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"In the Southeast alone the number of recorded sites has gone from under 10,000 in 1970 to over 200,000 today [and] while modern field crews only rarely approach those of the New Deal era in size, the quantity and quality of the data far exceed that collected in earlier times." "A National Commitment," David G. Anderson |
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A common thread connects the Smithsonian’s turn-of-the-century mound investigations with the archeology of the post-war boom and the preservation laws of today. The Southeast of the Great Depression was cash-poor and archeology-rich. People were hungry for work and archeologists thirsted for knowledge. The national archeology program was on its way. Thomas E. Emerson
The history of Springfield, a village of free African Americans in the Old South, would have remained buried if not for the federal archeology program. There is every reason to celebrate the accomplishments, and just as much cause to look with a critical eye.
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MJB/EJL