June 2006
Archeological Sites Reported in Good Condition
The Archeology Program, working with NPS archeologists throughout the
country, recently completed the annual third quarter collection of park
data in the Archeological Sites Management Information System (ASMIS).
Approximately 3,000 new site records were added to ASMIS, for a current
total of 66,248 known and documented sites from 310 parks. Eleven new
parks entered their ASMIS site records. Over 5,400 new site condition
assessments or reassessments were performed. This means that 57.3% of all
archeological sites in ASMIS now have a condition assessment and 52.7% of
the recorded sites with site condition information are in "Good" condition,
as defined in ASMIS. If this percentage of sites with condition
assessments remains unchanged in the final FY 2006 update, the NPS will
surpass the GPRA goal related to the condition of archeological sites.
These results have been possible only through enormous efforts by NPS
archeologists at parks, centers, and regional offices to improve the
completeness, accuracy, and reliability of the ASMIS records at the park,
regional, and national levels.
Contact: Terry Childs, [log in to unmask]
Summer interns in the Archeology Program
The NPS Archeology Program is very pleased to welcome two summer interns
this year. Jennifer Cobb, a graduate student from East Carolina
University, is compiling information and developing a set of web pages on
State underwater archeology programs, including laws, regulations,
policies, permitting, and site management to be posted on the Archeology
Program public website. Sophie Kelly, a graduate student from Arizona
State University, is writing a technical brief on site stewardship programs
and a set of heritage tourism web pages on the archeology of Ohio.
Contact: Frank McManamon, [log in to unmask]
Park NAGPRA Guidance Notebooks Available
Updated guidance for NPS compliance with the Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) is now available in hard copy
notebook form from the park NAGPRA program. This guidance, NPS Cultural
Management Guideline, Appendix R - Guidance for National Park Service
Compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
(NAGPRA) is intended specifically for NPS personnel, contractors, and
researchers who are working in the national parks under a Permit for
Archeological Investigations. The hard copy notebook contains the final
version of the revised guidance as well as sample plans of action, sample
published notices, and notice templates for human remains and objects found
in national parks. For more information or to request a copy, contact Mary
S. Carroll, Park NAGPRA Program.
Contact: Mary S. Carroll, [log in to unmask]
Archeologist is New Superintendent at Nez Perce NHP
Gary Somers, a 32-year veteran of the National Park Service, is the new
superintendent of Nez Perce National Historical Park. Somers served with
the NPS at the Western Archeological and Conservation Center in Tucson as
supervisor of the Indian assistance program. He spent a decade in Hawai‘i,
working as the Pacific area archeologist for the NPS before transferring to
the NPS’ Anchorage Office as the Alaska regional archeologist. Somers is
currently chief of natural and cultural resources at Shenandoah NP. A
graduate of the University of Utah in anthropology, Somers also has a MA
and Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in anthropology. “Working with
thriving cultures and hand in hand with the communities inspires me,” said
Somers. “I’m thrilled with the opportunity of learning the Nez Perce
history and stories and sharing my experiences in some way.”
Nez Perce NHP commemorates the Nez Perce tribe and the history of their
interactions with explorers, fur traders, missionaries, settlers, and the
American government. The park embraces 38 individual locations ranging
across Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Montana. The NPS owns nine sites of
historical importance to the Nez Perce: Spaulding, Canoe Camp, Heart of
the Monster, Weippe Prairie, and White Bird Battlefield, in Idaho; Big Hole
and Bear Paw Battlefields in Montana; 8 acres adjoining Old Chief Joseph
gravesite and cemetery, Oregon; and Buffalo Eddy in Washington.
Contact Information: Holly Bundock, [log in to unmask]; for information
about Nez Perce NHP go to http://www.nps.gov/nepe/index.htm.
Former NPS Archeologist Receives Law Enforcement Award
NPS Special Agent Susan Morton has been named the 2006 Outstanding Federal
Law Enforcement Employee by the Women in Federal Law Enforcement (WIFLE)
organization. Morton was selected because of her impact on preventing
illegal drugs and immigrants from entering the U.S. through the public
lands that encompass 55% of the border between Arizona and Mexico. Last
year Morton was the case agent on 11 felony narcotics cases involving 56
defendants and over 4600 pounds of seized narcotics. She also was the NPS
case agent for the successful prosecution of the accomplice in the ambush
and murder of a NPS ranger along the border. In addition, Morton worked
with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to change backpacker smuggling cases from
misdemeanors to felony charges. The more severe charge results in longer
jail sentences and deportation for illegal immigrants after time served.
Morton is assigned to the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDFA)
Interagency Narcotics Office in Tucson. She works with other federal,
state, and tribal officers to stop the flow of illegal drugs in one of the
country’s most active crime areas. Morton has worked for the National Park
Service for 22 years. Before entering law enforcement, she was an NPS
archeologist in Alaska. Morton is
the first NPS employee to win this award.
Women in Federal Law Enforcement (WIFLE) is a non-profit organization to
recruit, retain, and advance women in the fieldof law enforcement.
Contact: (NPS) Kathy Kupper, [log in to unmask]; (WIFLE) Margaret Moore
(703)548-9211
Archeologist Doug Campana Retires
Douglas V. Campana is retiring on June 30, 2006, after nearly 27 years as
an archeologist with the NPS. Doug’s career with the NPS began in 1979
when he was still a graduate student at Columbia University, where he
received his Ph.D. in 1981. Before joining the NPS, Doug conducted
archeological research in Europe and the Near East, including France,
England, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Israel. His doctoral dissertation,
published in the British Archaeological Reports International Series, was a
study of microscopic wear patterns on bone artifacts from pre-agricultural
sites in Israel and Iraq.
At the NPS, Doug worked on archeological projects and surveys in most of
the parks in the Mid-Atlantic region. His most extensive projects were
excavations at Gettysburg, and a survey of the City Point Unit of
Petersburg NB. This survey led to the location and partial excavation of
the site of Grant’s cabin at City Point.
Between 1990 and 1995, Doug left the service and taught at Rutgers
University and New York University. He and his wife, Pam Crabtree,
co-directed, with Israeli archeologists, the excavation of a Natufian site
on Jordan Valley’s West Bank. They also carried out analyses of fauna from
Brandon, an Anglo-Saxon site in East Anglia, England; Shanidar Cave in
Iraq; and a Neanderthal site in the Ukraine. For many years the two were
co-editors of The Zooarchaeological Research News. In addition their
rigorous day jobs, Doug and Pam also produced two editions (2001 and 2005)
of their popular college textbook, mostly recently titled Exploring
Prehistory.
After returning to the NPS in 1995 and stationed at the newly established
Valley Forge Center for Cultural Resources, Doug was involved with projects
throughout the southern part of the Northeast Region, as principal
investigator and contracting officer’s technical representative. Major
projects included co-directing excavations at Fort John and Fort Naminock
sites, dating to the French and Indian War, at Delaware Water Gap NRA, Fort
Morton at Petersburg NB, and the Pennsylvania Brigades encampment at
Wayne’s Woods in Valley Forge NP.
Doug is renowned and appreciated amongst his colleagues for his mastery of
technology and tools (including trowels, shovels, computers, surveying
instruments, geophysical equipment, and GPS units), software, mapping,
writing, editing, and artistic and graphical skills. His abilities have
brought him many awards throughout the years. His sharp mind, easy-going
personality, wonderful sense of humor and insightful bumper stickers will
be greatly missed at the Northeast region. Luckily for the field, Doug
will continue to stay very involved in archeology after his retirement,
beginning this summer with research on a medieval Irish ring fort. (Thanks
to Julia Steele for providing information for this story.)
Contact: Frank McManamon, fp_mcmanamon@nps
Projects in Parks:
June, 2006, marks the centennial of President Theodore Roosevelt signing
the legislation that enacted the Antiquities Act of 1906. Roosevelt’s
signature on the Act is large and clear, suggesting his firm endorsement of
this vital American law, which is the foundation for archeological and
historic preservation and natural resource conservation in the United
States. Throughout the month, organizations commemorated the centennial of
the Antiquities Act with activities, awards, and exhibitions. For more
information about activities commemorating the Antiquities Act Centennial,
visit the Antiquities Act webpages on the NPS Archeology Program public
website, http://www.cr.nps.gov/archeology/sites/antiquities/index.HTM.
Contact: Frank McManamon, [log in to unmask]
NPS employees who can access the NPS intranet can learn more about this
project by going to Projects in Parks <
http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custommenu.cfm?lv=3&prg=279&id=3670> on
InsideNPS.
“Projects in Parks” is a feature of the Archeology E-Gram that serves to
inform others of interesting archeology-related projects in a national
park. Past reports are available on the Projects in Parks webpage,
accessed through the Archeology homepage, on InsideNPS.
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 and new subscribers are accepted. Past issues of
the Archeology E-Gram are available on the Archeology E-Gram webpage,
accessed through the Archeology homepage, on InsideNPS. Contact Karen
Mudar, Archeology Program, NPS, at (202) 354-2103, [log in to unmask] to
contribute news items, stories for “Projects in Parks,” and to subscribe.
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