When may we expect the report on UAC's excavation in the Santa Monica Mountains ?



 

 

 
 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Mudar, Karen <[log in to unmask]>
To: HISTARCH <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wed, Nov 30, 2016 6:52 am
Subject: NPS Archeology E-Gram November 2016

*November 2016 Archeology E-Gram*



*NPS NEWS*


*Angie Richman New Sitka National Historical Park Chief of Interpretation*

Sitka NHS welcomes a new Chief of Interpretation and Education, Angie
Richman. Richman was acting Chief of Interpretation in 2013. Since 2014,
she has been working as a science communication consultant on several NPS
national and international efforts.


Richman started with the NPS in 2000 as an interpretive park guide at Chaco
Culture NHP.  Since that time she’s worked in interpretation, science
communication, and natural resources in ten different national park units,
a regional office, and most recently for the Washington Office, where she
was the communication specialist for the Climate Change Response Program.
There, Richmond oversaw the development of a nationwide approach to climate
change communication.


Richman also served for two years as a Master Interpreter for the NPS
Intermountain Regional Office and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP &
Curecanti NRA. She was the lead seasonal interpreter and astronomy
volunteer coordinator for Bryce Canyon NP from 2004-2007.  She also worked
as a physical science technician for the Southeast Utah Group and Pinnacles
NM.


Richman holds a BA in Physics and Astrophysics from the University of New
Mexico with a minor in Archaeology, emphasizing Cultural Astronomy; and an
Associate of Science Degree from Utah Valley State College. She will start
her new position December 12, 2016.


*by Ryan Carpenter*



*NAGPRA Grant Enables Repatriation*

The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan and its Ziibiwing Cultural
Society, in cooperation with five other Authorized Transfer Recipient
Tribes, will lead the repatriation of the remains of 98 Native American
individuals from the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.  All
repatriation activities are being supported by a grant from the NPS
National NAGPRA Program.



The Ziibiwing Cultural Society works on behalf of the Saginaw Chippewa
Indian Tribe of Michigan, and in cooperation with the Michigan Anishinaabek
Cultural Preservation & Repatriation Alliance, on repatriation issues. The
other tribes involved include the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians,
Michigan;  Match-e-be-n ash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of
Michigan – Gun Lake Tribe;  Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi,
Michigan; Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indiana; and
Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Michigan.



The human remains were removed from Michigan’s Alpena, Berrien, Kent,
Newaygo, Saint Clair, Washtenaw and Wayne counties and one unknown site.
Eight Notices of Inventory Completion were published in the Federal Register
 on October 3, 2016.



*Urban Archeology Corps in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation
Area*

Now in its second year, the 2016 Santa Monica Mountains NRA Urban
Archeology Corps (2016 UAC) consisted of nine youth ages 15-23.  Over the
summer, the group excavated a newly discovered Contact Period Chumash
Indian site in the Santa Monica Mountains. The 2016 UAC crew finished an
excavation unit begun by the 2015 UAC team, and began a new one.
Archeologists and a Chumash representative provided guidance and taught
local history.  The work taught participants valuable archeological skills,
and fostered bonds through teamwork, and interest in working outdoors.  In
addition to archeological work, students visited urban national parks,
historic sites and neighborhoods, archeological labs, and museums
throughout Los Angeles County.



The Urban Archeology Corps (UAC) engages youth aged 16-25 in local urban
archeological projects.  Through their work experience with the UAC,
participants become familiar with the National Park System, local parks,
and archeology; and acquire important professional skills. Now in its fifth
year nationally, the UAC introduces youth to the archeological process
including excavation, historic preservation, research, cataloguing,
interpretation, and civic engagement; and instructs participants in the
importance of stewardship and public preservation.  Youth are introduced to
new career paths and learn important professional and academic skills,
while utilizing digital technologies to create products that provide
tangible demonstrations of the value of the program.



*By Amanda Chen                     *



*Minute Man National Park Releases Archeology Report*

The Friends of Minute Man National Park released the final archeology
report on the Parker’s Revenge battle, a 1775 encounter in which Captain
John Parker engaged the British Regulars on their march back from Concord
to Boston. The 320-page report summarizes historical research on the
battle, details the full range of technologies deployed in the
archeological research and describes battle tactics likely utilized by
Colonial and British forces. The project findings are noteworthy because
only one brief witness account of the battle has ever been identified by
historians.



Technologies utilized in the research informed excavations and 1775
battlefield reconstructions.  These methods included 3D laser scanning; GPS
feature mapping; and geophysical surveys, including metallic surveys,
ground penetrating radar, magnetic gradient and conductivity/magnetic
susceptibility.  Researchers located a farmhouse that figured prominently
in the battle terrain and recreated the 1775 battlefield landscape and
features.  The location and spatial patterning of recovered musket balls
enabled archeologists to interpret positions where individuals were
standing during the battle and outline battle tactics most likely deployed.



The Parker’s Revenge project is a collaborative venture between the Friends
of Minute Man National Historical Park, Minute Man NHP, the NPS Northeast
Regional Archeology Program, the Town of Lexington’s Community Preservation
Fund, the Lexington Minute Men and other living history experts, Save Our
Heritage, the Civil War Trust’s Campaign 1776 project, the American
Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati and numerous local
supporters.



For more information about the Parker’s Revenge project and for a copy of
the archeology report, visit http://www.friendsofminuteman.org
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.friendsofminuteman.org%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGGrvUrgBkKUVhtl14zn6muR603cQ>



Restitution Made for Illegal Timber Harvest in Ozark National Scenic
Riverways

Two men who extracted timber from within the boundaries of Ozark NSR have
completed payment of $52,469 in restitution. The amount was reached in a
pretrial diversion agreement and equals the cost of site remediation
and the sale price of the erroneously-harvested timber. Though the timber
harvest was illegal, investigators determined that no criminal intent was
behind the activity. The men responsible for the resource damage to the
park cooperated with the NPS and US Attorney's Office throughout the
investigation.



An ISB Special Agent and Ozark NSR park rangers opened an investigation in
March 2013, when a ranger found a logging operation in the area of the
historic Susie Nichols Cabin, inside the park's boundaries. The14-month
investigation determined that 400 oak trees were taken from the park. An
archeological assessment conducted as part of the investigation found that
no cultural resources were damaged or destroyed.



John Bryan of the US Forest Service, the Assistant US Attorney for the
Eastern District of Missouri, and NPS Archeologist Caven Clark assisted in
the case.



*by Elissa Torres*


*FEDERAL NEWS*


*US Forest Service Federal Preservation Officer Michael Kaczor Retires*

USFS FPO and National Heritage Program Leader Michael Kaczor retired on
October 28, 2016 after 16 years of service. Previously, he was the FPO for
the National Resources Conservation Service.


Over the past 16 years Kaczor’s accomplishments include leading revision of
cultural resources policy in 2008, and procedures in 2014, that laid a
foundation for field personnel to use the Secretary of tine Interior’s
Professional Standards and Guidelines.


He also led the development of a “smart” database that collapsed 50
different cultural systems into one unified Heritage Module.  The system –
which generates reports, tracks SHPO compliance, and enables mobile
computing – saves significant staff time, resulting in a 30+ percent shift
from NHPA Section 106 compliance work to Section 110 activity.


Kaczor coordinated the HistoriCorps Memorandum of Understanding  that was
signed by the USFS, Interior agencies, and NGO partners and development of
a component for training returning war veterans. The partnership enabled
veterans to work on deferred maintenance cultural resource projects between
2008 and 2013, reducing the backlog by one third, from $35 million to just
below $23 million.


Implementation of the Heritage Program Managed to Standard that Kaczor
championed creates a performance measure that is compatible with USFS
policy and entirely based upon NHPA Section 110 requirements.  The measure
consists of seven program function indicators that are scored based upon
resource and event information.



Kaczor also assumed a leadership role with stakeholders in Green Mountain
Fire Lookout discussions that resulted in legislation that preserved the
historic property; provided direct input into USFS Wilderness Policy Manual
changes; crafted standard legislative response and wilderness bill
testimony to include cultural resources; and provided technical content on
Wilderness performance scoring that includes a section on the protection of
cultural resources in wilderness.



Kaczor plans to go into private consulting after taking a well-deserved
break. His friends and colleagues wish him the very best for the next stage
of his cultural resources career.


*10,000-year-old Human Remains from Spirit Cave Returned to Tribe's Control*

Formal control of a mummified set of tribal remains believed to be some of
the oldest in North America has been transferred to the Fallon Paiute
Shoshone Indian Tribe. Control of the remains and other funeral-related
items found in Spirit Cave east of Fallon was formally transferred to the
tribe.



The Nevada State Museum had been serving as the curator of the human
remains, which were discovered by archeologists Sydney and Georgia Wheeler
during a salvage excavation on behalf of the state Parks Commission in
1940. Carbon dating conducted on textile samples from the cave in the
mid-1990s indicated some were more than 10,000 years old.


*The Federal Archeologist’s Bookshelf*

*Treasured Landscapes: National Park Service Art Collections Tell America’s
Stories* edited by Joan Bachrach


In 2016 the National Park Service celebrated the 100th anniversary of the
establishment of this beloved Federal agency. The Organic Act that
established the Service knit together independent parks, some established
40 years previously, into a single management framework. The Act removed
parks like Yosemite from military supervision and created a system of
protected places for Americans to enjoy. While most Americans are aware
that the Park Service manages land, fewer are aware that the service is
also responsible for important works of art. *Treasured Landscapes:
National Park Service Art Collections Tell America’s Stories*, celebrates
the art collections of the Park Service.



NPS Museum Program exhibit curator Joan Bacharach worked with Laura
Anderson and Beth Miller to choose works of art from 45 park collections
for the book and an accompanying virtual exhibit. Curators and staff
responsible for collections contributed images from their parks.
Selections range from the expected landscapes and wildlife to still-life,
architecture, and portraits.



There are 188 works of art in the book and 320 in the online exhibit. The
pieces range from formal landscapes to quick half-surreal sketches.  Many
different mediums are represented as well, including pen and ink, charcoal,
oils, platinotype, and water color. They are expertly photographed; in one
instance you can even see wrinkles in the paper from gouache of the unknown
artist.  This is quite a feat, considering that, with few exceptions,
curatorial staff at individual parks photographed and submitted images.



Bacharach, Anderson, and Miller organize the works of art into 3 themes
(galleries) and 14 topics, each introduced by a short essay. The themes are
America’s treasured landscapes; landscape art of prominent Americans
(including, in this election year, a healthy dose of presidential art); and
art that reflects the American experiences. Topics range from the personal
and intimate, such as “Views of Home,” to sweeping events, “Conflict” and
“Confinement,” that continue to inform contemporary discussions. “Americans
Abroad” subtly reminds the reader of the impact that the concept of
national parks – “America’s best idea” – has had on landscape preservation
and outdoor recreation in other countries.



The short essays that introduce each topic add much value by providing
social and political context for the art and artists. Each gallery, in
addition, contains information on park collections whose holdings are
featured in that gallery as well as biographical details about individual
artists. Bacharach was assisted by interns from George Washington
University in research for the essays; the “Artists in the Gallery and in
Park Collections” section for each gallery; and liner notes. Amber Dumler
was responsible for both the book and the virtual exhibit design, both
intelligently organized.



The lovingly chosen works of art are wonderful. Two pieces with sharp and
careful details are on the same page. In ”Portrait of the Old House in
1849” a large and tidy white house with blue and green shutters is
surrounded by delicately rendered trees and precisely painted fence
palings. The “Birthplaces of the Presidents John Adams and John Quincy
Adams” depicts stolid saltbox Massachusetts architecture. A stone wall
sheds cobbles across the street from the houses.



“Personal Taste” is a clever vehicle for subjects other than park units.
“(White Flowers)” by George Washington Carver was the happy result of the
Carver’s experimentation with new paints. The blossoms spill down the panel
in beautiful profusion. Another memorable inclusion is “Lake Bank Birches,”
by Wallace Nutting, a hand-tinted platinotype unsettling both in color and
perspective.



I was happy to see paintings by Walter Alois Weber. These iconic depictions
of animals in their characteristic habitats have hung in various NPS
offices and hallways since they were commissioned in the 1930s, and are as
much representative of the Park Service as the flat hat.  The most
arresting Weber in this collection is probably “Wolves by Night” with their
glowing eyes, but my personal favorite is the “Ivory-billed Woodpeckers,”
flying, as they never will again in life, through a Southern swamp.
Bacharach confessed, “I never liked the Weber paintings until I started
working on this project. Then I fell in love with them! It is difficult to
paint life-like animals, and his paintings are all excellent.”



Art in the “Waterscape” gallery, a counterpoint to the landscapes, may have
been chosen for their masterly treatment of light. Several pieces by Moran
were included, as well as a Bierstadt and lesser known artists. The four
scenes of San Francisco Bay, ranging in date from 1849 to 1914 were
delightful with their historical detail and stylized houses and boats.
This gallery contained two fantastic pieces, both by Marcus
Simons-Pinckney.  “The Olive Branch Tendered to the World but Enforced by
the Sword of Justice and Might Beneath” features a reclining woman offering
the sword of justice to a distant city just visible beyond a body of water.
In “Porcelain Towers,” luminous ships powered by sails like bat wings move
calmly past vaguely oriental towers that give the piece its name. Someone
in Teddy Roosevelt’s household clearly liked Simons-Pinckney.



Bacharach also included three pieces by Carl Bodmer. Perhaps best known for
his accurate depictions of Native Americans, these are a beaver family and
two riverscapes with steamboats. The boats, trailing streamers of smoke,
must have seemed such as foreign to Indians standing on the riverbanks as
they do to us, nearly two hundred years later.  Historical pieces by other
artists include Civil War sketches.



Since the establishment of the Hudson River School, the American landscape
painting movement has been deeply entwined with the American conservation
movement. As Bacharach notes, “The confluence of artistic, literary, and
political attention to America’s scenic beauty eventually laid the
foundation for the creation of the first national parks and helped
establish conservation as a national value.” This timely book reminds us of
what we have lost and what we stand to lose in the next 100 years of the
National Park Service.



*Treasured Landscapes: National Park Service Art Collections Tell America’s
Stories* is available through Eastern National eParks at
bit.ly/eparks-nps-treasured-landscapes (It’s sold out as of November 30,
2016, but will be available again soon).



To visit the virtual exhibit, go to http://go.usa.gov/xKCPR or
https://www.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/landscape_art/index.html (You can order
the book here as well.)


*Zuni Crew Preserves Ancestor’s Legacy* *At Chimney Rock National Monument*

Visitors to Chimney Rock NM have a safer hike to the mesa top thanks to a
Native American crew from Zuni Pueblo, a tribe with cultural ties to the
ancestral Puebloans.  The trail to the Great House Pueblo on the mesa at
7,000 feet may only be a half-mile long, but it’s steep and rocky.

Eight young Zuni tribal members worked for four weeks to upgrade the trail
at Chimney Rock NM under the Southwest Conservation Corps Ancestral Lands
Program (SCC). SCC established the program in 2008 at Acoma Pueblo and
expanded it to include crews from the Navajo Nation and Zuni Pueblo. SCC
Ancestral Lands crews work across the West on historical preservation and
traditional agriculture projects, stream restoration, fencing and trail
construction.



Tyler Albers, USFS Pagosa District trail crew boss, was excited to have the
Zuni crew at Chimney Rock NM.  “We covered the trail surface with gravel to
minimize erosion and replaced the old wooden steps to provide more stable
surfaces.”  Geotextile fabric facilitated drainage and kept gravel in
place. An important benefit was to protect archeological resources under
the trail itself.

“The trail runs through the remains of nine pit house structures, so
covering those with a buffer will help protect the sites,” said Lindsey
Smith, USFS Pagosa District archeologist. The pit houses are residential
sites most likely occupied at the same time as the Great House Pueblo.



Chimney Rock NM covers 7 square miles of the San Juan NF and features
hundreds of prehistoric pit houses and ceremonial buildings built by the
ancestral Puebloans. The USFS has received a grant from the Colorado State
Historical Fund to conduct an ethnographic study with tribes with cultural
ties to Chimney Rock. This research will help land managers better
understand and incorporate Native American interests into interpretation of
the site. Gerardo Gutiérrez, University of Colorado, Boulder, recently
completed LiDAR mapping at Chimney Rock NM. The maps will allow the USFS to
create three-dimensional images of the Great House to identify previously
unknown features and archeological sites.


*By Ann Bond, Public Affairs specialist, San Juan National Forest*


*US Cancels Energy Leases in Montana Area Sacred to Blackfeet*

U.S. officials have cancelled 15 oil and gas leases in an area bordering
Glacier NP considered sacred to the Blackfoot tribes of the U.S. and
Canada. The cancellation was aimed at preserving the Badger-Two Medicine
area, a largely-undeveloped, 130,000-acre area.



“It should not have been leased to begin with,” Interior Secretary Sally
Jewell said in announcing the cancellations. She said federal officials
made decisions without sufficient input from tribal members who had
cultural concerns.



The 15 cancelled oil and gas leases were issued in the early 1980s and held
by Oklahoma-based Devon Energy. Interior officials said they were sold
without proper consultations with tribal leaders. No drilling has occurred
and the cancellation was made in cooperation with Devon executives. Montana
U.S. Senator Jon Tester said the company deserved credit for its
willingness to relinquish the leases in an area that’s prime habitat for
grizzly bears, bighorn sheep, elk and other wildlife.



In March 2016 federal officials canceled a 6,200-acre lease in the
Badger-Two-Medicine that was held by Solenex LLC. The Baton Rouge,
Louisiana, company has been seeking to drill for gas in the area for the
past several years. It has challenged the government’s decision in U.S.
District Court in Washington, D.C.



Two oil and gas leases remain in the area. Federal officials plan to
address the remaining leases, but they have been unable to contact their
owners.


*By Matthew Brown, Washington Post*


*GRANTS AND TRAINING*



*National Center for Preservation and Technology Transfer Offer
Archeological Modeling*

The NPS National Center for Preservation and Technology Transfer (NCPTT) is
offering a two-and-a-half day workshop on modeling for archeological
resources. The course will be offered December 15-17, 2016, at the
University of Arkansas. Instructors are Ken Kvamme and Marilyn O. Ruiz.
Topics regarding archeological modeling will include history and theory;
database management; weighted overlay analysis; ecological niche; and
future directions.  Software applications will include ArcMap, MaxEnt,
GeoDa, and TerrSet. Tuition for the course is $350.00.


To register, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/archeological-modeling-2016-
tickets-28425024012


*Contact: *Tad Britt, 318-351-5641.

Nominations Accepted: Secretary of the Interior's Historic Preservation
Award

Recognize a state, tribal, local, or Federal government employee for
outstanding contributions to cultural heritage preservation by nominating
them for the Secretary of the Interior’s award for historic preservation.
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of NHPA by highlighting an outstanding
individual in the preservation community.

The Secretary’s Award for Historic Preservation recognizes the
contributions of employees across many levels of government to maintaining,
preserving, and enhancing cultural heritage. This award is mandated as a
Cabinet-level recognition that focuses on the accomplishments of individual
employees whose work enhanced and/or improved historic preservation in
their agency or division of government. The award comes with a special
citation and a monetary award of $1,000. Up to four awards are presented
annually, one in each category (state, tribal, local, and Federal) as
selected by a national competition administered by the NPS and the DOI
Office of the Secretary.


Nominations are due January 6, 2017. For detailed information about the
creation of this award program, please see Personnel Bulletin No. 08-12
(August 14, 2008).



*Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory Offers Training*

The Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory (MAC Lab) located
at Jefferson
Patterson Park and Museum is hosting a two-day workshop on artifact
identification, collections management strategies and field conservation
strategies for archeologists. The workshop is open to practicing
professionals and graduate students in the field of archeology. Because of
limited space and the desire to have hands-on activities, each session will
be taught to groups of no more than 10, for a maximum of 20
total participants. Sessions include colonial and post-colonial bottles, by
Mara Kaktins, George Washington’s Ferry Farm; projectile points by Ed
Chaney, Deputy Director, MAC Lab;
collections management by Rebecca Morehouse, Curator of State Collections
and Sara Rivers Cofield, Curator of Federal Collections, MAC Lab; and
conservation for archeologists with Nichole Doub, Head Conservator, MAC
Lab.  Cost: $120 per participant.



For more information, email Patricia Samford at [log in to unmask]
gov.



*SLIGHTLY OFF TOPIC**: * *Message from Staff of the Archeology E-Gram*
For the past 12 years the Archeology E-Gram has provided timely and useful
information about training, educational resources, research, and
archeological events to archeologists in the NPS, other Federal agencies,
and the wider archeological community.

 In 2016 we reported on the death of NPS Archeologist Robert Powers,
historical archeologist Stanley South and gender archeologist Joan Gero.
We celebrated with Greg Burtchard, Todd Swain and Stephen Potter their
retirements. We also noted archeologists who are accepting new
responsibilities in regional offices, park integrated resource programs,
and other areas of the NPS. It has been a year of change.

 “The Federal Archeologist’s Bookshelf” (FAB) was revitalized this year
with an article by Andrew Tremayne (NPS Alaska Regional Office). “New
Evidence for the Timing of Arctic Small Tool Tradition Coastal Settlement
in Northwest Alaska” was followed by Ancestors of Worthy Life: Plantation
Slavery and Black Heritage at Mount Clare by Teresa S. Moyer (NPS
Washington Support Office). FAB also reviewed Crafting Preservation
Criteria by John H. Sprinkle; National Park Roads by Tim Davis, and
Treasured Landscapes: National Park Service Art Collections Tell America’s
Stories, by Joan Bacharach, (all NPS Washington Support Office).

 We encourage you to submit news items, training announcements, report
titles and summaries for “The Federal Archeologist’s Bookshelf,” and
suggestions for other features. We have thoroughly enjoyed working with
everyone who contributed to the Archeology E-Gram. The production and
editorial staff of the Archeology E-Gram wish you and your families all the
best for the coming year.

 *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 *
pagewww.nps.gov/archeology/public/news.htm
<http://www.nps.gov/archeology/public/news.htm_> on the NPS Archeology
Program website.


*Contact*: Karen Mudar at [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> to contribute news
items and to subscribe.