*December 2016 Archeology E-Gram*



*NPS NEWS*


*Buffalo National River Hires New Archeologist*

Suika Rivett is the new archeologist for the Buffalo NR. In six years of
Federal service, Rivett has worked as an archeologist, tribal liaison, and
cultural resource manager for the NPS and USFS. She spent two years as an
archeologist at the Great Smoky Mountains NP where she worked with tribal
leaders and local students through a field school and other school
programs.  Rivett began her career at the Chugach NF.



Rivett will be moving to Buffalo NR from her current position as Bighorn
Canyon NRA archeologist.  A native of Arkansas, Rivett earned her BA in
Anthropology at the University of Arkansas and completed graduate work in
archeology at Michigan Technological University.



*Ocmulgee National Monument is National Treasure*

The National Trust for Historic Preservation designated Ocmulgee NM a
National Treasure on December 2, 2016.  Speakers at the ceremony included
David Brown, Executive Vice-President and Chief Preservation Officer,
National Trust; Jim David, Superintendent, Ocmulgee NM;  Brian Adams,
Ocmulgee National Parks and Preserve Initiative;  Karen Lambert, Peyton
Anderson Foundation; Chris Watson, National Parks Conservation Association;
and Mark McDonald, Georgia President, the National Trust for Historic
Preservation.



For the past 65 years, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has
protected more than 80 National Treasures. Among them are threatened
buildings, neighborhoods, communities, and landscapes that stand at risk
across the county. Ocmulgee NM is the first such park in Georgia and one of
16 sites listed in the Southeast Region.


*Leslie Peterson Retires*

Leslie Peterson has announced her retirement after 34 years in the NPS.
Peterson started in the NPS Southeast Archeological Center in 1976 as an
archeologist, doing site testing along the Natchez Trace. The following
year, she entered graduate school at the University of Nebraska and
transferred to the NPS Midwest Archeological Center, where she worked until
1981. In 1984, Peterson became a museum curator for the FWS Steamboat
Bertrand Collection. She then became an interpreter and cultural resources
specialist at Lake Mead NRA.



Peterson moved to the NPS Denver Service Center in 1997. During her 18
years with DSC, she’s worked as an editor, analyst, cultural resources
specialist, and contract coordinator in the Planning Division. After
retirement, Peterson and her husband plan to reconnect with their old
archeological networks and share their knowledge and passion through
volunteer work. She retired on December 31, 2016.



*Urban Archeology Corps **- National Capital Parks-East*

Ranging in age from 15-20, 9 students participated in the 2016 National
Capital Parks-East Urban Archeology Corps (NACE UAC) in Washington, DC,
which partners with Groundwork Anacostia River, DC.  Through research,
excavation, and community engagement, the 2016 NACE UAC team discovered and
shared information about a historic Anacostia neighborhood.



The NACE UAC team excavated an NPS-owned property across the street from
the Frederick Douglass NHS.  The team was tasked with research and
archeological excavation to determine whether there were cultural resources
present on the site.  They excavated two trenches.



Artifacts, including bricks, glass, pottery fragments, and even a button,
were exhibited at the team’s public archeology day, where they shared what
they learned about the importance and processes of archeology.  As members
of the communities they worked in, many team members expressed a connection
with the history they learned.


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 exposed 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.



*New Website for NPS Office of Tribal Relations and American Cultures*

The programs of the NPS Office of Tribal Relations and American Cultures
(TRAC) provide support to managers, indigenous communities, and the public
through research, policy formulation and outreach activities related to
the diverse cultural stories of our nation. TRAC promotes relevance,
diversity and inclusion in cultural resource management through applied
anthropological research, tribal historic preservation office grants, youth
programs, cultural resources education, and cultural resources
interpretation.



TRAC consists of the Cultural Anthropology program, Park NAGPRA
program, Tribal Historic Preservation program, and Cultural Resources
Office of Interpretation and Education.



To visit the TRAC website, go to www.nps.gov/trac



*Contact:* Jennifer Taulkin-Spaulding, 202-354-2090


*Rachel Adler Joins the Vanishing Treasures Program's Technical Team*

Rachel Adler is the NPS Vanishing Treasures Program’s new Architectural
Conservator.  She will assist parks to identify deterioration mechanisms
and assess traditional building materials conditions; develop conservation
treatments to address material deficiencies and/or environmentally and
human caused deterioration; analyze building materials for composition and
performance characteristics; assess conservation treatments for
applicability, feasibility, and success; and develop treatments to improve
resource conditions.

Adler began working for the NPS as a seasonal Exhibit Specialist at
Bandelier NM in 2010. During that time she led crews in documentation and
condition assessment of backcountry cavate sites in the Tsankawi unit. In
2012, Adler became a term employee with the Bandelier NM Vanishing
Treasures Program, continuing to work on the preservation of some of the
park’s most iconic sites. In 2014, she joined the State Archives of New
Mexico.


Adler holds a MS in Historic Preservation from the University of
Pennsylvania and a BA in Archaeology from Wesleyan University. Her graduate
studies included research and fieldwork at Mesa Verde NP and El Morro NM.



Adler started her new position on November 28, 2016, and is duty stationed
in Santa Fe, NM.



*Centennial Find of Sprite Bottle Celebrating NPS 50th*

During 2016, Glen Canyon NRA partnered with the City of Page, Arizona, to
install vault toilets at the parking area at Horseshoe Bend overlook.
During archeological monitoring, Michael Gonzales, Page Street Department
Supervisor; Sam Dillon, Glen Canyon American Conservation Experience
Archeological Intern; and NPS archeologist Brian Harmon discovered a trash
dump. In the dump was a Sprite soft drink bottle with "ZION NATIONAL PARK"
embossed on its base.



Researching the connection between Sprite bottles and National Parks,
Harmon learned that in 1966, during the NPS 50th anniversary, Coca-Cola
embossed names of national parks and monuments on the bottom of soft drink
bottles to promote public support for federal recreation areas. Coca-Cola
continued the promotion into the late 1970s or early 1980s but "ZION
NATIONAL PARK” went out of use around 1974, providing an end date for the
bottle and a use date for the dump.



“This isn't the most exciting or profound archeology I’ve ever
encountered,” said Harmon, “but it was awfully fun to round out the
Service's 100th birthday with an echo of its 50th.”



*By Brian C. Harmon, Archeologist, Glen Canyon NRA and Rainbow Bridge NM*



*FEDERAL NEWS*


*No Current Easement for Dakota Access Pipeline Crossing*

Jo-Ellen Darcy, the Army's Assistant Secretary for Civil Works, has
announced that, at present, the Army will not approve an easement to allow
the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe, North Dakota,
less than a mile from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe reservation. The
decision is based on a need to explore alternate routes for the Dakota
Access Pipeline crossing. The consideration of alternative routes would be
best accomplished through an Environmental Impact Statement. The Army had
announced on November 14, 2016, that it was delaying the decision on the
easement to allow for discussions with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
Tribal officials have expressed repeated concerns over the risk that a
pipeline rupture or spill could pose to its water supply and treaty rights.



DOI Secretary Sally Jewell praised the Army’s decision, saying it
“underscores that tribal rights reserved in treaties and federal law, as
well as nation-to-nation consultation with tribal leaders, are essential
components” of discussions in infrastructure projects. The announcement
came just one day before the ACE deadline for thousands of Native American
and environmental activists – who call themselves water protectors – to
leave the encampment on the banks of the Missouri river. For months, they
have protested over their fears that the pipeline would contaminate their
water source and destroy sacred sites. Members of hundreds of other
indigenous tribes joined, resulting in the largest gathering of Native
American tribes in more than a century. War veterans volunteered to serve
as a “human shield” for the protesters, who have been subjected to rubber
bullets, water cannons and teargas from local law enforcement.



The Dakota Access Pipeline is an approximately 1,172 mile pipeline that
would connect the Bakken and Three Forks oil production areas in North
Dakota to an existing crude oil terminal near Pakota, Illinois. The
pipeline is projected to transport approximately 470,000 barrels of oil per
day, with a capacity as high as 570,000 barrels. The current proposed
pipeline route would cross Lake Oahe, an Army Corps of Engineers project on
the Missouri River.


*From story by U.S. Army*


*Department of Interior Proposes New Paleontological Regulations*

DOI proposed regulations under the Paleontological Resources Preservation
Act of 2009 (PRPA) were published in the Federal Register on December 7,
2016. The proposed regulation will be available for public inspection and
comment until February 6, 2017.  The paleontology rules will help to
preserve, manage, and protect these resources found on federal lands
operated by the NPS, FWS, BLM, and USBR.



The public has 60 days to comment.



To read the proposed rules, go to www.blm.gov/paleontology  or navigate
directly to the Federal Register at https://www.federalregister.gov/ and
search for Regulation Identification Number 1093-AA16.



*The Federal Archeologist’s Bookshelf*

*LGBTQ America, A Theme Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and
Queer History **edited by Megan Springate*



National Historic Landmarks Program theme studies provide historic context
for understanding particular topics and provides tools for identifying
places significant to that theme. The studies are also used to educate the
public and to shape interpretation at historic sites. Since 1959, over 70
theme studies have set agendas for considering National Historic Landmarks
(NHL).


The most recent theme study, *LGBTQ America: A Theme Study of Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer History**, examines a difficult area in
American history, civil rights and gender equality. It was made possible
through the NPS New Area Study Act in 2000, in which Congress directed the
NPS to develop a series of special studies that focused on civil rights. In
2014, the Gill Foundation donated $250,000 to fund the LGBTQ Heritage
Initiative, including the theme study. Megan Springate, who had been doing
independent study work on LGBTQ historic places since 2012, was asked to be
the primary consultant for the initiative, and edited the theme study.*


*The study compiles 32 contributions that address aspects of LGBTQ
identities in America and, yes, there is a chapter on archeology. One of
the key underlying philosophies that structure the study was that a full
understanding of American LBGTQ history is only possible when the histories
of all the communities that fall under the LBGTQ umbrella are told. To this
end, the chapters are organized thematically, rather than chronologically,
into six sections – Introduction, Preserving LBGTQ History; Inclusive
Stories; Themes; Places; and Legacy.  Authors also emphasized
intersectionality, the recognition that various axes of identity influence
and are influenced by each other, including race, gender, and class. They
argue that operationalizing intersectionality will result in more nuanced
understandings of the archeological record. *


*“LGBTQ Archeological Context,” by Springate, is a thoughtful essay on the
state of recent LGBTQ archeology. It includes an overview of the archeology
of LGBTQ sites; identifies topics that archeological investigations can
address; and provides examples.  The introduction swiftly moves us through
studies published in the last 20 years, but the dense footnotes contain
references to even older articles. Springate notes that the body of work is
small and may reflect reluctance by archeologists to be associated with
controversial topics. Most of the studies focus on same sex relationships
in former British colonies, and multiple genders in Native American
cultures.*


*Springate points out that investigation of LGBTQ sites and identities can
contribute to wider discussions in archeology and anthropology. Archeology
is well-suited to study physically and socially marginalized groups and in
examining the formation and negotiation of political and social communities
and identities. She compares the potential of LGBTQ studies with the
advances that have been made in studying gender and enslaved people. Work
on LGBTQ sites can inform broader investigations into the materiality of
identity by serving as case studies and in raising issues and possible
solutions.*


*Shortly after reading the LGBTQ theme study, I read an article about the
colonization of western Pacific Islands.*[1]* Nitrogen analysis of bone
from pioneers demonstrated that, in general, males had greater access to
protein-rich foods than females. The authors suggested that a sexual
division of labor in which males fished and hunted (and ate what they
caught), or social ranking that accorded males higher status and greater
access to protein, produced the signature.*


*The graphed data (Figure 9, for those who are interested), however, are
more complex. The sexes are not clearly separated – the range of data
points associated with females was more restricted, while the range of the
male data points is wider and overlaps the females completely. Only 4-6 of
the sample of 23 male individuals had greater scores (indicating a high
protein diet) than 3 of the 25 females. Many of the biological males
exhibited nitrogen scores as low as females. The authors did not comment on
this distribution.*


*I was struck by the minimal consideration of the graphical data. What does
it mean when there are females in the sample whose signal levels are as
high as or higher than males? Does it mean that some of the girls liked to
go fishing with the guys? Does it mean that there were high status women as
well as men? And what about the men whose nitrogen values are on par with
women? Are they working fields, establishing new crops, instead of fishing
and hunting? Are they low status individuals? Or is this a signature of a
population with more than two genders?  And what does it mean when
researchers conclude that males had greater access to protein, and yet some
females scored higher than the males?*


*Archeological data, in many instances, is not conducive to answering
questions of individual agency. The data are, usually, more suited to
answering settlement-wide questions on the scale of centuries or even
millennia.  Archeologically, LBGTQ people may be invisible most of the
time, especially when they conform to cultural norms in burial,
food-getting, and other activities that archeologists can study.*


*Or are they? Is the presence of LBGTQ identities signaled in the messiness
in our data? Do archeologists have the tools yet to move beyond a binary
division of sexes, roles, and rank to test other explanatory scenarios?
Feminist archeology and African American archeology have expanded our
abilities to mine the archeological record through re-positioning our frame
of reference to examine assumptions, identify new avenues of inquiry, and
propose methodologies for data analysis. Studies like LGBTQ America** challenge
us to do the same with gender identities.*


*Saint Regis Mohawk First Tribe to Take Down a Federal Dam*

A century after the first commercial dam was built on the St. Regis River,
blocking the spawning runs of salmon and sturgeon, the river once central
to the traditional culture of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe is flowing
freely again. The removal of the Hogansburg Dam re-established connection
with the St. Lawrence River and opened nearly 275 miles of stream habitat
to migratory fish, including American eel, lake sturgeon, Atlantic salmon
and walleye.



The dam, on former Mohawk land adjacent to the reservation, was in the
early stages of federal re-licensing five years ago when owner, Brookfield
Renewable Energy, decided it wasn’t economically feasible to make necessary
upgrades. The Saint Regis Mohawk tribe became a co-licensee and took the
lead in the decommissioning, working with FWS, the NY Department of
Environmental Conservation, and Trout Unlimited.



The removal of the 11-foot-high and 330-foot-long dam this fall is the
latest accomplishment in the tribe’s decades-long struggle to restore
territory polluted by PCBs and heavy metals from nearby General Motors,
Alcoa, and Reynolds metal plants. (Heavy metal pollution also affects the
Hudson River and national park units on its banks, such as Saratoga NHP.) The
former industrial site will become a focal point in the Saint Regis
Mohawks’ cultural restoration program, funded by a $19 million settlement
with the companies in 2013 for pollution of tribal fishing and hunting
grounds. The program partners young apprentices with tribal elders to
preserve the Mohawk language and pass on traditional practices such as
hunting, fishing, trapping, basket-making, horticulture and medicine.


The St. Regis River project is the first removal of an operating
hydroelectric dam in New York State and the nation’s first decommissioning
of a federally licensed dam by a Native American tribe. The project is part
of a larger movement that has dismantled almost 250 dams across the country
since 2012. Most have been small dams no longer useful, but environmental
groups and Indian tribes in the Pacific Northwest are pressing for removal
of large hydroelectric dams to restore salmon runs.



*By Mary Esch, **Associated Press*


*GRANTS AND TRAINING** - *No training or grant announcements this month.


*SLIGHTLY OFF TOPIC**: *  *Forensic Technique Reveals Sex of Prehistoric
Hand Stencil Artists*

*From Phys Org*

People who created human hand stencils in caves 40,000 years ago can now be
identified as male or female with more than 90% accuracy. Techniques used
in modern forensics were applied to stencils as part of a collaborative
research project between biologists, anthropologists and archeologists at
the University of Liverpool, the University of Central Lancashire and the
University of the Witwatersrand.


Hand stencils are created by blowing, spitting or stippling pigment onto a
hand while it is held against a rock surface, leaving a negative impression
on the rock in the shape of the hand. Stencils found in Sulawesi, Indonesia
have been dated back 40,000 years, and those discovered in Europe are
estimated to be around 37,000 years old.



University of Liverpool biological anthropologist, Emma Nelson led the
study.  She said: "Archeologists are interested in hand stencils because
they provide a direct, physical connection with an artist living more than
35,000 years ago. We have even applied the method to hand stencils where
digits are missing – common in Paleolithic art – something prior studies
have not been able to do."



Previously, researchers focused on hand size and finger length, often
producing conflicting results. In this study, a technique called geometric
morphometrics was utilized to detect sex-based differences in hand shape
and form. Known-sex hand stencils were digitised and a series of 2D
landmarks were applied to statistically evaluate the shape and relative
size of each example.



Patrick Randolph-Quinney, a forensic anthropologist at the University of
Central Lancashire and the University of the Witwatersrand, said: "The
problem with focusing on hand size and finger length is that two different
shaped hands can have identical linear dimensions and ratios. The shape of
the palm is actually most indicative of the sex of the individual, rather
than the finger size or length."



Researchers built a replica cave wall to allow them to experiment with how
art was made, and how it might look under different lighting conditions.
The portable cave was popular with the public, especially school groups,
who could make art in the same way that Paleolithic people did.



To read more about the study, go to Beyond size: The potential of a
geometric morphometric analysis of shape and form for the assessment of sex
in hand stencils in rock art, *Journal of Archaeological Science* (2016). DOI:
10.1016/j.jas.2016.11.001 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2016.11.001>



*Archeology E-Gram*, distributed via e-mail on a regular basis, includes
announcements about news, new publications, training opportunities,
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encouraged to forward *Archeology E-Grams* to colleagues and relevant
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pagewww.nps.gov/archeology/public/news.htm
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Program website.


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

------------------------------

[1] *(Lapita Diet in Remote Oceania: New Stable Isotope Evidence from the
3000-Year-Old Teouma Site, Efate Island, Vanuatu, by Kinaston et al.*
*http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0090376
<http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0090376> )*