News

Allyson Ropp
Historic Preservation Archaeological Specialist, NC Office of State Archaeology

Take a second to imagine the colony of North Carolina in 1738 and being in a small town on the Pungo River in North Carolina. This town, called Woodstock, was a small port town off the Pamlico River and served as the county seat of Hyde County. Woodstock was a world unto itself in the swampy landscape of the North Carolina Coastal Plain, with a courthouse, plantations, and wharves bustling with ships and sailors. Where is this town today, as it is probably one you have never heard of?

Woodstock is now buried beneath sediment and water in the Pungo River. It exists only as an archaeological site that has already been subsumed by rising sea level, exposed to coastal erosion, and impacted by hurricanes. It is one of over 5,500 archaeological resources in the thirty-one counties of the North Carolina Coastal Plain that are threatened by rising seas, erosion, intensified storms, and associated storm surge.

The North Carolina Office of State Archaeology (OSA) is tasked with preserving archaeological resources throughout the state, including the over 5,500 at risk in the Coastal Plain. The OSA works to assess and manage the current and future impacts of these environmental threats to archaeological resources. Much work has gone in surveying large swaths of the coastal counties to create an inventory of resources. These surveys documented terrestrial, submerged, and intertidal sites throughout the Coastal Plain. This baseline of information allows managers to grasp the extent of sites in that region of the state.

Since the early 2000s, there have been efforts to understand the types and quantities of sites at risk from sea level rise. This work was refocused with the release of the 4^th Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which estimated sea level would rise between 0.5 and 2 meters by 2100 (IPCC 2007). In the wake of this assessment, OSA, under the guidance of Lawrence Abbott, undertook the OSA Sea Level Rise Project to provide a baseline estimate of the number of resources to be impacted under the IPCC sea level rise estimate. Abbott assembled data for archaeological resources within 30 feet of the mean sea level across 31 counties in the Coastal Plain. Within this data, he examined their evaluation for the National Register of Historic Places. Only 204 of the 5,700 sites within the project confines had been assessed and deemed eligible, approximately 2,400 were deemed ineligible, and the rest were not evaluated (Abbott 2011). All are at risk.

Now let’s fast forward to the hurricane season of 2018…

Throughout the Atlantic that season, 15 storms were named, 11 of which grew to hurricane strength, and 4 of which made landfall. Two of these named hurricanes directly impacted North Carolina. In early September 2018, Hurricane Florence made landfall near Wrightsville Beach as a Category 1 hurricane. It brought extensive storm surge and considerable rainfall, causing wide-ranging flooding across the southeastern portion of the state and over $22 billion in damages. About a month later, Hurricane Michael struck the Florida Panhandle as a Category 5. It quickly downgraded and moved north, reaching North Carolina the day after making landfall. With it came a deluge of rain to the western and central parts of the state, causing approximately $1 billion in damages in North Carolina alone.

The hurricanes impacted many aspects of life in North Carolina and in surrounding states, from infrastructure to homes to agriculture to people themselves. They also impacted archaeological resources and historic structures. In response to these storms and Typhoon Yutu, the National Park Service issued $47 million in emergency supplemental funding for cultural resource protection and preservation in states and territories impacted by Hurricanes Florence and Michael and Typhoon Yutu. This funding is aimed to finance brick and mortar projects for the restoration and stabilization of historic structures and survey projects to identify and assess impact resources to assist with future storm mitigation.

North Carolina was awarded $17 million of this supplemental fund. For North Carolina, this award is funding 27 projects across counties with FEMA declarations related to the 2018 storms. Two OSA projects are being funded from this award. One of the projects is the Historic Cemetery Survey Project, headed by OSA’s Historic Cemetery Specialist Melissa Timo. This project will assess the condition of historic cemeteries on state lands in nine coastal counties. In addition to assessing the conditions of historical cemeteries, the Cemetery Survey will locate and record cemeteries not documented in the North Carolina Site File and identify discrepancies in the Site File. Since they are underrepresented in state records, a major goal of the Cemetery Survey is to illuminate the histories of African Americans communities and associated unmarked burial grounds and cemeteries. The results of this work will be used to develop site condition monitoring and storm preparedness plans in coordination with the land-managing entities stewarding these places.

The sister project to the Historic Cemetery Survey is the NC Shorescape Survey Project, designed by Assistant State Archaeologist Mary Beth Fitts and Chris Southerly, Deputy State Archaeologist – Underwater. While the Historic Cemetery Survey focuses on historic cemeteries, the Shorescape Survey focuses on archaeological resources in state lands and waters along the shorelines of twelve coastal counties.  Employing a thematic approach, this project will combine terrestrial and underwater survey methods to identify underrepresented resource types and create information for stewardship plans, historic contexts, and public education.  Of the thematic contexts proposed for study, so far planning efforts have focused on maritime industries and the African American experience in Coastal North Carolina. However, it is expected that a whole range of sites associated with different periods of North Carolina’s history will be recorded 60 meters inland of mean sea level, and 60 meters seaward. .

The focus of work so far has been on conducting a review of existing archaeological site and cemetery data and prioritizing areas for archaeological investigation. I’ve gathered historical records and maps relating to maritime industries, cemeteries and burial practices, and African American communities, and also conducted a geospatial analysis of the impacts of storm surge and flooding on state lands. Combining this information, I mapped areas with storm impacts, previously documented archaeological sites, and locations with high potential for unrecorded historic sites to identify areas of high interest, medium interest, and low interest in anticipation for beginning the surveys.

So what’s next for heritage at risk in Coastal North Carolina??

Well, it isn’t all bleak! These two survey projects are moving forward. The results of these projects will help OSA understand the impacts of storms on archaeological resources and implement management strategies to preserve these resources as best we can. A follow-up study to Abbott’s Sea Level Rise project is also underway in light of the most recent IPCC study and the documentation of more archaeological resources since 2011.

To learn more about our project, follow OSA on Facebook (North Carolina Office of State Archaeology), on Twitter (@ncarchaeology), on our blog (All Blogs | NC DNCR Office of State Archaeology (ncdcr.gov))., and tune into the Submerged NC Webinar series (Submerged NC Webinar Series | Monitor National Marine Sanctuary (noaa.gov).

Citations

Abbott, Lawrence E, Jr.
2011     The Office of State Archaeology Sea Level Rise Project: Initial Results and Recommendations Concerning the Adaptation of Cultural Resources to Climate Change. White Paper. Presented to the Department of Cultural Resources Regarding the Potential Effects of Sea Level Rise on Archaeological Sites in the Coastal Plain of North Carolina. Office of State Archaeology, Raleigh, NC.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
2007     Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group 1 to the Fourth Assessment. Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, S. Soloman, D. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K. B. Averyt, M. Tignor, and H. L. Miller (editors). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Society for Historical Archaeology 2021 Virtual Conference
By Julia A. King, Patricia Samford, and Mark Warner

During the Society for Historical Archaeology’s (SHA) 2021 Virtual Conference, the SHA held six “virtual” Past Presidents’ Student Receptions over several days. During these sessions, which were each an hour long, students were able to engage SHA’s leaders in conversation and explore a wide range of career paths in historical archaeology.

The following is a summary of the discussions from the session on Museums and Collections. The panelists for this session were Julia A. King, Patricia Samford, and Mark Warner.

• Julia A. King is professor and chair of anthropology at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. King received her B.A. degree from William and Mary, her M.A. degree from Florida State University, and her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. She was the founding director of the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory and has written about archaeological collections management. She is a past president of the Society for Historical Archaeology and served as the first Expert Member in archaeology on the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. In 2018, King received the J. C. Harrington Award from the SHA.
• Patricia Samford is the director of the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory in St. Leonard, Maryland. She received her B.A. and M.A. degrees from the College of William and Mary and her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She has served on the board of the SHA and is currently the SHA Newsletter
• Mark Warner is a professor of anthropology at the University of Idaho, He received his B.A. from Beloit College (WI), M.A.A. from the University of Maryland, and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. He has led excavations in many parts of the United States and is the immediate past President of the Society for Historical Archaeology. 

In early December 2020, SHA sent students who registered for the 2021 Virtual Conference a survey with a list of questions about careers in historical archaeology. Students were asked to select the career type(s) of their choice and then select the top three questions they would like the session panelists to address in terms of these career paths. Students were also asked to add their own questions for the session panelists.

During the first half of the session on careers in Museums and Collections, the panelists discussed and responded to the following survey questions:  

What types of work experience and non-academic training are needed for a career in museums and collections (this was the most popular question)?

The panelists recommended that students should seek out internships and volunteer opportunities that will give them the types of experience that they need to be competitive in the job market. Internships (both paid and unpaid) are usually preferable to volunteering, with the intern being afforded a more rounded experience in the field along with some responsibilities. The internship will often include a special project that could be turned into a future publication or conference paper. The types of experiences you can expect in a curation internship would include work with collections accessioning, tracking collections through the use of databases, digital media management, conducting conservation assessments, and budget management. Don’t be afraid to ask your internship mentor for different opportunities beyond just washing and labeling artifacts—think about gaining skills such as photographing or illustrating artifacts or learning Photoshop.

How should a emerging professional structure their resume or CV to pursue a career in museums and collections? 

The panelists note that it is important to keep in mind your career goals when structuring a resume.  If you want to move into collections as a profession, highlight that experience and make sure it doesn’t get lost in any archaeological fieldwork experience you might have (although having fieldwork experience is an important skill to note). Be specific in your resume about the types of collections experience you have. Be sure to mention if you have volunteer experience.

Your cover letter is also important when applying for a position. Take the time to do a little online research—figure out who the letter should be addressed to. If that person has a Ph.D., address them as Dr. Do research about the institution so that you can describe how you might contribute to the program for which you are applying. And be sure to read your cover letter and resume carefully for spelling errors and grammar. Don’t just rely on the spell check function in Word—it misses a lot![i]

What types of courses are needed for a career in collections? 

The panelists agreed that any class that provides you with hands-on collections experience is a must. At St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Julie King has designed a practicum class during which students work with orphaned collections[ii]—cataloging and analyzing the artifacts and preparing a report on the findings. But you also need to understand why we do archaeology, so taking method and theory classes is also important. Seek out classes that give you experience in understanding and identifying the material culture of the region where you wish to work. You may also want to seek out independent study classes, where you can work closely with a professor to design and tailor your own project to gain a particular set of skills or knowledge.  While often not offered at undergraduate institutions, any classes in collections management and preventive conservation are very useful.

What are the job market prospects for museums and collections institutions? How will impacts of the pandemic (e.g., staff being terminated and museums closing) affect career prospects long term?

The panelists point out that the job market in collections is certainly better and more stable than it is for the academic sector. There will always be a need for people to manage collections, especially since regulations regarding cultural resource management (CRM) are unlikely to be changed substantially, and CRM work generates collections, which need to be managed. 

Panelists urged students to come to the Collections and Curation Committee meeting that is held at each SHA conference and to attend conference sessions sponsored by this committee. This is a good way to meet and network with professionals on the curation side of archaeology.  For networking opportunities outside of SHA, try local historical societies and local museums. While you might not be working specifically with archaeological collections, you will still gain experience with collections. Regional archaeological societies or avocational groups are also another source for gaining experience and networking.

Even if you really want to be a field archaeologist, it is critical that you understand what is involved with collections and collections management. When you are in charge of a field project, you need to think through the ramifications of what you’re digging up out of the ground and the likelihood that it has to be – or certainly should be – curated in perpetuity. You will need to work with collections managers and determine sampling strategies for materials ahead of time. You will need to think about what your conservation needs might be and figure those into the cost of your excavation so that all of these challenges don’t fall on the collections manager after the collection has been turned over to the curation facility. It is critical to have an understanding of what collections managers do so that you can be a better field archaeologist for the sake of those collections moving forward into the future.

Questions Posed during the Session

Panelists then invited session attendees to post additional questions in the Chat Box. One audience member asked whether opportunities for collections management and curation are different throughout the country. Mark Warner noted that, unfortunately, not as much attention is given to historical collections in the western states, with some archaeologists actively avoiding historical sites in the field.

Another question was how working with Native American Tribes fits into curation and collections management. The point was made by the panelists that there are almost 600 Tribes in the United States and that each Tribe will have its own ideas about how its members want to work with archaeologists (or not) and how they want collections issues addressed. Archaeologists will need to work with each Tribe individually to establish collections management policies. Archaeologists must recognize that Tribes may have very different ideas and thoughts about collections treatment, including the very idea of a collection, and that archaeological agendas, while certainly important to archaeologists, may not be shared by Tribes. It is also always important to recognize that federally recognized Tribes are sovereign nations – they are not simply descendant communities.

An audience member wanted to know if cold-calling museums and institutions was an acceptable practice, given that the pandemic had severely limited the number of job postings. Panelists noted that it never hurts to reach out to people to make yourself known regardless, even if it’s a cold contact. One suggestion was to contact institutions to see if volunteer opportunities are available, since getting that foot in the door can often lead to paying positions. The Small Museum Association (https://smallmuseum.org/) was suggested as an accessible organization with good contacts.  Also suggested for specific repository contacts is the Society for Historical Archaeology Repository Dashboard (https://sha-gis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/45981f6674c94278aa61cb290965f0a7).

Several other resources include:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/advances-in-archaeological-practice/advances-curation

https://www.amazon.com/Curating-Archaeological-Collections-Archaeology-Action-ebook/dp/B083V3P75X

A very affordably priced ($29.95) volume entitled Using and Curating Archaeological Collections edited by S. Terry Childs and Mark S. Warner (2019) has been published by the SAA Press.  Follow the link below for purchasing details. https://ecommerce.saa.org/saa/ItemDetail?iProductCode=CURATING&Category=A-SAAMON&WebsiteKey=b764b3f5-fd1e-4004-a990-89b6b82a096b

A Closing Note from Terry Klein and Terry Majewski:

We were very pleased with the results of this and the other career sessions. Exchanges between the panelists and attendees were lively and very informative, and several attendees acknowledged their thanks at the end of each session. We are looking forward to the next Past Presidents’ Student Reception in Philadelphia! It will be great to finally see everyone in person!

If you have any questions about this and the other career sessions, or future Past Presidents’ Student Receptions, please contact Mr. Terry Klein (tklein@srifoundation.org) or Dr. Teresita Majewski (tmajewski@sricrm.com).

[i] Case in point:  a former classmate prepared a report for work that included the word “public” in the title.  She ran spell check and ended up with a title that included the word “pubic.”  Don’t make a similar mistake!

[ii] An orphaned collection is a group of objects and/or associated records with unclear ownership that have been abandoned in a repository, museum, or other facility, such as a laboratory in a CRM firm. An initial glossary of collections-related terminology compiled by the then members of the Archaeological Collections Consortium was published in the “Opinion and Debate” section of the SHA Newsletter in 2015 (48[4]:4–6, Winter 2015), and this term was one that they defined.

 

 

Submitted by Mary L. Maniery
PAR Environmental Services, Inc., President
SHA Co-Publications Associate

In March 2018, the SHA began a blog for the Society webpage to highlight our collaboration with various presses, including volumes published in collaboration with the University of Nebraska Press, Omaha.  The co-publication program expands our membership’s publication opportunities.  University of Florida Press is offering SHA members this publication for $35.00 (normally $79.95), an offer valid through January of 2022.  Be sure to use discount code EVREL when ordering!

If you are interested in contributing to a joint UPF-SHA published volume, please contact SHA’s Co-Publications Editor, Benjamin Ford (ben.ford@iup.edu)

ABOUT THE BOOK

Everyday Religion: An Archaeology of Protestant Belief and Practice in the Nineteenth Century (2015)
Hadley Kruczek-Aaron
Number of pages: 256; figures
University of Florida Press Co-sponsored Publications

This book questions how religion was lived in nineteenth-century America through a study that weaves together a range of sources, both archaeological and textual. The focus is evangelical Protestantism, which witnessed a renewed popularity in the Second Great Awakening that brought hundreds of thousands to revivals in communities across America and contributed to the blossoming of numerous reform movements. Once converted, evangelicals aspired to live a life of Christian perfection, which included ideas about what believes should consume and surround themselves with inside the home. While written records are rich with descriptions of these new ideas, scholars know less about the ways believers actually lived them. The case study described in this volume contributes to the research domain by exploring how religion was lived at various sites excavated in Smithfield, New York, which earned a reputation as a reform utopia under the leadership of activist Gerrit Smith. An analysis of texts, artifacts, and landscapes suggests that living one’s faith and encouraging others to do the same in antebellum America was a process defined by struggle as believers and nonbelievers negotiated their beliefs and webs of social relationships at the household and community levels. This dialectical study raises questions about why the struggles have been forgotten by many in the present. Further, it contributes to a prolonged conversation that historical archaeologists have been having about how they do their work – including how they approach the written and material record as well as how they conceptualize religion, reform, consumption, and cultural identify.

 

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

MM: What are some of your motivations for writing/spearheading this book?

HKA:  I wanted to offer religion, and particularly religion inside the home, as an entry point for exploring the lived experience of 19^th-century Americans. Until recently, other dimensions of cultural identity have taken center stage in archaeology, and when religion has attracted attention, objects and spaces typically identified as sacred (such as places of worship, cemeteries, and objects bearing religious iconography) have tended to be the stars of the show. In contrast, Everyday Religion places the spotlight on the home and demonstrates how objects that are ubiquitous on historic-period domestic sites—ceramic tableware and teaware, glass bottles, smoking pipes, and food remains—can reveal details about the spiritual lives of past peoples and specifically the influence that evangelical Protestantism had on the material worlds of 19^th-century Christians.

MM:  Who would you like to read this book? Who is your audience?

HKA:  My goal is to reach audiences both inside and outside of our discipline. Though the work is especially relevant to historical archaeologists in light of its nineteenth-century focus and because it amounts to an exploration of how best to approach material culture and texts, I hope Everyday Religion appeals to archaeologists, historians, material culture studies scholars, cultural anthropologists, and others with broad interests in religion, consumption, power, households, and cultural identity. And because I critically examine the public memory relating to antebellum religion and reform, Everyday Religion also would be of interest to museum curators, historic preservationists, and others focused on researching and presenting the history of these social movements to the public. This includes the growing number of researchers interested in the Underground Railroad, since the case study at the core of Everyday Religion is the central New York home of religious reformer Gerrit Smith, which was a well-known refuge for African American freedom seekers. 

MM:  Now that you have published this book, what kinds of things are you dreaming up next? What is in the works?

HKA:  Since writing Everyday Religion, I have immersed myself in the history of New York’s Adirondack mountains, a region that has received scant attention from archaeologists despite the richness of its heritage. My goal is to use the archaeology of the Adirondacks to explore America’s evolving relationship with wilderness through the stories of a range of Adirondackers, who have struggled to live and to thrive in an environment that can be both breathtakingly beautiful and cruelly unforgiving. My recent fieldwork has explored sites that are associated with abolitionists, farmers, loggers, hunters, and tourists, and that date to before and after 1894, when New York State declared that the millions of acres of Adirondack Park land must be kept “forever wild.”

Kimberly J. Wooten, Archaeologist, Cultural Studies Office, California Department of Transportation

There’s enough wind outside that it’s rattling the dried leaves on the century old grapevine that wraps up to the second story of my foothill home. My mind makes this instant calculation – wind speeds vs. air temperatures – reaching the conclusion that even though it is windy and extremely dry, it is also too cool to really worry about a fire start. Since 2015, I’ve been living with this new skill set – it’s a disaster skill set, an anxiety response, a calculation of potential danger. My children do this, my friends and family do this. With more than 2,400,000 acres burned in California this fire season already, much of it in northern California, September has been a little piece of hell.

At the beginning of month when I first sat down to write this blog, my 18-year old son was one week into his newly independent life – a freshman enrolled at Lake Tahoe Community College for environmental sciences – when he had to evacuate due to the Caldor Fire. He brought his fishing tackle home, but no clothing. We’d been watching the fire burn up the Highway 50 corridor, moving closer to South Lake Tahoe daily. It would rage through 25,000 acres in a day and, amazingly, another 25,000 at night. The air thickened into a golden brown, mandatory evacuations surrounded the city, and people had to be warned not to evacuate into the lake itself. There is still one part of my mind that will not let me comprehend the possibility that Tahoe, a town of 21,000, can burn; Santa Rosa, Concow, and Paradise tell me otherwise.

For those of you who don’t know the region, the Tahoe Basin is a beautiful, often rugged landscape. Along with Lake Tahoe at an elevation of 6,200 feet, there are dozens of smaller alpine lakes surrounded by granite and pines, sequoias and wildflowers. Cultural heritage traditions extend back in time thousands of years, including Indigenous archaeological sites that are still active summer gathering locations, hidden cabins that date to the early days of car camping, and historic sites like Camp Richardson, Vikingsholm in Emerald Bay State Park, and the late 19^th and early 20^th century lakeside estates that comprise the Tallac Historic Site. Writing this, I can almost smell the soft fragrance of vanilla that emanates from the Ponderosa Pines in the summer.

The first fire that really impacted my family was the Butte Fire in 2015. My daughter, 15 at the time, and I saw a plume of smoke driving home, wondering if it was over our town. It was massive, even only at a few hundred acres. The next morning, from the windows of our home that overlooked the fire, all you could see was a roiling wall of smoke. Bruised shades of gray, purple, and brown, and this strange golden color that would come to define our summers in California. Ash fell like snow covering everything. Nine of my daughter’s 10 friends had to evacuate. She wandered our home taking photos of everything, convinced we would have to evacuate, that our home would burn. Over the next four days the Butte Fire would explode to nearly 71,000 acres, the third largest fire in California history at the time. Massive, extreme, unstoppable. Six years later, small, typical. The Dixie Fire in northeastern California is over 960,000 acres and is nearly contained, but not until it burned though much of the gold rush community of Greenville.

The Caldor Fire is still actively burning but is progressing much slower. My son returned to his mountain home a week ago, after the narrow band of mountain roadway that is Highway 88 reopened. He passed by the 19^th century establishments of Kirkwood Inn, Plasse’s Resort, and Kit Carson Lodge where spot fires persist in nearly inaccessible wilderness. For weeks, my community held its collective breath as the fire threatened these structures. We watched as walls of flames reaching 200 feet high approached, ready to evaporate these histories, our collective memories. But along Highway 88, my son also passed portions of the mountainous route that had been newly thinned, a measure that creates a wider fire break, slowing forward progress and saving natural landscapes, communities, and cultural resources.

As western fires grown in intensity and size and the fire season expands by months, cultural resource specialists are writing fire guidance that is being tested in real time. Historic buildings are wrapped in silvery fire-resistant foils or sprayed with fire-resistant gels. What can be moved from our State Parks and local museums – archaeological collections, the piano that sits in Jack London’s home, precious pieces of our shared cultural heritage – are moved and stored. The economic costs associated with wildfire are enormous. Many agencies and organizations aren’t staffed or funded for protection and prevention measures, the evacuation of museums and facilities, loss of revenue, or the cost of physical recovery for damaged structures and infrastructure that must be repaired or reconstructed. Even when funding is available, cultural resource management companies are finding a shortage of archaeologists to do the work. For agencies and utility companies, after it is safe to enter the burn area, there is the cost of pairing archaeologists with fire recovery crews to ensure archaeological sites are not further damaged by the slow, methodical recovery work.

In terms of the archaeological sites, damage is caused by the heat of the fire itself, but also as trees fall and root balls rip up deposits and features. In the firefighting process, inadvertent damage from the construction of fire breaks or heavy equipment is a necessary cost. Depending on the intensity of the fire, at historical archaeological sites glass artifacts can break, shatter or melt; ceramics can shatter and designs burn away; metal artifacts are weakened, changing their longevity, or burn completely; leather and textiles that remain can be destroyed as fires burn into the soil itself. For dual component sites, the archaeological deposits on the surface are damaged, but their historic structural components, including historic vegetation, are often completely destroyed. With these losses, important relationships between the physical remains and archaeological deposits are also lost. Heritage protected for generations by families and communities compresses into six inches of ash, artifacts to be hauled away by FEMA. Maybe the only plus to a fire is the visibility – what was a tangle of undergrowth is now a barren, blackened landscape, which makes sites pop out visually.

In sitting down to write about the climate crisis and its impacts on our collective cultural heritage – a topic I normally approach from the Contemporary Archaeology perspective of plastic waste – I found myself unable to focus because our collective cultural heritage is burning. In the coming months, my husband will come home from his archaeological fire recovery fieldwork covered in deep, black soot and the distinct smell of recent burns. Summers in the Western United States are filled with a strange, golden light that has to be experienced to understand. It turns your stomach and at the same time it is now almost normal. Because humans are so adaptable, we are adapting ourselves comfortably into climate change. Western nations, for now, can do that.

I know it is cliché, but it’s also the simple truth that in the ashes of wildfires many positive things have taken root. There is a growing acknowledgement of the importance of traditional Indigenous fire technology and management practices and its applicability to the current wildfire landscape. Fire archaeology, a relatively new field, promotes technological advances and will continue to employ archaeologists for the foreseeable future. On a more personal level, in the wake of the 2017 Tubbs Fire which destroyed thousands of homes in the community of Santa Rosa, California, the need to recover human cremains resulted in the formation of the Alta Heritage Foundation (https://altahf.org/). Pairing volunteer archaeologists with cadaver canine teams, the foundation’s mission is to use applied archaeology to support the humanitarian efforts of cremains recovery, as well as address the impacts of climate change on cultural resources. For many of the archaeological volunteers who have worked in the aftermath of wildfires since, helping families recover the cremated remains of loved ones thought lost forever is how we help ourselves cope with the new fire reality of California burning.

September 8, 2021
Submitted by Mary L. Maniery

PAR Environmental Services, Inc., President
SHA Co-Publications Associate

In March 2018, the SHA began a blog for the Society webpage to highlight our collaboration with various presses, including volumes published in collaboration with the University of Nebraska Press, Omaha (UNP).  The co-publication program expands our membership’s publication opportunities.  UNP is offering SHA members this publication for $48.00 (normally $80.00), an offer valid through December of 2021.  Be sure to use discount code 6AF21 when ordering!

If you are interested in contributing a joint UNP-SHA published volume, please contact SHA’s Co-Publications Editor, Benjamin Ford (ben.ford@iup.edu)

ABOUT THE BOOK

New Life for Archaeological Collections (2019)
Rebecca Allen and Ben Ford, editors
Number of pages: 450; 30 figures; 6 maps, 14 tables, index
University of Nebraska Press, Omaha

Society for Historical Archaeology Series in Material Culture Series

New Life for Archaeological Collections explores solutions to what archaeologists are calling the “curation crisis,” that is, too much stuff with too little research, analysis, and public interpretation. This volume demonstrates how archaeologists are taking both large and small steps toward not only solving the dilemma of storage but recognizing the value of these collections through inventorying and cataloging, curation, rehousing, artifact conservation, volunteer and student efforts, and public exhibits.

Essays in this volume highlight new questions and innovative uses for existing archaeological collections. Rebecca Allen and Ben Ford advance ways to make the evaluation and documentation of these collections more accessible to those inside and outside of the scholarly discipline of archaeology. Contributors to New Life for Archaeological Collections introduce readers to their research while opening new perspectives for scientists and students alike to explore the world of archaeology. These essays illuminate new connections between cultural studies and the general availability of archaeological research and information.  Drawing from the experience of university professors, government agency professionals, and cultural resource managers, this volume represents a unique commentary on education, research, and the archaeological community.

AUTHORS INTERVIEW

MM: What are some of your motivations for writing/spearheading this book?

RA/BF:  We organized New Life for Archaeological Collections in recognition of the increased amount of historical archaeological work being done with legacy collections, and collections that lack accompanying reports. This is important work because it fulfills our ethical obligations to preserve and steward the archaeological record.  Studying or restudying a collection is preservation in that the study is not disturbing an archaeological site, leaving that site for future archaeologists with different questions and better methods. It is stewarding in the sense that we are wringing as much information as possible from archaeological resources and contributing to the knowledge of a site and respective descendant communities. As archaeologists curate collections for future research, engaging with these collections fulfills the promise of archaeological knowledge, and teaches archaeologists to become better at how they research, excavate, engage with the community, and curate in the future.  

MM:  Who would you like to read this book? Who is your audience?

RA/BF:  New Life for Archaeological Collections is for any archaeologist with an open mind about using collections. For students or those who have not thought of using an existing collection for their research, this book provides many good examples of research questions and approaches that have been fruitful, as well as warnings of the possible pitfalls and frustrations. For archaeologists already using existing collections in their research, there are several examples that will help inform their practice. There is plenty of room for growth in collections-based research. This book doesn’t claim to be the final word on using existing and legacy collections, but we hope that it is a conversation starter.

MM:  Now that you have published this book, what kinds of things are you dreaming up next? What is in the works?

RA/BF:  Hopefully we will work together on a future project. We had a lot of fun doing this book and found that bringing our different perspectives, experiences, and networks to bear on this topic made for a stronger book. In the meantime, Rebecca is working with descendant Native American communities who may not want to curate artifact collections, but do want to leave cultural knowledge, data, images, and oral histories for future studies and future generations. Ben just published an underwater archaeology textbook with Jessi Halligan and Alexis Catsambis – Our Blue Planet (Oxford University Press). His next project is to pull together the Hanna’s Town legacy collection and use the lessons learned from New Life for Archaeological Collection to really make it sing.  

by Meg Gaillard
Archaeologist
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Heritage Trust Program

Nearly six years ago, a catastrophic flood event affected the Carolinas from October 1 – 5, 2015. During this event, a large portion of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) archaeological archive was inundated. Following initial recovery efforts to remove and relocate all archives to a secure long-term triage facility, I lead an eight-month stabilization and re-curation of the materials – The South Carolina Archaeological Archive Flood Recovery Project – with the assistance of many volunteers and other professionals.

The 2015 flood was the catalyst for the development of a more robust disaster plan for our team, and lead to the acquisition of SCDNR’s Parker Annex Archaeology Center located in Columbia, SC in April 2017. Within this blog I will share portions of our recovery methodology, lesson learned from our experience, and recommendations for additional information and training opportunities in hopes of helping others in the event you are faced with a similar situation in the future.

During the Flood of 2015, rain totals across the Carolinas ranged from 10 – 26 inches. Emergency responders, including the SCDNR, conducted over 1,500 water rescues. Over 500 roads and bridges throughout the state of South Carolina were closed and 47 dams failed. Over 20,000 residents were displaced, drinking water was disrupted for 40,000, and 19 people lost their lives. A detailed story map of the flood produced by the SCDNR can be found here: South Carolina Flooding 2015 Story Map.

On October 7, 2015, when waters receded, the recovery of archived SCDNR archaeological materials began. The South Carolina Archaeological Archive Flood Recovery Project lasted for eight months and consisted in the recovery of approximately 1,500 boxes of previously curated artifacts, 100 cubic feet of documents, and 15,000 photographs, negatives and slides (Figure 1). An initial triage facility for the archive was located at the SCDNR Fish Hatchery in West Columbia, SC (Figure 2). Within two days, the recovered items, which were coming into the SCDNR facility in truckloads (Figure 3), exceeded the available space. This, compounded by the threat of another wave of severe weather, hastened the acquisition of a new facility for long-term recovery efforts to take place.

Lexington School District Two donated the use of their old Fine Arts Center in West Columbia, SC (Figure 4) to the SCDNR for the duration of the flood recovery project. This facility was located to the west of downtown Columbia, SC where the archived material was inundated. The flood recovery project took place at this facility from October 2015 to May 2016 with the help of 135 volunteers and six temporary part-time staff, in addition to full and part-time SCDNR staff (Figure 5). All available space in the facility was utilized, and although quite large at approximately 5,000 square feet, the layout of the recovery effort had to be transformed every few weeks to keep up with the changing focus of the work.

The flood recovery project was organized into a phased approach. The recovery and restoration of the entire archive at one time was impossible due to its size and complexity of material culture. The recovery and stabilization of documents took first priority. Documents were sorted and approximately 100 cubic feet were sent to five SCDNR freezers. The freezing of documents stopped the growth of mold, and essentially stopped time until the restoration of those documents could take place at a later date.

The second priority was the cleaning and drying of photographs, negatives, and slides (Figure 6). Ideally, all of these items would have been laid flat to dry, on well ventilated surfaces; however, due to space and time constraints, the method of hanging photographs and negatives, while laying slides to dry flat was chosen. Approximately 3,000 images were cleaned, dried and stabilized each day over the course of five days. These images were scanned into a digital archive during the summer of 2016 by an SCDNR archaeology intern.

The third priority of the flood recovery project was the washing, drying, labeling, bagging and boxing of artifacts. Nearly every bag of artifacts was inundated with water due to the buildup of water pressure during the flood (Figure 7). In order to ensure that all artifacts were properly re-curated, every artifact went through the full curation process again. Diagnostic metal objects were stabilized through metal conservation by SCDNR archaeologist Tariq Ghaffar (Figure 8), while all other artifacts were washed with clean water and dried.

One recommendation I would like to make regarding boxes of artifacts is in the way they should be transported from an impacted facility. Cardboard curation boxes are not going to maintain their structural integrity following impacts from water related disasters (Figure 9). To ensure that all objects within those boxes maintain their provenience information, and to provide a safer method for staff to transport those objects from the impacted facility, I would recommend transferring boxed objects into sandbags (Figure 10). One box of objects to one sandbag. All associated labels should be placed within the bags, and a duplicate set of label information should be written on flagging tape that is tied to the outside of the bags.

Safety of personnel during all phases of the project was a top priority. Volunteers and staff were required to wear gloves at all times. Depending on the task, protective masks, long 18 mil aprons, and protective eyewear were also available. Although the temperature was controlled, ventilation was aided using large industrial box fans and humidity was controlled using dehumidifiers.

There were numerous supplies purchased for and donated to the project. One of the most unique was the purchase of thousands of paper food trays – the same type that might hold a burger and fries. Since all the artifacts washed during the flood recovery project had already been curated and contained paper labels and/or information on their bags, the best way to keep the artifacts and associated information organized was to place cleaned artifacts in food trays and place the information (bag and/or tag) that was impacted by flood waters below the tray on drying racks (Figure 11). Once the artifacts dried, new tags and bags replaced the old, and the artifacts were stored in new boxes.

Another unique object was an outdoor washing station constructed by SCDNR archaeologist Sean Taylor. Made from a table screen typically used for volunteers to screen dirt in the field, this table served as a station for washing large pieces of pottery after industrial kitchen sprayers, foot pedals and plumbing were installed (Figure 12). The repurposing of materials and supplies we had available was essential throughout the recovery process in addition to the purchase of new recovery supplies.

The overall recovery plan for the South Carolina Archaeological Archive Flood Recovery Project was based on information I had received in two one-day disaster preparedness and recovery workshops hosted by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History in 2010. In hindsight there are many things I wish I had done differently, but it was through the experience of the 2015 flood recovery effort that I learned better ways to approach disaster recovery in the future. The unfortunate reality is that workshops and lectures, however detailed, cannot fully prepare you for every disaster. Even one’s experience preparing for and recovering from prior disasters might not be enough. In the end, it all comes down to preparing yourself, your staff, and your facilities as best you can for potential disasters like what we experienced in 2015, asking for help when you need it, and assisting others when you can.

This blog is based on a one-hour lecture I provide for free to my interns, university classes and cultural resources institutions in hopes of providing information to assist others during future disasters. If you are interested in this lecture, please contact me at GaillardM@dnr.sc.gov.

• Additional Resources:
  • National Heritage Responders Hotline: 202-661-8068
  • American Institute for Conservation (AIC), Emergencies page:
  https://www.culturalheritage.org/resources/emergencies
  • Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative: https://culturalrescue.si.edu/
  • Heritage Emergency National Task Force: https://culturalrescue.si.edu/hentf/
  • Curae Collections Care, LLC., Resources page: http://curaecollections.com/resources

written by Zahida Quadri
Editor Sindh Antiquities,
Directorate of Antiquities and Archaeology-
Culture, Tourism, Antiquities & Archives Department
Government of Sindh, Pakistan

For many of you the World heritage site of Makli may be new to read about. It is a funerary complex on the outskirts of Thatta, Sindh, a province of Pakistan where I live. It is the world’s largest and one of the most unique necropolises, with an extraordinarily diverse architecture of carved stone monuments and Islamic furnery art.  Its tile-clad brick tombs stretched along the Indus River, creating a striking vista visible from afar.

The historical site of Makli was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 as an “outstanding testament” to Sindhi civilization between the 14th and 18th centuries. The site spreads over an area of 10 square kilometres. The site houses approximately one million graves/tombs built over the course of a 400-year period of the Sumas (1340 to 1520 A.D.); the Arghuns (1320 to 1355 A.D.); the Tarkhans (1355 to 1592 A.D.); and Mughals (1592 to 1739 A.D.) who ruled over Sindh with their capital at Thatta. This unique assemblage of various monuments was built with a variety of brick and stone elements over the graves of buried Kings, Queens, Governors, Saints, Scholars, Philosophers and Soldiers of the time. Most of the graves are decorated with the beautiful carving of Quranic verses and geometrical designs over the stone slabs. The site lies over 40 feet high–Makli hill comprised mainly of Eocene age limestone rock–belonged to royalty, various Sufi saints, and esteemed scholars. 

This blog is a part of study [report] of the recent initiative of Directorate of Antiquities and Archaeology – Culture, Tourism and Antiquities Department, Government of Sindh, ―Study the effects of windborne salinity on the monuments and development of feasible mitigation measures to reduce this impact on the outstanding universal value (OUV) of the historical monuments at Makli, Thatta, Pakistan. A detailed report will be published in Department’s research journal, Sindh Antiquities, ISSN; 1276-1996, Vol-06, No 02, SPECIAL ISSUE, HERITAGE AT RISK. The prime focus of the blog is the marine winds effects on Makli hills monuments.

Windborne salinity is one of the major threats to historical monuments and heritage sites around the world. In addition, wind effects in general, air pollution due to anthropogenic reasons, rain, daily and seasonal temperature, humidity and pressure changes are posing significant threat to historical buildings. The monuments closer to marine environments are more exposed to adverse effects of windborne salinity and salt aerosols in particular. The historical monuments of Makli are situated at a distance of about 50km from the nearest landward extension of coastal creeks/waters along the Arabian Sea. Though at a considerable distance, the historical monuments are fairly exposed to marine winds especially to very strong monsoon winds during summer months.

The prevailing winds are one of the determinants of the microclimate surrounding a monument. Seasonal winds, and a seasonal climate in warm zones and monsoon regions are more harmful to buildings. Winds can also influence the change in humidity. The stones chiefly used in monuments at Makli are limestone and sandstone whereas widespread use of baked bricks is also common. Damage to these monuments is largely caused by intrinsic porosity as the water along with various chemicals including windborne salts can penetrate the stones from atmosphere. Humidity and the salts carried out by ocean blown particles play vital role in the deterioration of the stone used in structures and monuments a Makli. The air distance from the Makli area with the Arabian Sea may be sixty to sixty-five kilometres.  The surfaces directly exposed to the wind direction were disturbed more than those areas which were not exposed to the air direction from the southwest.  The prevailing winds blowing at high speed in intense heat also carry particles of solid matter, which result in erosion of surface materials.   The windborne salts and other weather-related impacts are seen as serious threats to Makli Necropolis.

Although preventive measures have been taken and the world heritage committee of UNESCO has expressed its satisfaction over the measures the department has taken, climate change has adversely affected Makli over the past decades. A large number of historical monuments at Makli have either been completely or partially damaged. The variations in temperature, humidity, rainwater, salinity, and windborne salts are largely responsible for the degradation of the building structures including the carved stones on graves. The incidence of salt/sulphate attack is visible near the tops of the walls or within the domes. The deposition of salts in the fabric is occurring through the salt-laden moist air to which the monuments have continuous exposure all the year round. It is possible that impurities were present in the original building material and may have been re-introduced unwittingly in materials used for repair and restoration work in more recent times. Mr. Qasim Ali Qaim, the former  director Archaeology stated in his report published in the Journal of Research in Architecture and Planning  (2014), the exposure of Makli monuments to average velocity of about 10-12 miles per hour saline natured winds and periodic rains result in surficial damage as well as percolation of water within the cracks and pores causes serious internal decay after saturation of the external surfaces.  

The study that has been carried out on the three monuments with eighteen selected samples of interior and exterior of the buildings, tiles, bricks, and decorative stones carved with Quranic verses and geometrical designs, stated that the deterioration of structure due to air-borne salts can be considered at initial stage. However, climate change is of global concern, affecting heritage, in different ways, especially as a growing threat to UNESCO World Heritage (WH) properties worldwide.  It is essential to exchange and promote case studies, to understand the vulnerability of heritage sites and to provide practical solutions to addressing climate change by harnessing the potential of local tangible and intangible heritage resources.

Society for Historical Archaeology 2021 Virtual Conference
By Amanda Evans, Donn Grenda, and Joe Joseph

 Earlier this year, during the Society for Historical Archaeology’s (SHA) 2021 Virtual Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology, students had multiple opportunities to network with professionals as part of the Past Presidents’ Student Reception.  Organized and moderated by Mr. Terry Klein and Dr. Teresita Majewski, the reception consisted of a series of live panels during the conference that brought students together with SHA leaders to talk about careers across the spectrum of archaeology, including positions in government agencies, academia, public engagement, museums and collections, underwater archaeology, and cultural resource management (CRM).  In advance of the conference, students were invited to submit questions that were addressed during the panels, along with open question and answer during sessions. 

The session on careers in CRM was held on Friday, January 8, 2021, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. CST. The panelists for this session were:

• Amanda Evans, Ph.D., RPA, Maritime Services Practice Leader, Gray & Pape, Inc.
• Donn Grenda, Ph.D., RPA, President, Statistical Research, Inc.
• Joe Joseph, Ph.D., RPA, Director of Administration, New South Associates

Given that we are now in the midst of graduation season, the SHA blog series presents a summary of the CRM discussion from the Past Presidents’ Student Reception series.  For those in the job market, or about to enter it, we hope you find these questions and the collective answers useful.

Question:  What type of work experience or nonacademic training do I need to get a job in

CRM?

Answers: 

• A field school is a minimum requirement for entry-level positions within CRM.
• Previous experience in the geographical area or region in which you are applying is desired, but previous CRM experience is more important if you’re applying for a position in an area or region that you have not previously worked.
• For people trying to start a career in archaeology that have not had previous experience, local archaeological societies may offer field or other volunteer opportunities that can help a candidate build their experience.
• Once hired, employers are looking for people that are dependable and work hard, and that can get along with others in a team environment and are willing to learn.
• Previous experience (either paid or volunteer) doing the types of tasks relevant to the position you are applying for will set you apart from other candidates.

Question:   How should I structure my resume or CV to pursue a career in CRM?

Answers:

• Include your academic qualifications, and for new professionals just starting out you can include higher-level coursework that you’ve completed.
• Identify your research interest(s). If the project or position aligns with your area of interest, that can make you a preferred candidate over someone with relatively similar experience.
• When describing your previous project experience, provide specific details about the tasks you were responsible for completing or project details. For example, rather than saying you went on a survey, describe how large the survey was (e.g., 13 miles, 1,500 acres), the types of terrain, and the survey methods used.
• Provide references who can speak to your abilities and work experience.
• If possible, include a cover letter. When an employer is going through stacks of technicians’ resumes, many of whom have comparable experience, a cover letter calling out why a candidate thinks they would be a great hire or why they think their research efforts fit with the work that the employer will be conducting can better illustrate a candidate’s qualifications to the hiring manager. In a cover letter, the applicant can also demonstrate their knowledge of the company to which they’re applying, and this can set them apart from other applicants.
• Specify whether your experience includes precontact sites, historical-period sites, or both.

Question:  If someone has a Master’s degree or higher, are they expected to meet the Secretary of the Interior’s (SOI) Professional Qualifications Standards for Archaeology?
https://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/arch_stnds_9.htm

Answers:

• If the position explicitly asks for someone meeting SOI qualifications, then yes, your resume should demonstrate that you meet the standards.
• If the position is entry level and you have a Master’s degree, whether you meet SOI qualifications or not, you should state why you are willing to accept an entry-level position. Maybe it’s to build your field experience in a specific region, or on a project type, or as a way to get a foot in the door with a specific company. If you are eligible (Master’s degree or higher) you should become a Registered Professional Archaeologist (RPA).

Question:  What does the job market look like for CRM?

Answers:

• Currently, the job market is growing faster than many CRM firms can keep up with, driven in large part by energy (especially renewable energies), military, and transportation projects. The White House’s proposed infrastructure bill (at the time of writing this summary) would increase the need for CRM professionals.

Question:  How much does the region where you get an advanced degree determine the region where you’re hired?

Answers:

• The panelists agreed that the quality of the program matters more than its location and suggest evaluating graduate programs or the professors that a student would like to work with, or the specialties and research opportunities available through that department or program.
• The caveat is that each school or program will present opportunities for experiences or networking that may not translate to the area where you want to work or live.
• Individual professors or entire programs may have relationships and associations with private companies, museums, non-profits, or regulatory agencies. Those relationships could ultimately influence your opportunities and experiences as you develop your career path.  
• There are situations where a state may require that you have a set level of experience in that state in order to work there.  
• If applying to a position outside of your area, for example if you completed a graduate program overseas, try to explain in your cover letter how your skills or theoretical training apply to historic preservation generally and how your degree program prepared you for the position to which you’re applying.

Question:  What non-archaeological skills are most useful or sought after in CRM?

Answers:

• The ability to write is extremely important in CRM. Being able to communicate effectively in writing – to prepare reports, permit applications, and proposals – are critical skills that you will need to move beyond being a field technician.
• Management experience, being able to manage people, schedules, and budgets are all important skills. You may be able to demonstrate that through previous work experience outside of archaeology.
• The ability to drive a 4-wheel drive vehicle, or the ability to drive large work vehicles. It is more critical than you would believe since field crews often use large trucks, but scenarios happen where an employee pulls into a gas station and runs into the gas pump because they’ve never driven a truck.  Or when you’re out with a crew in the middle of nowhere and you get stuck in the sand/mud. Do you know how to get out of the sand/mud? Do you know how to change a tire?  
• For the maritime positions, we always have a wish list of skills that can help set a candidate apart, things like small boat engine repair or boating experience. Are you familiar with knots? A lot of times we’re having to fabricate things on the boat in the field, we’re having to fix things that broke, we need to trailer a boat.  To the earlier point about large trucks, it’s even harder to pull into the gas station with a 30-foot trailer behind the truck.  

Question:  Are research, publication, and presentations encouraged or valued in CRM archaeology?

Answers:

• That answer will vary from company to company. Some companies will actively encourage and support conference participation, others will ask that it be done on an employee’s own time. 
• Publications and presentations definitely benefit the individual employee. It helps you to become known in the field for your research interests or regional expertise, and it helps to build your network. 
• You should be looking at opportunities to give presentations and to be active in archaeological societies and organizations. Those activities may introduce you to CRM archaeologists, or you may have somebody hear a talk that you presented and want to talk with you afterwards because they have a project coming up and they think you might be a good fit.
• It is a strength on your resume to show publications and presentations. That’s part of the resume filter. Companies that actively encourage this will look for it in the resumes of candidates they consider.

Question:  Should an applicant use their thesis as a writing sample as part of their application package?

Answers:

• Unless your thesis is completely unrelated to the job, yes you should use it as a writing sample. Employers will understand that the requirements for the thesis may include jargon or sections that don’t equate to a CRM report, but we understand the structure of a thesis.  If you’re not submitting a part of your thesis and you’re applying for a job as a supervisory archaeologist or other position that involves writing, it may raise more questions.

Question:  What types of ancillary archaeological and non-archaeological positions are available within CRM?

Answers:

• Ethnographers
• Historians
• Physical anthropologists / Mortuary archaeologists / Bioarchaeologists
• Zooarchaeologists / Archaeobotanists
• Geophysical specialists (terrestrial and marine remote sensing)
• GIS specialists
• Illustrators / Graphic designers
• Editors / Report production
• Architectural historians / Historic architectural specialists
• Laboratory directors
• Curation managers
• Accounting and Administration, including Human Resources
• Project Managers
• Health, Safety, and Environment officers
• Marketing and Business Development
• Information Technology

A Closing Note from Terry Klein and Teresita Majewski:

We were very pleased about the results of this and the other career sessions. Exchanges between the panelists and attendees were lively and very informative, and several attendees acknowledged their thanks at the end of each session. We are looking forward to the next Past Presidents’ Student Receptions in Philadelphia! It will be great to finally see everyone in person!

If you have any questions about this and the other career sessions, or future Past Presidents’ Student Receptions, please contact Mr. Terry Klein (tklein@srifoundation.org) or Dr. Teresita Majewski (tmajewski@sricrm.com).

Alice Kelley, University of Maine, School of Earth and Climate Sciences
akelley@maine.edu   middenminders@maine.edu

Over 2,000 shell middens (or shell heaps or mounds) on dot the 3500 mile long mainland and island Maine coast.  From the water, middens appear as a flash of white cascading down a bluff or a white apron on a beach. Long thought to be “Indian dumps” by local residents and early archaeologists, recent work demonstrates that these sites are a rich archive of past lifeways and environments and a cultural touchstone for the region’s Indigenous inhabitants.  Virtually all the middens seen today are eroded remnants of larger features.

The largest component of shell mounds are clam or oyster shells. Clam shells are the most frequent constituent along the Maine coast, but significant oyster shell heaps are located in the Mid-Coast region near Damariscotta.  Other cultural material is associated with the shells; pottery sherds made from local clay, the remains of stone and bone tool production, and faunal and floral remains.  The weathering of the shells neutralizes Maine’s typically acidic soil, making middens one of the few archaeological settings in Maine that preserve unburned bones, bone tools, and seeds.  In the interior, organic remains are limited to calcined bone.

Most of the shell heaps visible today were built by Wabanaki people, and range in age from 4,000 to European contact.  It is likely that older mounds existed, but they were eroded and submerged as sea level has risen along the Maine coast for the last 12,000 years. However, climate change is accelerating the pace of coastal erosion through sea level rise, increasing storm frequency and intensity, and more frequent freeze thaw events.

Early excavations in the 19^th century focused on archaeological material culture, and shoveled through the shells in search of artifacts.  In some cases, collection of archaeological materials was secondary to mining shells for lime production, chicken feed, or road materials. Modern excavations have revealed a wealth of information on pre-European indigenous lifeways and seasonal movements in the coastal zone.  Faunal remains from middens are also an important resource for researchers interested in two New England/Maritimes extinct species, the Great Auk and the Sea Mink.

Maine shell middens occur in a variety of sizes and coastal settings.  The largest remaining shell heap is the Glidden Midden in Newcastle.  Composed of largely oyster shells, the midden rises almost 30 feet above the west bank of the Damariscotta River, and extends for almost 300 feet along the shoreline.  It is easily viewed from the Whaleback Historical Site on the opposing bank in Damariscotta.  The Whaleback Midden was even larger than the Glidden Midden, but was almost entirely removed in the late 1880’s to produce crushed shell for chicken feed and road material.  The Glidden Midden’s large size may be due to its composition of oyster shells, larger than clam shells, and its more protected position on a tidal river, rather than on the open ocean.   Clam-shell dominated shell mounds are found both in sheltered coves and on more open stretches of coast.  Those in sheltered locations tend to be limited in size, while some in more exposed extend over 30 meters along the shore on beaches or bluffs. They are likely the remains of much larger features easily visible from offshore, and suggest a social function beyond refuse disposal.

However, we may never know what roles shell mounds played in the social setting of early Indigenous people.  Many shell middens are eroding in the face of climate change-induced impacts.  Rapidly rising sea level brings the reach of more frequent and intense storm waves higher along the shore.  Increasing numbers of freeze-thaw events serve to destabilize the middens and hasten their erosion. Development and looting damage middens.  All of these impacts are intensifying, just as these features are being recognized as recording important cultural and environmental information.

The Maine Midden Minders was created in conjunction with the Maine Historic Preservation Commission and Maine Sea Grant to create a link between academic/governmental research and local citizens and tribal members to monitor and document the erosion of many recorded but unstudied middens.

Bringing citizen scientists into a data collection program first required a shift in thinking for professional archaeologists.  In the past, shell midden locations have been shared only with trusted researchers in an effort to prevent looting and trespass.  Recognizing that community members already know where middens are located, the program is based on a volunteer’s local knowledge, rather than assigning middens to those who apply to the program.

Annual measurements made using simple tools or 3D drone photography are used to measure erosion.  Seasonal change is documented using sequential photographs and notes that are recorded in a data base designed to protect midden locations and their private landowners from disturbance.  The pandemic has created a hiccup in our recruiting and measurement activities, but we are ramping up with a new season.

For more information about the Midden Minders, go to our website:
umaine/edu/middenminders/ or contact us at middenminders@maine.edu