August 2008 Archeology E-Gram
Tumacácori NHP Celebrates Centennial
Tumacácori National Historical Park is located in the upper Santa Cruz
River Valley of southern Arizona. The park protects the standing and
subsurface ruins of the churches, conventos, and parts of the community
grounds of missions San José de Tumacácori, San Cayetano de Calabazas, and
Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi. Along with these ruins, which date to the
1700-1800s, the park also contains subsurface and surface scatter remains
of pre-mission O’odham and prehistoric Hohokam and Trincheras cultures, as
well as post-mission settlement.
The site was originally proclaimed Tumacacori National Monument on
September 15, 1908, by President Theodore Roosevelt, under the authority of
the Antiquities Act. The monument was listed on the National Register of
Historic Places on October 15, 1966. On August 6, 1990, it was redesignated
a National Historical Park.
To learn more about Tumacacori NHP centennial celebrations and events, go
to http://www.nps.gov/tuma/
Mark Schoepfle Goes to DOI
After a decade of contributing to the Ethnography Program at the National
Park Service, Mark Schoepfle is returning to the Bureau of Acknowledgement
and Research, now under the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. Mark
first came to the NPS in 1999 from the same office, which was then in the
Bureau of Indian Affairs. Mark contributed to the establishment of the
Ethnography Program website, the Ethnographic Resources Inventory, and
other aspects of the program. He served as acting Chief Ethnographer for a
time.
Mark’s friends and associates wish him all the best in his new position.
NPS Archeology Program Hosts Interns
The NPS Archeology hosted three interns during the spring and summer of
2008. Seth Kagan was an intern for the Archeology Program during his last
semester as an undergraduate at the University of Maryland, where he
majored in Anthropology. Seth worked with Terry Childs to compile and
analyze data from an informal study of repository fees charged for the
curation of archeological collections across the United States. He and
Terry are writing a report on their findings to be posted in the Studies in
Archeology and Ethnography series on the Archeology Program website (
www.nps.gov/archeology/pubs/studies/index.htm).
Katherine Arntzen is a graduate student in the Anthropology Department at
the University of Denver where she is focusing on historical archeology and
museum studies. During her summer internship she prepared a report and
user's guide for conducting research on archeological permits that are
housed at the National Archives and National Anthropological Archives.
Katie also assisted with a project to write guidance for redacting
sensitive information from nominations of archeological properties to the
National Register of Historic Properties.
Tanner Amdur-Clark is an undergraduate from Harvard University. Tanner
assisted Barbara Little develop a technical brief on Civic Engagement and
Archeology by researching and adding case studies. He also researched and
wrote biographical sketches for some forthcoming "People" web pages about
archeologists, and assisted with the redaction guidance project.
The Archeology Program staff thanks the interns and wishes them well in
their formal educational endeavors and subsequent careers.
Bandelier NM on NPR
The National Public Radio program “Living on Earth” highlighted NPS efforts
to clean up graffiti at Bandelier NM earlier this summer. Vanishing
Treasures staff and members of the local Pueblo community are working
together to restore cave walls and architectural surfaces to their original
appearance. The team covers carving and paint on pueblo walls with a
mixture of water and clay, and re-soots cave walls and ceilings to hide
graffiti.
About $ 25,000 a year is dedicated to treating affected sites at
Bandelier, but preservation advocates say that's barely enough for the
necessary treatments and educate the public about their cultural history.
The Vanishing Treasures program focuses on arid southwestern and western
parks, where many ancient cultural sites exist.
To listen to the clip, and to read a transcript of the story, go to “Living
on Earth” at
http://www.loe.org/shows/shows.htm?programID=08-P13-00024#feature7
Nineteenth Century Whaling Ship Found in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National
Monument
Kelly Gleason, NOAA Monument archeologist and mission leader, and other
archeologists have discovered the shipwreck remains of the 1837 British
whaling ship Gledstanes. The wreck was found off Kure Atoll within the
Papahānaumokuākea MNM. The NOAA dive team discovered a pile of iron
ballast, chain, four massive anchors, iron ballast, cannons and cannon
balls, and a trypot.
"The story of the Gledstanes and her survivors is limited, but adds to the
important legacy of shipwreck survival stories at Kure Atoll,” said Hans
Van Tilburg, maritime heritage coordinator for NOAA's National Marine
Sanctuaries' Pacific Islands Region. After the loss of their ship, due to
extremely rough seas, the crew launched the ship’s small boats and made for
the closest dry land — Ocean Island in Kure Atoll. In a short time, the
Gledstanes broke apart in the heavy surf. The crew salvaged what they could
from their destroyed ship and set about fashioning a 38-foot vessel called
the Deliverance.
The Gledstanes is the fourth whaling ship, and one of the oldest ships,
discovered thus far in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument,
shedding further light on the major significance of 19th-century whaling
heritage in this region.
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is administered jointly by three
co-trustees, the Department of Commerce, Department of the Interior and the
State of Hawai‘i, and represents a cooperative conservation approach to
protecting the entire ecosystem. The Monument area includes the
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve, Midway Atoll
National Wildlife Refuge/Battle of Midway National Memorial, Hawaiian
Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Kure Atoll Wildlife Sanctuary, and
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands State Marine Refuge.
AAM Releases Archeological Material and Ancient Art Standards
The American Association of Museums (AAM) has released new standards for
acquisition of archeological material and ancient art that emphasizes
proper provenance of such objects and complete transparency on the part of
the acquiring institutions.
The product of two years of concerted research and vetting from the museum
field, Standards Regarding Archaeological Material and Ancient Art provides
clear ethical guidance on collecting such material so as to discourage
illicit excavation of archeological sites or monuments. The Standards were
approved by the AAM Board of Directors at its July meeting in Minneapolis.
“The museum community is deeply concerned about international looting of
cultural materials and the resulting destruction of sites and information,”
said Ford W. Bell, AAM president. “These standards will help U.S. museums
shape their policies and practices to effectively promote the preservation
of our common cultural patrimony.”
The new Standards require museums to have a publicly available collections
policy setting out the institution's standards for ownership history of new
acquisitions of archeological material and ancient art. According to the
Standards, museums should also make available the known ownership history
of all such objects in their collections. Finally, the Standards recommends
November 17, 1970, as the minimum initial date for documented provenance
for future acquisitions. This is the date on which the UNESCO Convention on
the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and
Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property was signed.
Projects in Parks: Sixteenth-Century Cross-Cultural Encounters in Point
Reyes NS
Working together in a collaborative research project, archeologists from
the NPS; University of California, Berkeley; and tribal members from the
Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria are untangling the meaning behind the
earliest meetings of European and California Indian on the beaches of
northern California. The Tamál-Húye Archeological Project focuses on
intercultural interactions and processes of culture change and continuity
in sixteenth-century northern California resulting from the shipwreck of
the Manila galleon San Agustín, which occurred in tamál-húye, the Coast
Miwok name for present-day Drakes Bay, in Point Reyes National Seashore, in
1595. The lasting significance, and most interesting part of
sixteenth-century European visits to northern California is not what they
meant to outsiders but what the encounters meant to the Coast Miwok
inhabitants of the area and what, if any, lasting significance they had.
Understanding how those events unfolded, and the long-term implications,
can help communities today put those early contacts into perspective and
discuss them in terms relevant to contemporary societies.
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