July 2007, Archeology E-Gram
Federal Archeology Web Pages Expanded
The NPS Archeology Program has updated and expanded the “Federal
Archeology Program” and associated web pages (
http://www.nps.gov/archeology/SITES/FEDARCH.HTM). Along with much
information from the Secretary’s Report to Congress on the Federal
Archeology Program (see Archeology E-Gram May 2007 issue), “Departmental
Consulting Archeologist,” and “Federal Archeological Permits” pages have
been added. The “Departmental Consulting Archeologist” web page
describes the DCA function and the role of the first DCA, Jesse Nusbaum,
in shaping the position. The “Federal Archeological Permits” web page
contains general information for all Federal agencies that issue
archeological permits and a link to the Department of the Interior
application form is provided. The “Federal Archeological Permits” web
page augments the more detailed guidelines for archeological permits
that were developed specifically for the NPS (see Archeology E-Gram
issue September 2006). While providing useful information for Federal
land managers, the web page is a good introduction for potential
applications.
Archeological Resources in NPS HABS/HAER/HALS
When you conduct background research for an archeological project, do
you include the NPS HABS/HAER/HALS collection at the Library of
Congress? You may be surprised at the breadth of information about
archeological resources in this online collection. The Historic
American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record
(HAER), and Historic American Landscape Survey (HALS) collections are
among the largest and most heavily used in the Prints and Photographs
Division of the Library of Congress (LOC). The combined collections
document achievements in architecture, engineering, and design in the
United States and its territories.
HABS was established in 1933 to document America's architectural
heritage. Creation of the program was motivated primarily by the
perceived need to document rapidly vanishing architectural resources.
The program received legislative mandate through the Historic Sites Act
of 1935. The buildings in the collection range in type and style from
the monumental and architect-designed to the utilitarian and vernacular,
including regionally and ethnically derived building traditions.
HAER was established in 1969 by the NPS, American Society of Civil
Engineers, and the LOC to document historic sites and structures related
to engineering and industry. It developed out of a close working
alliance between HABS and the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of
History and Technology. From its inception, HAER focused less on the
building fabric and more on the machinery and processes within the
buildings. HAER has documented individual sites and objects, such as
bridges, ships, and steel works; and larger systems like railroads,
canals, parkways, and roads. As the most ubiquitous historic
engineering structure on the landscape, bridges have been a mainstay of
HAER recording. In recent years, maritime documentation has become an
important program focus.
As documentation has expanded from strictly buildings to engineering
sites and processes, the NPS further broadened recording efforts to
include landscapes. The American Society of Landscape Architects
Historic Preservation Professional Interest Group worked with NPS to
establish a national program and, in October 2000 the NPS established
the HALS program for the systematic documentation of historic American
landscapes. Historic landscapes vary in size from small gardens to
several thousand-acre national parks. In character they range from
designed to vernacular, rural to urban, and agricultural to industrial
spaces. Vegetable patches, estate gardens, cemeteries, farms, quarries,
nuclear test sites, suburbs, and abandoned settlements all may be
considered historic landscapes.
Administered through cooperative agreements with the NPS, LOC, and the
private sector, ongoing programs have recorded America's built
environment in multi-format surveys comprising more than 350,000
measured drawings, large-format photographs, and written histories for
more than 35,000 historic structures and sites dating from Pre-Columbian
times to the twentieth century. The online HABS/HAER/HALS collections
include digitized images of measured drawings, black-and-white
photographs, color transparencies, photo captions, data pages that
include written histories, and supplemental materials. Since the NPS
creates new documentation each year, digital images will continue to be
added to the online collections.
Archeological resources may be identified by using a geographical
search, or through subject searches. For example, search terms such as
“archeology” (4 references), “Indians” (146 references), and “ruins”
(197 references) will produce lists of archeological projects.
Southwestern Pueblo ruins are particularly well represented.
To learn more about HABS/HAER/HALS and to use the HABS/HAER/HALS
collections online, go to
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/
Lake Mead NRA Opens Overton B-29 Site for Trial Period
The NPS has awarded two limited Commercial Use Authorizations (CUAs) for
guided technical scuba diving at the B-29 Site in the Overton Arm of
Lake Mead NRA, where the remains of a downed World War II vintage
Superfortress bomber are located. The B-29 Superfortress was one of the
first high-altitude heavy bombers and was reported to have carried
equipment specifically designed for what was once a top-secret mission
of atmospheric research. Because there are few examples of the B-29
left in existence this aircraft is a very significant cultural resource.
The plane went down in July 21, 1948. Under the command of Pilot Robert
Madison, the B-29 took off from Armitage Field, China Lake, CA, to test
the John Hopkins Sun Tracker. The Sun Tracker was part of the Upper
Atmospheric Air Research Program. On board were co-pilot Paul Hessler,
Flight Engineer David Burns, Scanner Frank Rico, and Scientist (and
Johns Hopkins graduate student) John Simeroth. The modified B-29
covered the 200 mile distance to the test area just east of Lake Mead in
less than one hour.
The mission profile called for the plane to ascend to 35,000 feet then
descend as low as possible while Simeroth took readings using the Sun
Tracker. As the plane descended over Lake Mead, Madison apparently lost
depth perception above the smooth water. With an indicated air speed of
230 miles per hour, the huge bomber hit the water and skipped for a
quarter mile before it settled on the lake and sank. The contact with
the lake was catastrophic for the B-29. Three of the four engines were
torn off by the impact. The five-man crew scrambled into the plane’s
emergency life raft and was rescued five hours later by a group of
people from Boulder City, including NPS park rangers.
Superintendent William K. Dickinson said, “The NPS has reached out to
members of the local, regional, and national dive community to work
collaboratively on a management plan that will allow the public to
experience the amazing history of this site while protecting it for
future generations as part of a comprehensive site stewardship plan.
The site has been determined eligible for the National Register of
Historic Places. This limited commercial service will be authorized for
a six-month trial period during which time the NPS will assess the
effectiveness of the permit holders to preserve and properly manage the
B-29 site.” The site remains closed to the general public.
During the trial period beginning July 15, dives will be limited to four
teams per week composed of one dive guide and two clients. During this
trial, the NPS may make appropriate adjustments to the guided dive
service. These adjustments include the right to halt, temporarily
suspend, and/or increase or decrease the carrying capacity of this
service, to address any impacts to the Overton B-29 Site. During this
initial six-month trial period, up to 100 visitors (split evenly between
the two CUA holders) will be allowed to dive on the site.
The two companies are Sin City Scuba, based in Las Vegas, Nevada; and
Scuba Training and Technology Inc., based in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
Working with one of these companies on an escorted dive is the only way
qualified technical divers can dive the B-29 site.
NPS Announces Battlefield Preservation Grants for 2007
The NPS has awarded19 grants totaling $492,184 to assist in the
preservation and protection
of America’s significant battlefield lands. The grants provide funding
for projects at endangered Colonial-Indian War, Revolutionary War, War
of 1812, and Civil War battlefields. The battlefields are located in
Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey,
North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia, and Vermont.
The winning projects include a preservation and management plan for the
Saltville, Virginia, battlefields; an assessment of the masonry of Fort
Morgan in Alabama; documentation of the 1779 Revolutionary War
battlefield of Savannah, Georgia; a cultural landscape inventory of
sites associated with the War of 1812 in Burlington, Vermont; and
televised public service announcements and brochures promoting Guilford
Courthouse battlefield in Greensboro, North Carolina.
These grants are administered by the NPS American Battlefield Protection
Program (ABPP). Federal, state, local, and tribal governments,
nonprofit organizations, and educational institutions are eligible to
apply for these battlefield grants each year. The ABPP’s goal is to
safeguard and preserve significant American battlefield lands for
present and future generations as symbols of individual sacrifice and
national heritage.
More information about ABPP is available at
http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/.
Conservation Groups Buy Prominent Hopewell Site
Conservationists have taken steps to create a 238-acre state nature
preserve in southern Ohio that contains archeological sites and
earthworks dating to 2,000 years ago. A coalition of three
organizations has contracted to purchase the Spruce Hill Works, a
hilltop earthwork made of earth and stone by the ancient Hopewell
people. Wilderness East of West Union, Ohio; the Archaeological
Conservancy; and the Ross County Park District signed a contract in June
to buy the site for $600,000. The offer from the coalition is a
combination of cash and loans that kept the land from going to auction
and, potentially, away from commercial developers.
The groups wanted to preserve the Spruce Hill Works, nine miles west of
Chillicothe, because it's believed to be rich in ancient American
history, as well as more than 240 plant species. They will create a
nature preserve. The site may eventually become part of Hopewell
Culture NHP.
The hilltop is flat and bowl-like with earth and stone mounds all around
it. The earth was formed into shapes of animals or circles. Though it
is referred to locally as a "fortress" because of the 30-foot mounds of
stone, it is believed that the area was used by the Hopewell people and
perhaps later by the Shawnee Indians. Hundreds of years ago, or longer,
people created furnaces at the site to smelt metal. The earthworks
today are similar to the way that they looked in 1848 when the site was
described by early historians.
For more information about archeology in Ross County, Ohio, go to the
National Archeological Database (NADB;
www.cast.uark.edu/other/nps/nadb/nadb.mul.html) and query on Ross
County, Ohio. There are 103 references! To learn more about the
Hopewell culture, add “Hopewell.” There are at least eight references.
High School Students Intern at Pecos NHS
Students from Pecos High School and Jemez Pueblo, NM; and Phillips
Andover Academy, Andover, MA, are working together as part of Pecos
Pathways, a three-week program that brings students from the three
locations together to learn from one another and about the connection
between the three locations. The Pecos Pathways program seeks to
commemorate the history of the Pecos Pueblo and provide a learning
experience for high-school students from Jemez Pueblo, Phillips Andover
Academy, and the village of Pecos.
The program was started in 1998 as collaboration between the Robert S.
Peabody Museum of Archaeology at Phillips Andover Academy, the Pueblo of
Jemez, and Pecos NHP. Every year, students first spend a week at Jemez
Pueblo, then at Pecos NHP and finally at Andover, MA.
“The program highlights the historical connection of the three
locations,” said Christine Beekman, chief of interpretation at Pecos
NHP. Beekman said acceptance in the program is difficult because it’s
highly competitive; in order to qualify, students must get permission
from their parents and references from two teachers or counselors. And
they have to write a two-page personal statement. Beekman said students
are usually selected based on how much interest they show in
archaeology.
Projects in Parks:
Projects in the Parks is taking some time off this summer. It will
reappear in our August Archeology E-Gram.
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
http://www.nps.gov/archeology/public/news.htm on the Archeology Program
website.
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 webpage on InsideNPS. The full reports are available
on the Projects in Parks webpage
http://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 website.
Contact: Karen Mudar, [log in to unmask] to contribute news items,
stories for “Projects in Parks,” and to subscribe.
|
