
Army’s quartermaster’s depot was established in the Village, where many
buildings were leased to the Army.

Archeological investigations began in the Village in the late 1940s. Each
decade has seen large-scale excavations and impressive additions to our
understanding of the history and organization of the community. The 2011
calendar includes Native American carving on bone, Pacific shells, Chinese
coins, hair ornaments, and Japanese ceramics, a small representation of the
range of artifacts recovered in excavations.

Additional information about the objects is available in online versions of
catalog records and artifact
studies. You can even take a tour and view the actual artifacts!

To take a tour, read more about the collections, or purchase a calendar, go
to www.nps.gov/fova/.

NPS Recruiting for Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Teams
The NPS and Department of the Interior are recruiting natural and cultural
resource specialists to serve on post-wildfire Burned Area Emergency
Response (BAER) teams. BAER Teams need archeologists that are interested in
serving on NPS local and regional teams and the National Interagency BAER
Team.
These teams assist parks and other Federal units to conduct post-wildfire
assessments and develop BAER Plans. The plans address complex post-wildfire
situations that pose immediate and significant threats to human life,
property, and cultural and natural resources. Threats may come from flash
floods, debris flows, and erosion, looting of archeological sites, invasive
species, and land restoration issues.

BAER team members must be able to satisfy the series qualifications of the
team position at the GS-09 level. Team members must meet the Red Card
minimum physical fitness requirements (Work Capacity Test score of light
fitness). Knowledge and experience in Interagency BAER guidelines, natural
and cultural resource management policies, including mitigation and
protection measures are desired. Oral and written communication skills,
including proficiency in the use of personal PCs and Word, Excel, and Power
Point for windows applications are also useful.

BAER Teams need archeologists that are interested in serving on NPS local
and regional teams and the National Interagency BAER Team.

NPS Local and Regional Teams
The NPS maintains a roster of volunteers to serve on local and regional
teams. Team participants are selected based on the needed skill sets and
the volunteer's availability. To apply, complete the on-line application
posted at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/P5NTBFM no later than February 14,
2011. The application should specify the area of interest and must briefly
address the nominee’s professional, technical, and BAER-related
qualifications for the position. Be sure to include all contact information
(name, phone numbers, and email address).

National Interagency BAER Teams
The Department of Interior sponsors two National Interagency BAER Teams.
These teams respond to complex fires of national significance and fires
presenting severe post-fire issues. To apply for a national team, complete
the local and regional team application. In addition, the application’s
supervisor must send a memo about applicant’s qualifications and
availability to both Richard Schwab ([log in to unmask]) and Erv Gasser
([log in to unmask]). For further information on applying to the national
teams, please contact Erv Gasser directly.

If you are already on one of the teams, please reaffirm your interest in
participating or remove your name from the list by contacting Richard
Schwab (for local, regional, and national teams) and Erv Gasser (for
national teams).

For more about the BAER program, go to the DOI BAER website
www.fws.gov/fire/ifcc/esr/home.htm or contact Richard Schwab.

Visitor Caught Collecting Artifacts in Fort Bowie NHS
On December 28, 2010, a park interpretive ranger reported a visitor
illegally collecting artifacts at Fort Bowie NHS. The protection ranger who
responded recovered 111 artifacts, including historic cartridge cases, a
metal button, a barrel band from a rifle, square nails, and pieces of
historic glass from the visitor. The cost of either cataloging or
repatriating the artifacts is being calculated.

During periods of cold weather, melting snow and frost heaves often bring
historic artifacts to the surface at Fort Bowie and the illegal collection
of artifacts at the fort is an on-going problem. The park recently
installed an outdoor surveillance camera overlooking the parade ground to
help prevent the problem.

Man Sentenced in Two Year Cultural Resources Sting
A man who admitted to taking a bead from Native American ruins in San Juan
County, Utah, will not serve time in prison. U.S. District Judge Ted
Stewart sentenced Brandon F. Laws to 24 months probation for a misdemeanor
charge of trafficking in stolen artifacts. Laws had argued the items came
from private land and the transaction was legal.

In exchange for an earlier guilty plea, prosecutors dropped two felony
charges that could have meant prison time for Laws. He was originally
indicted for allegedly stealing and selling two bone beads, a shell
necklace with a clay pendant, two drills, and other pendants which were
excavated or removed from Indian lands. Though a bead is small, Stewart
noted that its removal "was part of a lifestyle that Mr. Laws and others
had engaged in that needed to be addressed." Asked by the judge if he
learned his lesson, Laws replied, "Yes sir."

Laws also must surrender all other tribal antiquities in his possession and
is barred from visiting Federal lands during his probation. Federal
prosecutor Richard McKelvie did not recommend jail time because Laws spent
six months behind bars for violating conditions of his release prior to the
hearing.

Laws, a Blanding construction worker, was among 26 people arrested in Utah,
Colorado and New Mexico after a two-year sting operation in the Four
Corners region. Four others named in the same indictment as Laws are
scheduled for a jury trial in February, 2011.

NPS to Offer Oral History Training
The NPS History Program and Organization of American Historians (OAH) will
offer a one day course “Viva Voce: Researching the Past with Oral History”
at the OAH annual meeting in Houston, Texas, on
March 19, 2011. This workshop is aimed at historians, interpreters,
archivists, ethnographers, archeologists, museum curators and others who
conduct oral history projects. Workshop leaders direct major oral history
programs and are attuned to the needs of Federal historians. Participants
can discuss issues specific to their own projects and will receive an oral
history manual, transcribing and style guide, and other resources.

The morning session will provide an overview of oral history methods and
how to complete effective oral history research projects. Topics include
project design; ethical and legal issues; interviewing techniques;
processing and archiving recordings; recording equipment (audio and video);
public programming that reaches a variety of audiences, and; impact of
digital technologies on oral history.

The afternoon session will showcase three examples of innovative oral
history work. They are the NPS-sponsored Tuskegee Airmen Oral History
Project; the “digital frontier” in oral history at the Johnson Space Center
History Office, NASA, and; how oral history is being used to document
disasters and crises such as Hurricane Katrina and the Deep Water Horizon
Oil Spill.

Tuition is $115 ($30 for workshop registration, $85 for one-day conference
registration). The course, listed in DOI Learn (NPS 2011-0319 – Houston
TX), requires supervisory approval for Federal employees.

NPS contact: Lu Ann Jones, Park History Program, WASO, (202) 354-2219.

Summer Jobs with NPS HABS/HAER/HALS
The NPS Heritage Documentation Programs (Historic American Buildings
Survey/Historic American
Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey) seeks applications
from qualified students for summer employment documenting historic sites
and structures of architectural, engineering, and landscape significance
throughout the country. Duties involve on-site field work and the
preparation of measured and interpretive drawings and written historical
reports for the HABS/HAER/HALS Collection at the Prints and Photographs
Division of the Library of Congress. Projects last twelve weeks, beginning
in May/June. Salaries range from approximately $6,000 to approximately
$11,000 for the summer, depending on job responsibility, locality of the
project, and level of experience. Applicant must be a U.S. citizen.

Applications are due by February 14, 2011 (postmark date). Application
information can be found at www.nps.gov/history/hdp/jobs/summer.htm. You
can view examples of HDP documentation on the Library of Congress web site
at lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/hhhtml/hhhome.html.

For additional information, contact Judy Davis, Summer Program
Administrator, NPS Heritage Documentation Programs Division (202) 354-2135.

Projects in Parks: The Abo Unit of Salinas Pueblo Missions National
Monument, managed by the NPS, is located west of Mountainair, New Mexico.
The Abo Unit encompasses the remains of several Native American pueblos
dating from the 13th through the 17th centuries, a 17th century Spanish
mission, various other prehistoric and historic structures and
out-buildings, and a nationally significant pictograph site, Abo Painted
Rocks. This study reports on a three-year project to record the pictographs
and paintings at the Abo Painted Rocks site.

Read the entire report at
http://www.nps.gov/archeology/sites/npSites/salinasAboRocks.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: Karen Mudar at [log in to unmask]  to contribute news items, stories for
Projects in Parks, submit citations and a brief abstract for your
peer-reviewed publications, and to subscribe.