Best practices - State approaches to access of archaeological database

Best Practices

State approaches to access of archaeological database | Cemetery Resources | Rock Cairns and Walls |
Toxic Waste Archaeology

State approaches to access of archaeological database

Alaska: We make our data available to planners, environmental consultants, and others on a "need to know" basis. Unless they have statewide management responsibilities, they are only given access to data for the geographic area of concern. All must sign a data-share agreement stating that they will not share the data. For example, all of our DOT Environmental Planners who sign an agreement have access to electronic data. Certain types of sites, such as sacred sites and sensitive shipwrecks, have an added layer of security and are only available to staff.

Colorado: Access to archaeological records in Colorado is as follows -

ACCESS BY PROFESSIONAL ARCHAEOLOGISTS
Individuals working as archaeologists on projects meeting at least one of the following criteria may be provided with unrestricted archaeological records:
1. Listed on a current state or federal cultural resource permit.
2. Employed with permanent status under Federal Job Series 193.
3. Employed as an archaeologist for a registered non-profit historic preservation organization.
4. Teaches archaeological classes at a college or university.
5. Graduate student with written justification for access from qualifying faculty - access may be for a limited time.

ACCESS BY NON-ARCHAEOLOGISTS
Other individuals may have limited access to archaeological records. The type and extent of data available to these individuals is determined on a case-by-case basis. Information concerning the location of an archaeological site will be provided only in rare cases. Factors influencing the decision to provide information include:
1. The individual's previous archaeological experience.
2. The type of project for which the information is being gathered.
3. The type of information requested.
4. Proposed uses of the data.

ACCESS TO DIGITAL INFORMATION
Cultural resource information is available in a digital format to individuals, government agencies, and private organizations. A designated staff member at the organization will be held responsible for the use and distribution of the information. The type and extent of the data provided will be determined on a case-by-case basis with the exact locations of archaeological sites rarely provided.
Factors that influence the decision to provide information include:
1. The proposed uses of the requested information.
2. The ability of the agency to restrict access to the information.

Maine: Maine has a system in which archaeologists from an "approved list" can access our site files (paper maps, reports, some in pdf format, site forms) at mutual convenience. The SHPO (and staff) can grant access to anyone with a reasonable and legitimate research interest. Specifically -

Access on a "need-to-know" basis shall be granted by either the Director of the Maine State Museum or the Maine Historic Preservation Commission; or, the Chairman of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Maine at Orono to professional or academic student archaeologists with a legitimate research interest in Maine archaeology, upon presentation of a research problem demonstrating such need.

Access for cultural resources management purposes by personnel employed by agencies or corporations not employing certified archaeologists shall be on a need-to-know basis. Their use of the records is to be supervised by an archaeologist certified by the State Historic Preservation Officer.

Requests for access to the data shall normally be submitted in writing to the Director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission (State Historic Preservation Officer), who shall then consult with the Director of the Maine State Museum. Exceptions will be made for routine, limited use of the records for Cultural Resource Management purposes, in which case requests should be made orally or in writing to the certified archaeological staff of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.

State agencies other than the Maine State Museum or Maine Historic Preservation Commission are requested to restrict access to their files containing archaeological site location information, unless a request has been reviewed by the Directors of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission and the Maine State Museum.

Maryland: There are 2 sections of the Maryland Code that direct how the Trust manages its archeological resource information. These include:

SF 5A-323(c) (Maryland Historical Trust Act): The location and character of a historic property included in the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties or the [Maryland Register of Historic Properties] shall be confidential if the Director [of the Maryland Historical Trust] determines that disclosure would create a substantial risk of theft of the property or damage to the property or to the area where the property is located.

SG 10-618(g) (Access to Public Records Act): (1) A custodian may deny inspection of a public record that contains information concerning the site-specific location of . . . a historic property as defined in § 5A-301 of the State Finance and Procurement Article. (2) A custodian may not deny inspection of a public record describe in paragraph (1) of this subsection if requested by: (i) the owner of the land upon which the resource is located; or (ii) any entity that could take the land through the right of eminent domain.

New Mexico: Access to archaeological records and survey documentation--either in paper or electronic form--is determined by the Archeological Records Management Section (ARMS) program manager as mandated by law through the New Mexico Cultural Properties Review Committee (CPRC). By statute (Cultural Properties Act) and Regulation (NMAC Title 4 (Cultural Resources), Chapter 51, Part 5, access to the records is restricted to "qualified users" and "qualified institutions" that meet one or more of the following stipulations:

(1) has a degree in archaeology, anthropology, history, or a closely related field, or city planning or equivalent training, from an accredited educational institution;
(2) is a bona fide representative of an agency or institution or private entity which holds a federal or state permit for performing archaeological work within the state;
(3) is a bona fide representative of an agency or institution or private entity involved with the protection and preservation of cultural resources (for example, an environmental or city planner);
(4) is an academic researcher affiliated with an accredited educational or research institution.

The language in stipulations (2) and (3) leave a lot of wiggle room, which is probably a good idea, but traditionally, we have interpreted it conservatively, limiting unfettered access to trained archeologists.

Texas: All users are required to submit an application form for access to restricted information, i.e. maps or site forms. If they don’t meet A-D, the application is referred to a committee for review, but few in this category are granted access.

Meet the Secretary of Interior's Professional Qualifications Standards (36 CFR Part 61) for Archeology

Meet the definition of professional archeologist as defined in Section 26.5 of the Rules of Practice and Procedure for the Antiquities Code of Texas.

Am a member in good standing of the Texas Archeological Stewardship Network.

Am the owner of the parcel of land described on the document attached to this application, subject to penalty of law as provided by Texas Penal Code, Sec. 37.10.

I do not meet any of the above criteria, but have a clear and legitimate scientific or legal interest and would like to apply for temporary/limited access to restricted cultural resource data in the possession of the Texas Historical Commission. (Please attach a separate sheet indicating the nature of your scientific or legal interest, the type of information to which access is desired, the nature of the proposed research, any special user requirements during access, when access is needed, and for how long.)

I have Internet access and would also like a user account for the Texas Archeological Sites Atlas. (Not available to applicants qualifying under Criterion D above.)

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Cemetery Resources

The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program is trying to organize a cemetery program to provide constituents with information on repair, cleaning, legal issues and other various areas related to cemeteries. Do any other agencies have such a program?

Alabama: Alabama has a very popular cemetery program. Please feel free to contact me directly for specific questions. You can also visit our website at http://preserveala.org/cemeteryprograms.aspx

Georgia: Please check our web site www.gashpo.org and look under Cemeteries. We have a lot of information that may be useful to you.

Illinois: The Illinois SHPO has developed a cemetery webpage (www.illinoishistory.gov/Cemetery) to distribute information about preserving Illinois cemeteries, the state and federal laws protecting them, and a handbook of basic preservation (available via the webpage above). We also have an outreach program to provide both advice and hands-on training for repair and preservation of historic markers.

Maryland: Maryland does not have a cemetery program, but we offer technical assistance, usually provide a cemetery session during our annual conference and maintain two informational pages on our website: http://mht.maryland.gov/cemeteries.html

Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania does not have a "cemetery program" per se, but we do have a good website that deals with all these issues. You might find information here that would be a helpful model.
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=1875&&SortOrder=200&level=2&parentCommID=1587&menuLevel=Level_2&mode= or go to www.phmc.state.pa.us, click on historic preservation; on the historic preservation home page, scroll down to the Initiatives section where you will click on Cemetery Recordation and Preservation.

Virginia: Virginia does not have a standing program per se, but focuses on cemeteries in a variety of ways: web info, fact sheets, practical workshops (one of which is coming up in two weeks and it has been maxed out for several weeks), educational and training programs, etc. Also, this year's archaeology month poster highlights cemeteries. For the first time, we are doing a two-sided printed poster; the reverse side includes a summary of laws, a glossary of terms, needs of stone types and what to and not do, etc.

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Rock Cairns and Walls

During recent survey work in WV, two sets of rock piles/cairns and walls were identified on ridge tops and hillsides in two different parts of the state. They have been interpreted as a number of things – from field clearing piles to prehistoric ceremonial objects. To our collective knowledge, they do not resemble field clearing piles. Nor do they resemble the Old Stone Fort in Tennessee. But, we don’t really know what to make of them. Does anyone have contact information for legitimate archaeologists who have done research on these types of resources?

Florida:Harry Holstein at Jacksonville State University has studied these types of features pretty extensively I believe in Alabama and elsewhere in the SE. His e-mail address is Holstein@jsu.edu.

New York: I have seen the work of a man named Norman Muller that has looked at what may be simialr structures in PA and CT ( I believe). About 2 years ago I saw him give a presentation at the Algonquian Peoples Seminar in Albany, NY. At seeing his presentation title I assumed it would be another case of "here are some piled rocks - Proof of ......(fill in the blank)." But I was happily surprised to see that he was trying to be objective and serious and that he was leaning toward attributing the formations to Native Americans - though he was not sure exactly what they meant. I will try to pull together and e-mail exchange I had with him and send it all to you off list. I do remember that one of the most intriguing things about his formations - and what really caught my attention - was that many of them, spread over a wide geographic area, seemed to have a single large, whitish quartzite piece near the center. Seeing that unusual pattern over such a large area did seem to suggest that there might be a connection of sorts.

Oregon:Our office has been working on the issue of rock cairns/wall/alignments for many years and would be happy to try and assist you. There is not always an easy way to discern such features and many discussions have resulted from such attempts.

Virginia:

Are the Mount Carbon stone walls of this sort? There's quite a bit of info on them in the files at Grave Creek, if I'm remembering correctly.

Some years ago, Mike Stewart (now at Temple University) wrote an interesting paper on a regional distribution of prehistoric rock/earthen mortuary structures centered in the Great Valley of Maryland. Here is the reference:

Stewart, R. Michael
1981 Prehistoric Burial Mounds in the Great Valley of Maryland. Maryland Archeology (17)1: 1 - 16.

Washington: Lithic Analysts/ 659 Old Dallas Rd / Royal AR 71968-9661 ? 501-767-1983

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Toxic Waste Archaeology

I was contacted today by Michael Bawaya of American Archeology Magazine with an interesting question. He wanted to know if any excavations had been conducted at toxic waste sites (such as EPA Superfund Sites) here in Texas. I told him that this issue had come up occasionally on old munitions manufacturing facilities where the soil was contaminated with TNT, but that we had elected to accept the adverse effect rather than expose archeologists to hazardous waste. In these instances, much of the installations had already been surveyed, with little to show for it.

We have a more recent project in which someone from EPA called me to ask if it would be OK if they removed all the headstones from a very early historic cemetery, GPS their locations, then put 30 ft. of toxic waste on top of the graves and carefully replace the headstones using the GPS coordinates. He couldn’t understand why we weren’t thrilled with that idea. Later some lawyers called and we discussed alternatives. I haven’t heard back from anyone in months, so maybe they gave up.

He is specifically interested in knowing what challenges the archeologists faced. Did they require special training? What precautions were needed? Did the artifacts have to be “detoxified?” I would be very interested to know myself, so please also respond to the list.

Alaska: In Alaska, archaeologists have had to conduct survey and data recovery at sites affected by several oil spills. The Exxon Valdez spill set the stage. Most archaeologists doing such work (including both contractors and SHPO staff) receive an initial 40 hour HAZWOPER training course, and complete an 8-hour refresher courses each year. For contractors wishing to serve as "Historic Properties Specialists" for federal agencies under the National PA on Protection of Historic Properties During Emergency Response, this is covered in the "Alaska Implementation Guidelines" for the PA.

Montana: In 2000, Aaberg Cultural Resource Consulting of Billings, Montana, conducted mitigative excavations at the Rainy Creek Site (24LN1045) near Libby, Montana, as part of the EPA directed removal and remediation of asbestos contaminated soil from the W.R. Grace screening plant locality along the Kootenai River. This involved HAZWOPER (Hazardous Waste Operations Emergency Response) training, wearing of full protective equipment (including tyvex suits with full forced air respirators and forehead to chin Plexiglas visors), wet-screening with high pressure hoses, and daily decontamination procedures for 21 days of excavation.

Montana has a number of other superfund cleanup projects that have affected inventory and treatment procedures for historic resources, not the least of which is the ongoing Butte-Anaconda National Historic Landmark superfund project which is subject to a programmatic agreement and historic preservation plan developed with EPA in 1992.

Vermont: In Vermont we have been involved in an extraordinary Superfund EPA project on a copper and copperas mine (a huge historic and archeological district actually) called the Elizabeth Mine Site. EPA did a very significant and highest quality of documentation prior to remediation which is underway as I write. Intensive excavations were carried out in the lead toxic mid-19th century, unique in America copperas factories, by PAL consultants out of RI. There lots on the Internet now and ALL of the extensive doc will be on the web as part of our MOA.

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