11.2: Cultural Resource Management
- Last updated
- Save as PDF
- Page ID
- 112432
VANISHING ARCHAEOLOGY
As a result of land development, intensive agriculture, deforestation, and tourism among others, we are continually destroying archaeological remains and cultural heritage. In North America, as in other countries around the world, the dominant form of archaeological investigations are a result of Cultural Resource Management (CRM) projects. This type of archaeology is important in the effort to protect the remaining archaeological sites that are quickly vanishing.
cultural heritage
An expression of the ways of living developed by a community and passed on from generation to generation, including customs, practices, places, objects, artistic expressions, and values (Science Direct).
Cultural Resource Management (CRM)
The conservation and management of cultural resources including archaeological sites and artifacts as a means to preserve the past (Fagan, 2006).
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
In Chapter 5 of the Management Policies, the United State's National Park Service (NPS) states, "The National Park Service will protect, preserve, and foster appreciation of the cultural resources in its custody and demonstrate its respect for the peoples traditionally associated with those resources through appropriate programs of research, planning, and stewardship" (National Park Service, 2006). The legislation discussed in the previous section of this textbook provides guidance as well as gives authority and responsibility to the National Park Service for managing and preserving the cultural resources that are located within the public lands and properties of the national park system (National Park Service, 2006). These cultural resources include all archeological resources, cultural landscapes, ethnographic resources, historic and prehistoric structures, and museum collections.
cultural resources
Any evidence of past human activities, prehistoric or historic, including artifacts, sites, structures, landscapes, and objects of importance to a culture or community.
The three primary responsibilities of the park service's cultural resource management program are (National Park Service, 2006):
- Research - Identify, evaluate, document, register, and establish basic information about all cultural resources and traditionally associated peoples;
- Planning - Ensure that management processes for making decisions and setting priorities integrate information about cultural resources and provide for consultation and collaboration with outside entities; and
- Stewardship - Ensure that cultural resources are preserved and protected, receive appropriate treatments (including maintenance) to achieve desired conditions, and are made available for public understanding and enjoyment.
PENNSYLVANIA AND CULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
When it comes to construction and land development projects at the state level, developers and contractors need to ensure that they are in compliance with federal as well as state legal requirements. To do this, they will contract with engineering and CRM consulting firms who conduct the research to assess the impact on cultural resources and the environment. Before any construction project begins, the site must be evaluated for the presence of any known archaeological sites. The State Historical Preservation Office (SHPO) plays a critical role in this process of assessing and ensuring compliance.
compliance
In CRM, the process of ensuring that legal requirements surrounding archaeological resources are fulfilled (Fagan, 2006).
As part of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), SHPO is authorized and has the responsibility to manage the cultural resources in the commonwealth. As a part of that responsibility, they consult with the applicants, federal and other state agencies in accordance with the Pennsylvania History Code, Pennsylvania Historic District Act, and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (PHMC, 2021). All construction projects, whether it is a large building, a parking lot, a major highway development, a small road improvement, or a pipeline, the first step is to assess the site for possible impact on environmental and cultural resource.
Guidelines for Archaeological Investigations in Pennsylvania
The State Historical Preservation Office (formally the Bureau for Historic Preservation) provides guidelines for archaeological investigations and the evaluation of proposed construction and potential impact on archaeological sites. The evaluation includes two processes. First, it is evaluated for its effect on standing historical structures; and, second, it is reviewed for its effect on prehistoric and historic archaeological resources (Bureau for Historic Preservation, 1991).
Review Process
- Submission of project documentation information about the agency seeking to undertake the project, the location, and a description of the project.
- SHPO reviews the documentation and responds with an opinion on the potential effect on cultural resources and one of three determinations.
- No recorded sites and none were expected.
- Recorded sites are present and unrecorded sites may exist.
- No recorded sites are present but the area has not been surveyed and there is a high probability that sites exist.
- No recorded sites and none were expected.
- SHPO will recommend action to be taken. If the opinion was that there are no sites or that the nature of the project will not have an impact on any sites identified, no further investigation will be recommended. However, if during the construction archaeological evidence is discovered, construction must stop until SHPO is notified and a course of action to be taken in order to protect any resources (Bureau for Historic Preservation, 1991).
Recommended Action
If the opinion is that cultural resources may be affected by the project, an archaeological investigation will be recommended. However, there is a phased approach to resource identification and evaluation. Each phase corresponds to the level of investigation necessary to meet the required tasks of data recovery for inventory, evaluation, and mitigation (Bureau for Historic Preservation, 1991).
Phase I Investigations
A Phase I archaeological investigation includes background research (historical documentation and local informant interviews), surface surveys, and subsurface testing such as shovel test pits and probing). However, a Phase I investigation is not limited to methods and techniques. The findings are then summarized and submitted to SHPO for review. If no sites were discovered, no further investigation will be recommended. However, if sites were identified, a Phase II investigation will likely be recommended in order to determine the site's significance.
significance
An archaeological or historical site that has the potential to contribute significant data to our understanding of past cultural behavior (Bureau for Historic Preservation, 1991).
Phase II Investigations
Only significant sites are protected under federal and state law. Therefore, the purpose of a Phase II investigation is to recover the data necessary to determine the significance of the site and establish its eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places (Bureau of Historic Preservation, 1991). As such, the methods and techniques used in the archaeological survey will be selected based on the goals of a Phase II investigation, which include: defining the boundaries of the site, determining the presence of features, identifying artifact distribution, identifying stratigraphy information, and identifying dates associated with the site. Flora and fauna information can also provide clues about the environment, diet, and subsistence practices of the people associated with the site.
Once the investigation is complete, another report summarizing the findings is submitted to SHPO for review. At that time, a determination will be made as to the significance of the site. If the site is not eligible for the National Register, no further investigations will be required. However, if the site is eligible for the National Register and will be adversely affected by the project the recommendation may be to avoid the site if all or part of its significance is derived from its location, setting, or context (Bureau of Historic Preservation, 1991).
In most cases, the significance of an archaeological site lies in the data that can be recovered and does not necessarily need to be preserved in place. If partial or complete destruction of the site can not be avoided, a mitigation agreement is developed that will provide a public benefit that, in some way, balances the loss of the site (Callahan, 2020). A Phase III investigation will be a part of the mitigation strategy, which could include additional projects as well. Some examples of mitigation projects include providing funding to the Seneca Nation of Indians for continued cultural heritage projects, the development of SHPO's cultural resource data management system PA-SHARE, and assisting communities with the development of their own cultural resources management plans (Callahan, 2020).
mitigation strategies
Steps taken to reduce the adverse effects of disturbing or destroying an archaeological or historic site.
Phase III
As a part of the mitigation process, the Phase III investigation focuses on data recovery through excavation, usually large-scale excavations. The goal is "to recover the significant data contained by a site through archaeological excavation as a mitigation alternative prior to the total or partial destruction of a site" (Bureau of Historic Preservation, 1991). Data recovery includes in-depth research and artifact analysis. At the conclusion of the investigation, a final report is submitted for approval. In addition to the final report, a Phase III study is responsible for producing a scholarly written work disseminating the results of their findings as well as plans to share the results with the public, which can be through publications, slide shows, videos, and exhibits.
NATIVE AMERICANS AND CULTURAL RESOURCES
When conducting research, it is important to consider the people who are affected by the investigation. Any federally-funded project must comply with Section 106 (National Historic Preservation Act of 1966) and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. As a result, archaeologists must consult tribal authorities when conducting investigations that have the potential of disturbing Native American sites. Many Native Americans have their own cultural resource management programs such as the Navajo Nation, Cherokee Nation , and Seneca Nation who not only consult on excavations but conduct their own investigations as well. A recent development is indigenous archaeology in which the research design is approached using indigenous knowledge, values, and goals as the foundation of the research.
indigenous archaeology
Archaeological research using indigenous knowledge, values, and goals as the foundation of the research (What is Indigenous Archaeology—and What Does It Mean for Crow Canyon?, 2019). The archaeologists conducting the research can be both indigenous or non-indigenous.
REFERENCES
Bureau for Historic Preservation (BHP). (1991). Cultural Resource Management in Pennsylvania: Guidelines for Archaeological Investigations. http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/c...guidelines.pdf
Callahan, B. (2020, September 21). Preservation Planning through Mitigation in Western PA. Pennsylvania Historic Preservation. https://pahistoricpreservation.com/p...ation-western/
Fagan, B. M. (2006). Archaeology: A brief introduction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
ScienceDirect. (n.d.). The international encyclopedia of human geography. Place of publication not identified: Elsevier.
National Park Service, U. S. D. I. (2006). Cultural Resource Management. Management Policies. https://www.nps.gov/policy/mp/chapter5.htm
PHMC. (2021). General Information. Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. https://www.phmc.pa.gov/Preservation...formation.aspx
What is Indigenous Archaeology—and What Does It Mean for Crow Canyon? (2019, May 10). Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. https://www.crowcanyon.org/index.php...or-crow-canyon