[OR_Archaeology] Fwd: NPS Archeology E-Gram July 2010

[Susan White]

The latest news from NPS Archeology Program; enjoy! Susan Lynn

>>> Karen Mudar <Karen_Mudar at NPS.GOV> 7/30/2010 5:25 AM >>>

July 2010 Archeology E-Gram

NPS Director’s Award for Natural Resources Given to Archeologist
Outstanding work of NPS employees is recognized annually by the
Director’s
Awards for Natural Resources. This year, eight individuals were
acknowledged for their leadership and work in the field of natural
resource
management, including archeologist Jeremy Moss, Chief of Resource
Management, Tumacacori NHP.

“These men and women have dedicated themselves to the restoration
and
maintenance of this nation’s natural heritage,” said NPS Director
Jarvis.
“While the awards recognize individual achievements, it is the
teamwork,
professionalism, and a shared sense of purpose with their colleagues
that
matters most to the recipients. What they have accomplished exemplifies
the
valuable service that is being done by all of the employees of the
National
Park Service.”


Moss received the Trish Patterson Student Conservation Association
Award
for Natural Resource Management in a Small Park. Among his
accomplishments,
Moss developed an innovative study project on the use of park
structures by
bats, including a species inventory, monitoring, conservation and
education
efforts, partnering with bat experts in the Arizona-Sonoran Desert
Museum;
and a comprehensive survey of the yellow-billed cuckoo. Moss also
contributed a three-part series on restoration of Tumacacori NM to the
E-Gram’s Projects in Parks feature.


To read “Of Adobe, Lime, and Cement: The Preservation History of the
San
José de Tumacácori Mission Church,” see the September-November 2008
issues
of the NPS Archeology E-Gram.

Archeologist Eric Brunnemann Selected As Superintendent of Badlands
National Park
Eric Brunnemann, superintendent at Pinnacles NM since 2005, has been
named
the new superintendent of Badlands NP. He will begin this assignment
August
29, 2010. Brunnemann began his NPS career as a seasonal museum aid in
1989
at Fort Davis NHS. He worked as a seasonal ranger (interpretation) and
student trainee (archeology, ranger, and interpretation) at Petroglyph
NM
before accepting a permanent position as an interpretive ranger at the
park
in 1995. Brunnemann also served as an archeologist and cultural
resources
specialist at the park. He became the cultural resources manager for
the
Southeast Utah Group in 1999. Following an acting superintendent
assignment
at Natural Bridges and Hovenweep NM in 2001, Brunnemann was named the
superintendent at War in the Pacific NHP (Guam) and American Memorial
Park
(Saipan).

A Texas native, Brunnemann received a B.A. in archeology and a M.A. in
anthropology from the University of Texas. He earned a second M.A. in
American Studies (Colonial Studies) in 1995 from the University of New
Mexico.

While on Guam, Brunnemann brought Navajo code talkers back to the
Pacific
to meet in Japan at Iwo Jima. At Pinnacles NM, he worked with Rotary of
San
Juan Bautista and the park’s non-profit partner to establish a sister
park
relationship with Parque Nacional Quebrada del Condorito in Argentina.
Brunnemann is the recipient of the NPS 2007 Pacific West Region
Superintendent of the Year for Natural Resource Stewardship Award. He
was
also awarded The Order of the Chamorri by the governor of Guam in 2005
for
providing exemplary service to the native people of Guam. In 1997,
Brunnemann received the NPS Intermountain Region Regional Director’s
Award,
bestowed for Educational Excellence for Cultural Resource Management.

“This is an incredible opportunity to combine the skills and
experiences I
have had with NPS, together with my experience in cultural and tribal
relations, to be a part of Badland's future," said Brunnemann of his
new
position. "I have watched with admiration the work of [Superintendent]
Paige Baker as Badlands NP developed its General Management Plan with
the
Oglala Sioux, and I am honored to now have the opportunity to be part
of
this journey.”

Archeologists Find Washington’s Dining Hall at Valley Forge National
Historic Site
NPS archeologists have identified the remains of a log cabin found
behind
the Valley Forge headquarters. General George Washington had this
building
erected to use as a dining hall for himself and his top military
advisers
during the six-month Revolutionary War encampment, according to Joe
Blondino, the field director for the public archeology project.

During the Continental Army’s stay at Valley Forge, Washington, along
with
his aides, servants and wife all lived and worked together in the
small,
still extant, headquarters house. To ease the cramped conditions, the
general had a cabin constructed that served as both a dining hall and
war
room for Washington and his men.

Blondino, Carin Boone and Katie Cavallo, all season park employees,
are
digging 5-foot-square excavation units to uncover the remnants of the
structure, estimated to be about 24 feet long and 20 feet wide. “We
got
really lucky,” Blondino said. “Normally, in archeology you make
your big,
exciting discovery on the afternoon of your last day in the field. In
this
case, on our first day, we opened this five-by-five foot unit right
here,
and we started to see that soil discoloration, that soil stain,
immediately.”

Last summer, the group found broken pottery, animal bones and other
artifacts buried in “trash pits.” Their recent finds include a
makeshift
smoking pipe and sherds of china, but not the dining hall. This
season,
they were more fortunate.

To learn more about the first season of the excavations, go to
“Meeting at
Headquarters: Public Archeology at Valley Forge” at
www.nps.gov/archeology/sites/npSites/valleyForge.htm 

To learn more about Valley Forge NHS, go to
www.nps.gov/vafo/index.htm.

Archeological Excavations at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
The First Colony Foundation and the NPS have completed the 2010 season
of
archeological research at Fort Raleigh NHS on the north end of Roanoke
Island, NC. Fort Raleigh NHS commemorates the first English attempts
to
establish a colony in the New World. Beginning in 1584, Sir Walter
Raleigh
organized a series of expeditions to North America to explore the coast
and
search for a suitable location to found a settlement. Although these
settlements were ultimately unsuccessful, they set the precedent for
future
English colonization, including the founding of Jamestown in 1607.

In the shallow waters of Roanoke Sound Gordon Watts, First Colony
Foundation board member and director of the Institute for
International
Maritime Research, led a team of the institute's researchers in a
search
for submerged remains of the Elizabethan colonies. The team excavated
an
underwater trench in the area where a section of a large hollowed tree
trunk was removed in 1982. This large piece of wood was radiocarbon
dated
and the results indicated a probable late 16th century date. The
remains of
barrel staves and hooping were also found nearby in 1982, and these
remains
gave similar radiocarbon dates.


Numerous artifacts were recovered this past season that date from the
time
of European contact to the present. Many of the oldest ceramic sherds
recovered were pieces of pottery made by Carolina Algonquian-speaking
Indians. This type of pottery was used by the inhabitants of the
Indian
towns visited by the English colonists in the 1580s. In addition,
fragments
of Iberian olive jars were collected. Several fragments had a rich
olive
green interior glazing. More 16th century artifacts were found on the
grounds of Fort Raleigh NHS, including small blue and white Venetian
glass
beads.


For more information about Fort Raleigh NHS, go to
www.nps.gov/fora/index.htm 

New Exhibits Tell Native American Story of Glacier National Park
New exhibits in the Glacier NP St. Mary visitor center, “At Home in
This
Place,” focuses on tribal perspectives about the park. Several years
of
consultation with cultural experts from the Blackfeet, Kootenai and
Salish
and Pend d'Oreille tribes provided authenticity and a true tribal
perspective on issues related to land, plants, animals, mountains, and
history of the area. The exhibits were installed in early July; tribal
leaders and elders viewed the exhibits during a dedication ceremony on
July
14.

There are five new main exhibits: 1) Welcome-panels from each of the
tribes, detailing their historic and current relationship with the
land; 2)
Bittersweet Meanings looks at changes faced by tribes with the creation
of
Glacier NP; 3) Backbone of the World provides native perspectives on
the
land, mountains, creation stories, and place names; 4) The Wisdom in
Spoken
Words features oral histories and traditions with video of stories
about
parklands by tribal elders; 5) Animal Lessons is a large winter scene
diorama featuring elk, wolves, coyotes, and grizzly bears that are
featured
in animal stories told by tribal leaders.

Additional exhibits focus on other park stories. These include the
following panels: Where the Prairie Meets the Mountains, Who Lives in
the
Meadows, and Glaciers on the Move. There is also a new interactive 3-D
park
topographic map with fiber optic lights highlighting park landmarks.


For more information about Glacier NP, go to
http://www.nps.gov/glac/index.htm 

Two Sentenced for Looting
Two apprehended in a Federal illegal artifacts-trafficking sting were
sentenced on felony charges on July 7, 2010. U.S. District Judge Dale
Kimball sentenced Moab resident Brent Bullock, 62, to five years’
probation. Kimball sentenced Moab resident Tammy Shumway, 40, to time
served — about three weeks in June 2009 — plus 36 months’
supervised
release, starting with six months of home confinement. The two were
caught
in a  2½-year probe into the theft and sale of artifacts across the
Four
Corners region that led to dozens of indictments in Utah, Colorado and
New
Mexico. Bullock and Shumway each pleaded guilty in March to two
felonies
and faced maximum potential fines of $500,000 and up to 10 years in
prison.

Bullock admitted he sold a blanket scrap, a digging tool and a fire
board
to undercover operative Ted Gardiner and offered to sell ceramic
figurines,
all of which were stolen from public land. Shumway introduced the two
men,
brokered a $3,300 sale and received $330 for her service. Shumway has
a
drug-related criminal record and served prison time for credit-card
fraud.
She is the widow of Earl Shumway who served time for looting graves
for
artifacts to sell in the 1990s.

During the investigation, the U.S. Attorney for Utah, the FBI and the
Bureau of Land Management used information gathered by Gardiner, a
Salt
Lake County resident and former antiquities dealer who went undercover
wearing an audiovisual recording device.

NPS Special Agent Reports on Agency Museum Theft
In an article in the NPS newsletter National Catalog/ICMS News
“Keeping
What We Have and Recovering What is Missing, A Preliminary Examination
of
Museum Theft in the NPS” Special Agent Todd Swain reported on the
security
of agency museums. To keep the project within reasonable parameters,
he
limited his study to historic or prehistoric items that were taken from
NPS
curatorial facilities, visitor centers, and historic structures. Using
data
compiled from NPS Morning Reports, missing firearm data, and stolen
art
data, Swain contacted parks where items were stolen. Follow-up
questions
included where items were taken from, how they had been taken, and
whether
they had been recovered. Despite repeated calls and e-mails to both
museum
curators and law enforcement Swain received limited responses to
requests
for information, as park staff were very busy with other duties. In
most
cases, there was no one currently on the staff that had been at the
park at
the time of the theft.

Despite the limited data thus far obtained, Swain drew several
important
conclusions:
1) The NPS is missing some very significant items, such as George
Washington’s eyeglasses, John Muir’s pocket watch, and two
paintings by
William Henry Jackson.
2) Historic firearms appear to be the most likely target.
3) Many missing items are not reported by curatorial staff to law
enforcement in a timely manner, as it is often assumed the items have
simply been misplaced and will eventually turn up.

The purpose of the study was not to assign blame, but rather to learn
from
past events and to recover missing items. If you have any information
concerning items that are missing from your park, please contact Swain
at
(760) 413-8214.

Big Hole National Monument is 100 Years Old
On June 26, 1910, through the Antiquities Act, President William
Howard
Taft and Congress established Big Hole NM, which was the site of a
major
battle between the Nez Perce Indians and U.S. military forces. In
1877,
Federal agents reversed the terms of land treaties that allowed the
Nez
Perce to stay on their homeland in present day Washington, Oregon, and
Idaho. Angry young warriors attacked Euroamerican homesteaders and,
fearing
retaliation, Chief Joseph chose to take his people to Canada rather
than
settle on a small reservation. Six weeks after leaving their homeland,
U.S.
forces attacked the Nez Perce at Big Hole, present day Montana, on
August
9, 1877. Although they escaped, the Nez Perce later surrendered at Bear
Paw
Mountain (now part of Nez Perce NHP), 40 miles from the Canadian
border.

Monument staff plan to celebrate the centennial at the end of the
year,
when renovations of the visitors center will be completed. For more
information about Big Hole NM, go to www.nps.gov/biho/ 

Volunteers needed for Archeology Event at Yosemite National Park
Volunteers are needed to provide archeological education to the public
and
to monitor archeological sites during the 7th Annual Yosemite Facelift
on
September 21-26. The Facelift is a large volunteer clean-up event to
remove
modern trash from the park. Archeology interpreters will provide
information to the public about how distinguish artifacts from modern
trash
and show volunteers specific areas where they may collect trash in the
park. Archeological monitors will be placed at sensitive historic and
prehistoric sites to ensure that Facelift volunteers do not collect
cultural resources, such as historic artifacts, that are valuable to
the
park’s history. This is a great opportunity to work alongside
professional
archeologists. Volunteers who can commit to working the entire 5 day
event
are preferred. Volunteers will attend the orientation training on
Tuesday,
September 21.

To participate, complete a volunteer application on-line at
www.volunteer.gov/gov/ (keyword search = Yosemite Facelift Archeology
Field
Assistant). For more information contact Emily Darko, Yosemite NP
Archeological Technician at (209) 379-1457 or Laura Elze, Yosemite NP
Resources Management & Science Volunteer Coordinator at (209)
379-1012.
USFS to Offer Archeological Violation Investigation Training
Wayne National Forest is sponsoring “Archeological Violation
Investigation”
in Nelsonville, Ohio, September 14-16, 2010. The class is open to all
Federal, Tribal and other government agency law enforcement officers,
archeologists and prosecuting attorneys. (USFS and BLM have determined
that
this class meets law enforcement officers’ ARPA training
requirements.) The
registration deadline for the class is close of business on Friday,
August
13, 2010. Tuition is $350.00.

The three-day class provides training on all aspects of the
investigation
and prosecution of archeological crimes. Instructors for the class are
recognized national experts in this area of law enforcement. Topics
covered
in the class are:
   Archeological resource crime overview;
   Looting, collecting and trafficking networks;
   ARPA and other Federal and State statutes used to prosecute
      archeological violation cases;
   Archeological crime investigative methods;
   Archeological damage assessment methods;
   Archeological violation case studies.

An archeological crime scene practical exercise also is included.
Class
participants will be required to investigate and conduct a damage
assessment at a mock archeological crime scene.

For more information, contact Wayne NF Archeologist Ann Cramer (740)
753-0553 or ADIA Archeologist / Owner Martin McAllister (406)
239-1874.

ARPA Grants Available
The NPS Law Enforcement, Security, and Emergency Services Division is
accepting applications for Archaeological Resource Protection Act
(ARPA)
Program Grants for FY 2011. These funds are to assist law enforcement
in
effectively reducing or eliminating ARPA related criminal activity on
NPS
lands. Funding will target the highest priority ARPA crimes system-wide
by
assisting with investigations, overtime, travel, training, extension
of
non-permanent personnel, and equipment.

While not all requests will be funded, parks with ARPA enforcement and
investigative issues are strongly encouraged to apply. ARPA funding is
distributed based on a good track record of documenting and addressing
ARPA
related criminal activity, as well as identifying and addressing the
emergence of new and extraordinary ARPA threats.  To improve
effectiveness
in both securing and efficiently distributing ARPA funds, it is
essential
to identify the overall scope of need. Your request for funding will
help
identify the needs of the field and address the level of funding
available
to the agency in the future.

Requests will be prioritized by each regional chief ranger and
forwarded to
Branch Chief of Law Enforcement Operations Sarah Davis, no later than
August 15, 2010. Further information can be found on InsideNPS or by
contacting Davis by phone at (202) 513-7162.

$1.2 million in 25 NPS Grants Awarded to Preserve Battlefields
More than $1.2 million in NPS grants will be used to help preserve and
protect America’s significant battlefield lands. The funding from the
NPS
American Battlefield Protection Program will support projects at more
than
100 battlefields nationwide. The grants fund projects at endangered
battlefields from the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican-American
War,
Civil War, World War II, and Indian Wars. Grants were made to projects
in
17 states and territories to support archeology, mapping, cultural
resource
survey work, documentation, planning, education, and interpretation.
Projects include underwater archeology at the Battle of the Atlantic
during
WWII in North Carolina; documentation of the Second Seminole War Fort
Defiance and Fort Micanopy in Florida; a statewide comprehensive GIS
database of Civil War sites that will include 38 battlefields in
Tennessee;
a preservation plan for the U.S. Dakota War of 1862 Woodlake
Battlefield in
Minnesota; and development of a new battlefield preservation, and
planning
website in Virginia for the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National
Historic District.

Federal, state, local, and Tribal governments, nonprofit organizations,
and
educational institutions are eligible for the battlefield grants which
are
awarded annually. Priority is given to the preservation of nationally
significant battlefields. The majority of grants in 2010 were given to
battlefields listed as Priority I or II sites in the National Park
Service’s Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the
Nation’s Civil
War Battlefields and the Report to Congress on the Historic
Preservation of
Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Sites in the United States.


Since 1996 more than $12 million has been awarded by ABPP to help
preserve
significant historic battlefields associated with wars on American
soil.
“These grants will help safeguard and preserve American battlefield
lands,”
said NPS Director Jarvis. “These lands are symbols of individual
sacrifice
and national heritage that we must protect so that this and future
generations can walk these places and understand the struggles that
define
us as a nation.”


More information about the NPS American Battlefield Protection Program
is
available online at http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp.

Newberry Library in Chicago Releases "Atlas of Historical County
Boundaries"
The Newberry Library is pleased to announce the completion and release
of
its Digital Atlas of Historical County Boundaries, an electronic
resource—available online free of charge at
www.newberry.org/ahcbp—that 
covers every day-to-day change in the size, shape, location, name,
organization, and attachment of each U.S. county and state from the
creation of the first county in 1634 through 2000.  The digital atlas
will
be an important archival tool for historical archeologists.

Projects in Parks: A New Vázquez de Coronado Site at El Morro National
Monument
Until November 2007, the earliest physical trace of a European presence
at
El Morro NM was the 1605 inscription of Don Juan de Oñate, the first
Spanish Governor of New Mexico. Although historical documents hint at
visits by earlier sixteenth-century Spanish entradas – particularly
the
1583 expedition led by Antonio de Espejo – no material evidence of
these
expeditions had ever been identified at the El Morro National
Monument.

Following archeological work directed by Charles Haecker in late 2007,
and
funded by the NPS Heritage Partnerships Program, dramatic new evidence
emerged linking El Morro with the earliest major Spanish entrada in
the
desert Southwest – i.e., the 1540-1542 expedition of Capitan General
Francisco Vázquez de Coronado. A range of metal artifacts recovered
during
this two-day investigation point to the presence of the Vázquez de
Coronado
expedition.

Read the entire report at
www.nps.gov/archeology/sites/npSites/elMorro.htm 

Projects in Parks is a feature of the Archeology E-Gram that informs
others
about archeology-related projects in national parks. The full reports
are
available on the Research in the Parks web page
www.nps.gov/archeology/sites/npSites/index.htm or through individual
issues
of the Archeology E-Gram. Prospective authors should review
information
about submitting photographs on the Projects in Parks web page 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 NPS 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
www.nps.gov/archeology/public/news.htm on the NPS Archeology Program
web
site.

Contact: dca at nps.gov  to contribute news items, stories for Projects
in
Parks, submit citations and a brief abstract for your peer-reviewed
publications, and to subscribe.