Colleagues,

A few weeks ago, a very nice James Type I artillery shell was found near
Prairie Grove, Arkansas. When a city employee posted a photo of it to
Facebook, the local bomb squad hastily commandeered and destroyed the
round, before consulting with archaeologists, historians, or staff from the
nearby battlefield park. Part of the justification behind this hasty action
was that those who expressed a preservation-minded approach to dealing with
the artifact could not offer a plan to effectively handle, render inert,
and curate such a find. This is not an isolated incident, and it is time, I
feel, to come together and better-define our response to this kind of
situation.

I am proposing a forum at the upcoming SHA conference (Washington, January 6
-9, 2016) that will bring together archaeologists, explosive ordnance
disposal (EOD) specialists from the U.S. military, lawyers specializing in
explosives-related issues, and bomb squad personnel. In addition to
defining each groups' interests and motivations when historic (pre-WWI)
unexploded ordnance (UXO) is recovered, I want to use this forum to develop
a draft protocol for safe handling, preservation, and curation of these
finds, which otherwise end up destroyed and lost to us. The title and
abstract are attached.

This forum will be of interest to more than just those who specialize in
battlefield research. Any who work in areas where historic conflicts have
occurred, and who might deal with UXO during research or when contacted by
an interested member of the public would also derive benefit.

Please send me any thoughts or comments at the below contact information.
If you have stories about the handling of such finds (good or bad), please
feel free to share them with me in advance of the conference.

Thanks,
Carl

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Dr. Carl G. Drexler
Arkansas Archeological Survey
SAU Research Station
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(870) 235-4230