February 2012 Archeology E-Gram

Steve Pendery Retires from NPS
NPS Archeologist Steve Pendery retired from the NPS on January 31, 2012. He
has accepted a position as director of Archaeological Services at the
University of Massachusetts. Archaeological Services specializes in all
phases of CRM projects and has conducted more than 520 cultural resource
management research projects in eight Northeastern states. You can reach
Steve at 413-545-0916.

Steve’s friends and colleagues wish him the very best in his new job.

Becky Saleeby Retires
Becky Saleeby retired on November 30, 2011, after 23 years of exemplary
service on behalf of the NPS, as an Archeologist with the Alaska Regional
Office. Her most recent job was as the National Register Programs
Archeologist. Becky's sense of service and dedication to partnerships,
education, and furthering the field of archeology gained her great respect
among her peers. She brought enthusiasm and vision to the work place each
day along with a dogged perseverance. Her legacy includes a bundle of
wonderfully written National Register nominations and two major landmark
books on Alaskan historical archeology, The Quest for Gold:  An Overview of
the National Park Service Cultural Resources Mining and Monitoring Program
(CRMIM), 2000, and Beneath the Surface:  Thirty Years of Historical
Archeology in Skagway, Alaska, 2011.


Becky’s friends and colleagues wish her all the best in her retirement.


NPS has Repository for Tree-Ring Samples
The NPS and the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research (LTRR), University of
Arizona, have signed a 10-year agreement to curate NPS tree-ring samples at
LTRR. The LTRR is engaged in a number of research programs, including fire
history and fire ecology, multiproxy paleoclimateology, archeology,
biogeography, biochemistry, and paleoecology. As part of the ongoing
research program, the LTRR maintains a repository for housing the wood
samples and cores that form the basis for this research.

The LTRR has a long history of working with the NPS on tree-ring projects.
Bulk wood samples and tree cores from natural and cultural sites help the
NPS to better understand the historical uses of and climatic and other
changes to the lands it manages. Many of the samples are currently housed
at the LTRR; the agreement will enhance LTRR’s capabilities to provide for
their preservation and enhance their research values. Likewise, NPS
collections will enhance the biological and ecological diversity
represented in the LTRR collections.
The agreement covers natural history and cultural tree specimens collected
on any NPS lands for the purposes of tree-ring analysis. All units of the
NPS will have the option of placing tree-ring collections at LTRR under
this agreement.

For more information about the history of tree-ring research in the NPS, go
to Tree Ring Dating at Mesa Verde National Park (
http://www.nps.gov/archeology/sites/npSites/MEVEtreeRings.htm)

Archeologists Condemn Reality TV Shows
The Society for American Archaeology and the Society for Historic
Archaeology have sent letters of protest to the National Geographic Society
and the president of Spike TV and the Viacom Entertainment Group over
reality TV shows that promote nonscientific digging in archeological sites.
The National Geographic Channel will air episodes of Diggers later this
year. Diggers is a series featuring the activities of two treasure hunters,
who travel to various locations in the United States to use metal detectors
to remove metal objects from archeological sites. The television episodes,
interviews that the two have given, and their website provide instructions
for locating and digging in sites, and emphasize the potentially lucrative
aspect of looting. Spike TV will air episodes of American Diggers that
contains much the same content as Diggers.

NPS National Capital Region Archeologist Stephen Potter is alarmed that
this program may trigger increased looting on public lands, particularly in
the East and South, which saw most of the battles of the Civil War. Many of
the Civil War battlefields, which contain much metal, are now NPS units.
Metal detecting on NPS lands is illegal, but Potter feels that Diggers and
American Diggers will not sufficiently emphasize the distinction between
Federal and nonfederal lands, and the protection that Federal laws provide
to archeological sites. Regardless of whether the sites are on private or
public lands, he says, metal detecting on archeological sites for the sake
of personal gain robs everyone of our national heritage.

The Federal Archeologist’s Bookshelf: Uncovering History: The Legacy of
Archeological Investigations at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National
Monument (2010) by Douglas D. Scott.
It is not often that a park archeological overview and assessment deserves
a wider audience than NPS employees, but such is the case for Uncovering
History, by Douglas Scott. Scott has provided historical background and
context for archeological and relic hunting activities at the Battle of
Little Bighorn, in eastern Montana, that illuminates the development of
metal detecting as a key element in battlefield archeology. The report “is
intended to pull together the story of how the battle’s physical evidence
came to be regarded…as artifacts and data that can aid in understanding the
events of the past…” (Scott 2010:1).

The Little Bighorn Battlefield, where Army forces led by George Armstrong
Custer were defeated by Lakota and Cheyenne Indians in 1876, became a focal
point, particularly after World War II, for the developing discipline of
battlefield archeology. Prior to the Second World War, almost all of the
historic archeological research occurred in the east, focusing on colonial
sites. The adaptation of metal detectors for peacetime use set the stage
for cooperation between historians and archeologists, and partnerships
between archeologists and avocational metal detecting clubs, that changed
the way that battlefield research was conducted. NPS staff Don Rickey and
Jesse Vaughn began using metal detectors at the Little Bighorn Battlefield
in 1956. NPS archeologist Robert Bray, who worked at the Little Bighorn
Battlefield in the late 1950s, was one of the few archeologists of his era
to advocate the use of metal detectors in studying historic sites. He went
on to employ metal detecting methods developed at the battlefield at many
other historic sites and to teach students these fieldwork techniques.

The most intense period of archeological investigation of the battlefield
occurred after the range fires of 1983. Archeologists took advantage of the
lack of vegetation to employ metal detector survey across the battlefield
and to conduct excavations in previously inaccessible areas, such as
shrub-choked ravines. Informal partnerships with groups and individuals
facilitated the metal-detecting survey of all 765 acres of the monument,
and 1200 acres outside of the monument on which the activities of the1876
battle took place. Between 1984 and 2005, 271 volunteers contributed over
12,000 hours to various archeological projects, many supervised or
coordinated by Richard Fox. These research projects contributed to the
development of an archeological model of battlefield behavior that has
become an internationally recognized standard for method and theory of
battlefield and conflict archeology.


Uncovering History will probably not educate the reader about events in the
Battle of the Little Bighorn; it provides a minimal historical overview,
assuming that the reader is already conversant with the battle’s events. An
overview map of the park with key landmarks of the battle clearly labeled
would aid in interpretation of the many aerial photos and schematic maps.
Those interested in battle interpretation should consult Archaeological
Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn (by Fox et al. 1989).

What Uncovering History does do, however, is connect archeological finds to
specific events within the battle, providing examples and insights into the
ways that these types of data are used to verify, refute, and refine our
history-based knowledge. The events, while not considered in a
chronological context, provide wonderful examples of the ways that
battlefield archeology questions, reinforces, and cross-fertilizes the
historical perspective, sometimes in unexpected ways.

Battlefield archeology provides a context for consideration of Native
American oral histories of the battle, at points more accurate than
traditionally accepted accounts. Artifact analysis was able to refute an
argument that Army guns were inadequate, causing Army troops to lose the
battle (the guns did jam, but Indians had the same guns), and that Custer’s
movements on the battlefield could be determined by locations of brass
cartridge cases (other people used brass cartridge cases, too).

The chapter on analyses of human (and horse) bones focused on
identification of individuals from the battlefield, as much forensic
archeology does at present, and the history of interment and disinterment.
The amount of burial and re-burial that went on at the battlefield was
surprising, and difficult to sort out if not for archeology. Artifacts
found with the human remains were often key elements to identify or refute
individual identities.

The report acknowledges that the Battle of the Little Bighorn was a
significant symbolic event for Native Americans as well as European
Americans and discusses the placement of rock cairns commemorating fallen
Cheyenne and Lakota warriors. Geomorphological and comparison with
ethnographically known commemorative cairns identified a class of natural
formations that were erroneously identified as commemorations. Uncovering
History ends with a summary of the contributions of the research to date
and recommendations for further work that set high standards for other
reports.

Submerged Cultural Resources Law Enforcement Training
This four-day class provides training on all aspects of the investigation
and prosecution of archeological crimes involving submerged cultural
resources. Topics covered include an overview of submerged cultural
resource crime and trafficking network; ARPA and other relevant Federal
statutes; submerged cultural resource crime scene investigation;
archeological damage assessments; search warrant preparation; and case
studies. Instructors in the class are national experts in this area of law
enforcement.

Target audiences include LE officers, archeologists, and prosecuting
attorneys in Federal, State, and local government agencies. Participants
should be assigned to management units or jurisdictions that include
submerged cultural resources.

The training will be held at Biscayne National Park March 12-15, 2012.
Applicants can register through DOILearn at http://www.doi.gov/index.cfm.
The course code is NPS-CRS2400, and the tuition is free.

Archeological Resources Protection Training Program
The Archeological Resources Protection Training Program was developed
jointly by FLETC, USFS, and NPS to provide training in archeological
investigation and prosecution of terrestrial archeological resource crimes.
Students participate in integrated lectures and discussions, but are
separated for specialized law enforcement training to archeologists, and
archeological training to law enforcement officers. The class concludes
with a practical exercise in which participants work as a team to
investigate and document a crime scene. Attendees will gather physical
evidence, write search warrants, prepare damage assessments, and provide
testimony in a court room scenario.

Enrollment is limited to full-time law enforcement officers and
archeologists employed by Federal, State, or local governments. The
training will be held at New River Gorge National River March 5-9, 2012,
and April 2-6, 2012, at a location to be announced.

For further information, send an e-mail message of inquiry to
[log in to unmask]

Archeological Damage Assessment Methods
Archeological Damage Investigation & Assessment (the new business name for
Martin McAllister’s firm) will offer Archeological Damage Assessment
Methods in Tempe, Arizona, March 26 through March 30, 2012. The class will
be hosted by Northland Research, Inc.

Potential criminal or civil prosecutions for violations of laws prohibiting
unauthorized damage to archeological sites require archeological damage
assessments. These assessments also are critically important in sentencing
for archeological violations. Archeologists who may be called upon to
provide assistance in archeological violation cases must be prepared to
assess damages according to established legal and professional standards
for these assessments. This class provides training on all aspects of the
damage assessment process. The primary instructor for the class is ADIA
Archeologist Martin McAllister.

This class is open to all professional archeologists. (Law enforcement
officers, prosecuting attorneys, and agency managers who have an interest
in archeological damage assessment may sit in on the class during the final
two days with no tuition fee.)

The class will be held at the Northland Research, Inc. office, 1865 E.
Third Street, Tempe, Arizona. The telephone number of this office is
480-894-0020. The registration deadline for the class is COB March 2, 2012.
To register for the class, contact McAllister, phone:  406-239-1874. The
class tuition fee is $850.

Submerged Cultural Resources Awareness Workshop at SAA Meeting in Memphis
The Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology will hold a Submerged
Cultural Resources Awareness Workshop, to be held on April 18, 2012, from
9am to 5pm at the SAA annual conference in Memphis, TN. This workshop is
specifically designed to introduce terrestrial archeologists, land
managers, and regulatory agencies to basic concepts in underwater
archeology in order to knowledgeably address and respond to underwater
cultural resource issues.

Topics to be covered include understanding geophysical survey methods,
exploration of public outreach and interpretation strategies, discussion of
report requirements and personnel qualifications, examination of submerged
cultural resources legislation, and review of case studies and best
practices.

You can register for this workshop as part of your online advanced
registration:
https://ecommerce.saa.org/saa/source/meetings/meetingshome.cfm?section=events
 Advance registration rates will end on 2012/3/17 3:00 AM (EST).

For more information about the workshop, e-mail [log in to unmask] or go
to Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology www.acuaonline.org

Petrographic Analysis for Conservation Workshop
The NPS National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT)
and The Center for Historic Architecture and Design (CHAD), School for
Public Policy and Administration, University of Delaware will host a
two-day hands-on workshop on polarized light microscopy for the study of
stone and ceramic cultural materials. Polarized light microscopy of stone
and ceramics, thin-section petrography, is a crucial tool for the study of
objects and building materials. The technique is used to identify materials
and their sources, understand production technology and object functions,
study deterioration mechanisms, and assess preservation strategies and
conservation treatments.

The workshop include introduction to polarized light microscopy for
identifying minerals, analysis of cultural materials made of stone
(igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic) and analysis of pottery, terracotta
sculptures, bricks, tiles, and clay core materials from bronze castings.
The lead instructor for the workshop is Chandra L. Reedy, CHAD.

The workshop will be held March 27-28, 2012, at the USFWS National
Conservation Training Center (NCTC) in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. The
cost of the workshop is $299. Participants are responsible for their own
travel, housing, and meals. Participants, however, are strongly urged to
stay on-site at NCTC. Workshop hotel costs, which include all meals, are
$129 per night for single room, plus tax. Registration is open through
March 6, 2012, at
http://ncptt.nps.gov/petrographic-analysis-for-conservation/Projects in
Parks:  is taking a break this month.

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.