May 2007, Archeology E-Gram
SAA Award Given to NPS Archeologist
At the April meeting of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) in
Austin, Texas, George S. Smith, Associate Director, Southeast
Archeological Center, NPS, received the SAA’s Excellence in Cultural
Resource Management award. George is a leader in cultural resource
management and managing the archaeological record for the past 25 years
through teaching, research, program administration and archaeological
resource protection. His dedication to the profession and his work
with colleagues, the public, and students, at both the national and
international levels, has greatly enhanced public understanding and
appreciation of the past, our ability to manage and protect the past,
and the training and education of archaeologists.
George helped establish the SAA Public Education and Curriculum
Committees and Florida Archaeology Week. He developed and taught a
graduate-level public archaeology course for 10 years and organized and
implemented a number of important national and international workshops
dealing with various aspects of cultural resource management. George
has edited several books and authored book chapters, articles, and
papers at professional meetings. He has presented university and public
lectures on cultural resource management topics and issues.
In his current position as Associate Director at the Southeast
Archeological Center, National Park Service, he manages the
Archaeological Investigation and Evaluation Division which is
responsible for undertaking archaeological projects in the 67 National
Park units in the Southeast Region.
The SAA Excellence in Cultural Resource Management award was established
in 1994 to recognize lifetime contributions and special achievements by
an archaeologist in one of three areas: program administration and
management, site preservation, and research. Each year the award is
given in one of the areas on a rotating basis.
Interagency Cultural Sites Stewardship Team Receives DOI Award
On May 9, 2007, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne awarded the
Southern Nevada Agency Partnership Site Stewardship Program the
Cooperative Conservation Award. The team includes Steve Daron, an
archeologist at Lake Mead NRA. This award recognizes collaborative
achievements among a diverse range of entities that may include federal,
state, local, and tribal governments; private for profit and non-profit
institutions; other non-governmental entities and individuals.
The “Cooperative Conservation” award recognizes collaborative activity
among a diverse range of entities, including federal, state, local and
tribal governments.
New Technical Brief on Archeological Site Stewardship Programs
“Developing and Implementing Archeological Site Stewardship Programs,”
by Sophia Kelly, is now online as Technical Brief #22 (
http://www.cr.nps.gov/archeology/pubs/techBr/tch22.htm).
Archeological site stewardship programs can be a valuable component of
protection plans for archeological resources on both public and private
lands. This technical brief explores the necessary components of
successful development and implementation of an archeological site
stewardship program.
Web Pages on the Secretary’s Report to Congress on the Federal
Archeology Program Expanded
The NPS Archeology Program has updated web pages about the Secretary of
the Interior’s Report to Congress on the Federal Archeology Program <
http://www.cr.nps.gov/archeology/SRC/INDEX.HTM>. The Secretary of the
Interior is responsible for reporting to Congress on the impact of
federal programs and activities on the nation's archeological heritage.
The report provides important summary information about activities that
Federal agencies carry out as part of their stewardship responsibilities
for archeological resources.
Information about the Federal Archeology Program is solicited annually
through a questionnaire that is administered by the NPS Archeology
Program. The original data are an important resource: they are the only
data about archeological activities and resources in Federal agencies
that are collected separately from information about cultural resources.
The web pages contain pdf documents of all of the Secretary’s Reports to
Congress on the Federal Archeology Program from FY1985-2003; the
questionnaires; original data; and the results of analysis that
identified data in earlier versions of the questionnaire that were also
solicited in the FY1998-2003 version.
Contact: Karen Mudar, [log in to unmask]
Sand Creek Massacre NHS Created
April 23, 2007, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne completed a
process begun over a decade earlier, signing the paperwork to formally
create Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. The site, located in
Kiowa County, Colorado memorializes the massacre of nearly 160 Cheyenne
and
Arapaho on November 29, 1864. Secretary Kempthorne was joined at the
signing by Senator Wayne Allard of Colorado, National Park Service
Director Mary Bomar, and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Carl
Artman. The site became the 391st national park unit and the first
created under Secretary Kempthorne.
Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site, situated on over 12,000
acres in southeast Colorado, recognizes the significance of the massacre
in American history, and its ongoing significance to the Northern and
Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes.
For more information about Sand Creek Massacre NHS, go to
http://www.nps.gov/sand/
NPS Offers Workshop for Developing Advanced GPS, GIS, and Geophysical
Skills
The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) is
hosting a two-part training course, Prospection in Depth: A Workshop for
Developing Advanced GPS, GIS, and Geophysical Skills through Plantation
Archeology, in Natchitoches, LA, in June 2007. The first part (June
18-23) offers instruction in GIS (ArcGIS 9.2), GPS (Trimble products),
and geophysical surveying techniques (radar, conductivity/resistivity,
thermal/aerial imaging, and gradiometry). Part Two (June 25-30) builds
on an international research project on creolization and the African
Diaspora. Participants work alongside six instructors to gather and
test remote sensing data at two slave-owning plantations spanning the
late 1700s to mid 1800s. Registration begins May 3; each part of the
training costs $399.
Contact David W. Morgan, [log in to unmask] or visit www.ncptt.nps.gov
.
Internship in US/ICOMOS’ Washington, DC Office
This summer, US/ICOMOS is offering an unpaid full or part time
internship at its Secretariat, Washington, DC to a young and energetic
preservationist or preservation graduate student who wants to learn
more about international cooperation in heritage conservation and who
wants to get involved in the global professional network of ICOMOS.
The intern will work directly for the Executive Director and be exposed
to all facets of the challenges of working in a small, international,
non-governmental organization with an expanding mission, limited
resources, and broad relations throughout the world. The internship is
offered for a minimum of eight weeks, beginning in June. The internship
can be extended according to a flexible schedule that will meet the
intern’s academic demands.
Knowledge of preservation; dependability; and good writing skills are a
must. Knowledge of French and/or Spanish is a big plus.
Contact: Gustavo Araoz, [log in to unmask]
Projects in Parks: Archeological Explorations in Nicodemus NHS
Fleeing from new forms of oppression that were emerging in the
post-Reconstruction Era South, a group of African American settlers
established the community of Nicodemus on the windswept plains of Kansas
in 1877. Here they began turning the dense sod, building homes and
businesses, and forging new lives for themselves. In May and June 2006,
students, under the guidance of Dr. Margaret Wood, Washburn University,
conducted archeological testing on the Thomas Johnson/Henry Williams
farm site (14GH102), located approximately four km north of Nicodemus.
Thomas Johnson, one of the earliest settlers to Nicodemus, homesteaded a
piece of land just outside of the town of Nicodemus in 1878. He and his
extended family farmed the land and adjacent properties for over a
decade. Johnson’s grandson, Henry Williams continued to farm Johnson’s
original claim until the middle of twentieth century and the property is
still in the hands of a close family member. This farm became the focus
of the archeological investigations. Excavations revealed the remains
of a sod house and a root cellar.
The results of both archeological and historical research on the Thomas
Johnson/Henry Williams farm site (14GH102) reveals a story of ingenuity,
pride and the struggle to survive in a harsh and punishing environment.
The material remains of this site give us glimpses into the web of
kinship and community that link not only people and places but also the
present and the past at Nicodemus. For the generations of people who
lived in and around Nicodemus, the central ingredient of collective
independence and autonomy was, and continues to be, kin based
interdependence. It is this interdependence that has allowed this
community to survive both socially and economically.
NPS employees who can access the NPS intranet can read the full report
by going to Projects in Parks
http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custommenu.cfm?lv=3&prg=279&id=3670 on
InsideNPS. Other readers can access the full report through the News
and Links page http://www.cr.nps.gov/archeology/public/news.htm on the
Archeology Program website.
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.cr.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; and through individual issues of the Archeology E-Gram on the
on the News and Links page
http://www.cr.nps.gov/archeology/public/news.htm on the Archeology
Program website.
Contact Karen Mudar, Archeology Program, NPS, (202) 354-2103,
[log in to unmask] to contribute news items, stories for “Projects in
Parks,” and to subscribe.
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