Archeology E-Gram September 2022

Anthropologist is Superintendent of Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

Penny Wagner is the new superintendent of Florissant Fossil Beds NM. She holds a BA from Arizona State University and a MA from Northern Arizona University, both in anthropology and has worked for the NPS for nearly 15 years.

Wagner’s work experience with the NPS began with a summer internship as a volunteer park guide at Montezuma Well, Montezuma Castle NM while in graduate school at Northern Arizona University. Since then, she has worked at Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot National Monuments; Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve; Redwood National & State Parks; and most recently at Olympic National Park.

As superintendent, Wagner will provide oversight of the staff and resources needed to manage one of the richest and most diverse fossil deposits in the world. She started her new assignment in July.

Anthropologist is Superintendent of Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail

Jeri DeYoung is the new superintendent of Potomac Heritage NST, a 710-mile-long network of existing and planned trails spanning the start of the Potomac River in the Allegheny Highlands in western Pennsylvania to the Chesapeake Bay. DeYoung has a BA of Integrated Studies from Weber State University in Utah, and a MA in Anthropology from Northern Arizona State University. Her academic focus included historic preservation, anthropology, archeology, history, and botany.

DeYoung began 32 years of federal service as an archeologist and fire fighter for the USFS. Her NPS experiences include leading the cultural and natural resources program at Cape Lookout NS; managing facilities and cultural and natural resources programs at Carl Sandburg Home NHS; serving as an environmental protection specialist in the Transportation Division, Denver Service Center; working as a museum specialist, archeologist, and Tribal liaison for Flagstaff Area National Monuments, and manager of cultural and natural resources at Chesapeake and Ohio Canal NHP.

De Young began her new role September 11, 2022.

National Park Service Archeologists featured in National Parks Conservation Article

NPS archeologists Ellen Brennan, Grand Canyon NP, and Joshua Torres, acting Lead Archeologist, NPS, were featured in the NPCA article “To Collect or Not to Collect” by Julia Busiak. The article focuses on current NPS policy to retain important cultural objects in place whenever possible.

Until recently, NPS employees tended to remove objects that they and visitors had discovered from their original contexts, often without detailed documentation. “It doesn’t do anyone any good to collect artifacts without identifying information so they can be studied further into the future and tied back to furthering an understanding of human use and behavior.” Brennan points out.

Within Federal archeology, laws and policies have promoted change, and there is now greater emphasis on preserving archeological resources, both sites and individual objects, in place. However, the effects of climate change are exposing and damaging artifacts that were once safely buried. As traces of human past disappear as a result of rising seas, storms, wildfires and melting ice patches, collecting the materials may be the responsible action. Leaving irreplaceable objects in their original locations also raises the risk of theft or destruction. NPS archeologists are increasingly facing difficult decisions about the cultural resources in their care. “There are lots of instances where we do collect material if it looks like those resources will be lost or stolen,” said Torres. “We have an obligation to mitigate those adverse effects to those resources however we can.”

To read the full article, go to To Collect or Not to Collect · National Parks Conservation Association (npca.org)

Bureau of Land Management Archeologists Honored at DOI 2022 Awards Ceremony

On September 8, 2022, a team of BLM archeologists from the Salt Lake City Field Office were honored at the DOI Honor Awards Convocation. They volunteered their time, talents, and resources to complete a study of the Transcontinental Railroad on BLM-administered land in Utah. The publication is the culmination of three years of on-the-ground and library research. It contains over 300+ pages, 115 figures, and 23 tables. The estimated value of the volunteer time for this research project is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The team members are Molly Boeka-Cannon, Ken Cannon, Chris Merritt, Mike Polk, and Mike Sheehan.

Archeologists Appointed to the White House Cultural Property Advisory Committee

President Biden announced on August 19, 2022, the appointment of three archeologists to the Cultural Property Advisory Committee. The Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act established the 11-member presidentially appointed Committee to ensure that the U.S. government receives advice from diverse public interests in cultural property matters. The committee reviews requests for import restrictions submitted to the United States by foreign governments, considers proposals to extend existing agreements and emergency actions, carries out ongoing review of current import restrictions, and provides reports of its findings and recommendations to the State Department.

The archeologists on the committee are:

• Alexandra Jones, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Archaeology in the Community; Professor of Practice in History and Archaeology at Goucher College.
• Alex W. Barker, Director of the Arkansas Archeological Survey
• Miriam Stark, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa

U.S. Board of Geographic Names Replaces 650 Derogatory Geographic Names

The Domestic Names Committee of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) voted unanimously to replace approximately 650 sq___ names. The replacement names approved were recommended to the BGN by the Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force established by Secretary's Order No. 3404. While it may take the BGN staff up to two weeks to update all entries in the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), the new names are official now.

Twenty-four features within the National Park System are affected by this action.

Pacific West Region Cultural Resources Program gets New SharePoint Site

Regions 8, 9, 10, and 12 Cultural Resources and Science Program is pleased to present a new SharePoint page on InsideNPS for employees in the Pacific West Region. Bookmark this SharePoint and check back regularly for trainings, recordings, and new content. On this site, you'll also find contact information for PWR regional employees ready to answer your questions and assist you with your cultural resource projects.

Contact: e-mail us.

National Park Service Issues Guidance on Co-Stewardship

The NPS has released guidance to improve federal stewardship of national park lands and waters by strengthening the role of American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes, Alaska Natives Tribal entities, and the Native Hawaiian Community in federal land management. The guidance will help further the directives from Joint Secretarial Order 3403 – signed by the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture during the 2021 White House Tribal Nations Summit – which outlines how the two Departments will strengthen Tribal co-stewardship efforts. Since the Joint Secretarial Order was signed, DOI has celebrated several co-stewardship agreements, including:

Bears Ears National Monument: BLM, USFS and five tribes of the Bears Ears Commission formalized their partnership for co-stewardship of the monument. The BLM and USFS will provide resources to each tribe through to support the work that the five Tribes will perform under this agreement.

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Bison Range Restoration: The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have assumed full management of the Bison Range. The FWS and the tribes work together to ensure the land and resources are managed to enhance safety to the public and wildlife.

Rappahannock Indian Tribe’s Homeland Restoration: The Rappahannock Tribe re-acquired 465 acres of their ancestral homelands at Fones Cliffs, a site sacred to the Tribe and a globally significant Important Bird Area for resident species, bald eagles and migratory birds. The parcel will be owned by the tribe and be publicly accessible and held with a permanent conservation easement conveyed to FWS.

Dworshak National Fish Hatchery Transfer to the Nez Perce Tribe: DOI transferred fish production at Dworshak National Fish Hatchery to the Nez Perce Tribe. The FWS will continue to provide support.

Unlike co-management, which requires congressional action, co-stewardship can be initiated by individual park units. The new NPS co-stewardship policy provides a stronger framework – beyond traditional consultation – to help park managers facilitate and support working relationships with Tribes. The new policy places greater emphasis on working beyond the traditional framework of consultation to an equal role in planning and management. Over the next several months, the NPS will release new training, guidance, and resources for implementing this policy.

Additional information and guidance is available on the NPS-Native American Affairs - Home (sharepoint.com).

Contact: Dorothy FireCloud, Native American Affairs Liaison, [phone], e-mail us.; Jennifer Talken-Spaulding, Bureau Cultural Anthropologist, Office of Tribal Relations & American Cultures, [phone], e-mail us

Video Released about Dendrochronology in National Parks

A new video from NPS’s Office of Science Access and Engagement focuses on the development of the science of tree ring dating. Dendrochronology was developed by Andrew Ellicott Douglass, an astronomer who realized that variation in tree ring widths might capture a long history of sunspots since, he reasoned, the 11-year solar cycle with its fluctuations in light energy should produce corresponding variability in cycles in tree growth. His methods of analyzing wood caught the attention of archeologists, including Clark Wissler, who were studying cliff dwellings and other Ancient Puebloan structures on the Colorado Plateau that were of unknown age. They began to collaborate with Douglass.

Douglass and colleagues collected and analyzed samples of wooden beams from buildings at Aztec Ruins NM, Chaco Culture NHS, Mesa Verde NP, and dozens of other sites in the region. In 1929, they established the first definitive absolute ages of buildings by linking tree ring patterns from wall and roof beams in a single sequence. From Douglas’s work, dendrochronology has matured into a modern science that probes important questions about human and environmental history around the world.

This video is the latest in a series about the ways that parks have contributed to science.

To watch the video, go to National Parks in the History of Science: Dendrochronology (Video) (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov).

To watch other videos in the History of Science series, go to Series: Parks in Science History (nps.gov).

The Federal Archeologist’s Bookshelf: will be back soon

GRANTS AND TRAINING

Traditional Trades Advancement Program Helping Parks

The NPS Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC) is providing opportunities for park preservation maintenance teams to gain some helping hands and be a part of passing on valuable trades knowledge through the Traditional Trades Advancement Program (TTAP).

If you are an NPS employee and work in a facility maintenance, cultural resources, or historic preservation role and could use some additional help with your deferred maintenance projects, take a moment to learn more about how TTAP can benefit your park. Attend a virtual TTAP Information Sessions on October 4 at 1:00pm ET (registration not required).

Then, submit a TTAP Park Application to apply to host an intern at your park unit. Parks must apply by October 14, 2022, to be considered. Need more information to decide if TTAP is a good fit for your park? Visit the Frequently Asked Questions SharePoint page to learn more about the program.

Contact: Claire Finn, TTAP Program Manager, e-mail us

Tribal Consultation Webinar Series

Federal agencies are required to engage in regular and meaningful consultation and collaboration with Tribal officials. Government-to-government relationships should include regular and timely communication so that tribes may provide input on issues that may have a substantial direct effect on them. The Tribal Consultation Webinar series is being offered for NPS employees looking for an introduction into the Tribal consultation process, or for those who want to refresh their skills or ask experts for advice on best consultation practices for managing park resources.

October 11, 2022 - Players in the Tribal Consultation Process

November 15, 2022 - Cross-cultural Communication - How to Communicate with Tribes

December 13, 2022 - Shared Stewardship

January 10, 2023 - Applied Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)

These webinars are offered on the second Tuesday of the month, using the MS Teams platform, 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm ET.

Register through the Common Leaning Portal. The link registers you for full series but you may attend as few or as many as you wish. Speakers for each session and additional information are available on the Common Learning Portal.

Contact: Cari Kreshak, e-mail us

SLIGHTLY OFF TOPIC: El Morro National Monument Celebrates the U.S. Camel Corp!

In September, El Morro National Monument celebrated the history of the U.S. Army Camel Corps in New Mexico with two days of events. Sponsored by the War Department in an 1850s effort to build a road to link eastern and western parts of the country, the Camel Corps served as pack animals.

The idea of importing and using camels in the desert Southwest was first proposed in the 1830s but was never seriously considered until Jefferson Davis became Secretary of War in 1855. With the support of Congress, Davis allotted money for the purchase of camels to be imported from the Middle East. An expedition to the Mediterranean acquired 33 animals; a second trip secured an additional 41 camels; these 74+ animals formed the core of the Camel Corps.

During the 1850s, the New Mexico Territory presented a complicated problem to the American military. Newly incorporated in September of 1850, the vast desert landscape of New Mexico was unfamiliar to many Americans. Since 1849 and the discovery of gold in the California hills, adventurous citizens had been traveling westward hoping to find amazing wealth. Travel was often perilous for the military and private citizens alike, due to slow moving pack animals, harsh hot conditions, and little water. A road and supporting infrastructure were needed.

In 1855, Congress authorized a contract to survey and build a wagon road along the thirty-fifth parallel from Fort Defiance, New Mexico Territory, to the Colorado River on the California/Arizona border. The contract was won by Edward Beale, a former Superintendent of Indian Affairs for California and Nevada.

Secretary Davis’s successor, John Floyd, was determined to test the abilities of the animals in the New Mexico environment. After Beale accepted the contract, Floyd ordered Beale to take 25 of the camels with him on a surveying expedition. The government had gone to some expense to test the camels in just this kind of situation and Floyd was determined to see if they would justify the money being spent on them. Although strongly opposed to the idea, Beale finally consented.

The expedition began in 1857 and covered thousands of miles between Texas and California and back. After a slow start, the camel’s settled to their task and began outdistancing both horses and mules, packing a 700-pound load at a steady speed and swimming across rivers that caused the other animals to balk. By the time the expedition arrived at Fort Defiance, Beale was convinced of the camel’s abilities. He wrote to Secretary Floyd, “It gives me great pleasure to report the entire success of the expedition with the camels so far as I have tried it.”

During their journey, the expedition made a stop at El Morro and inscribed their name on the rock, becoming a part of the legacy of Inscription Rock.

The advent of the Civil War effectively halted the camel experiment. Rebel troops occupied Camp Verde on 28 February 1861, and captured several of the remaining camels, using them to transport salt and carry mail around San Antonio. The camels suffered greatly at the hands of their captors, who had an intense dislike for the animals. They were badly mistreated, abused and a few of them were deliberately killed. The camels ended up in circuses, giving rides to children, running in “camel races,” living on private ranches, or working as pack animals for miners and prospectors. They became a familiar sight in California, the Southwest, Northwest, and even as far away as British Columbia.

Eventually, when the curiosity wore off or their new owners simply did not want or need them anymore, many of the camels were turned loose in the wild to fend for themselves. They were seen for many years afterward, wandering the deserts and plains of the Southwest. The last of the original Army camels, Topsy, was reported to have died in April 1934 at Griffith Park, Los Angeles, at the age of eighty, but accounts of camel sightings continued for decades.

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 E-Gram archive is available at https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1038/archeology-e-gram.htm.

Contact: Karen Mudar at e-mail us to contribute news items and to subscribe.