GUIDELINES FOR CONDUCTING FIELD ARCHAEOLOGY IN …

1 GUIDELINES FOR CONDUCTING FIELD ARCHAEOLOGY IN OREGON Oregon State Historic Preservation Office Salem, Oregon November 2013 (Minor Revision January 2016)Oregon ARCHAEOLOGY GUIDELINES Page 2 of 153 FORWARD The Secretary of the Interior has developed broad national performance standards and GUIDELINES to assist federal agencies in carrying out their historic preservation activities. These federal standards and GUIDELINES are entitled Archeology and Historic Preservation; Secretary of the Interior's Standards and GUIDELINES (48 FR 44716-44742). Professionals working in the United States have long recognized the need to standardize archaeological FIELD investigations; however, standardization has been slow to appear in the Pacific Northwest. Oregon SHPO s Guidelines1were established to meet this need and to fill the gap between the broad-based federal GUIDELINES and the various previously published FIELD manuals.

2 They are intended to provide standards and offer general guidance without hindering the development and use of new and innovative approaches. The intent is to clarify expectations for archaeologists, their clients and the public. The GUIDELINES describe widely accepted archaeological practices used in the Pacific Northwest Region. They also encourage the selection of methods and techniques generally found to be the most efficient and cost-effective. It is hoped that these GUIDELINES will enable project sponsors to better understand and assess proposals for archaeological survey. Users of the GUIDELINES should feel free to contact SHPO staff with questions about particular problems or projects. It is anticipated that the GUIDELINES will be updated at regular intervals to incorporate unanticipated considerations and new approaches.

3 The GUIDELINES were written primarily to cover activities on non-federal public and private lands in Oregon. Federal land managers deal with a different array of cultural resource laws and regulations, and after gaining a familiarity over their land-base, after many years of compliance survey and testing projects, have often instituted their own GUIDELINES for working on their lands. Oregon SHPO s GUIDELINES are not meant to replace existing federal GUIDELINES or mandate a change in their accepted strategy. Rather the GUIDELINES offer a summary of general archaeological practices that may be applicable throughout the state. If your project affects federal land in Oregon, be sure to contact the federal land managing agency to see if they operate under their own set of cultural resource GUIDELINES . So as not to reinvent the wheel these GUIDELINES represent a summary of information that has been drawn from other published SHPO GUIDELINES ( , Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Vermont, Virginia) and practical experience working in the Pacific Northwest.

4 These GUIDELINES should be considered a work in progress. Comments by archaeologists working in both the public and private sector are encouraged. 1 References to Oregon SHPO s FIELD GUIDELINES are hereafter denoted by the term GUIDELINES . Oregon ARCHAEOLOGY GUIDELINES Page 3 of 153 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS .. 3 INTRODUCTION .. 6 I. BASIC SITE/PROJECT INFORMATION .. 9 DEFINITION OF AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE .. 9 PRECONTACT AND PREHISTORIC .. 10 THREE PHASES OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS .. 10 CRITERIA FOR QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL ARCHAEOLOGISTS .. 11 Confidentiality of Sensitive Archaeological Site Information .. 12 SHPO Archaeological Records .. 12 Access to Archaeological 13 Professional Qualifications for FIELD Archaeologists .. 15 Determining Which Inventory Form to Use .. 16 II. ARCHAEOLOGICAL PRACTICES.

5 18 INTRODUCTION .. 18 BACKGROUND RESEARCH .. 18 AREA OF POTENTIAL EFFECTS (APE) .. 18 FIELD INSPECTION/SURVEY OR SITE 19 MAP DOCUMENTATION .. 20 DEFINING SITE BOUNDARIES .. 20 TREATMENT OF INADVERTENT DISCOVERIES & SITE PRESERVATION .. 21 Inadvertent Discovery in the Course of Project Construction .. 21 Treating an Unanticipated Site Once Discovered .. 22 Long Term Site Preservation Through Easements or Fee Simple Purchase .. 22 CURATION OF ARTIFACTS AND DOCUMENTATION .. 23 If a Site is Located on Public Land .. 23 If a Site is Located on Private Land .. 24 Treatment of Human Remains .. 25 Treatment of Native American Human Remains Discovered Inadvertently or Through Criminal Investigations on Private and Public, State-Owned Lands in Oregon .. 28 III. STANDARD FIELD METHODOLOGY .. 30 FIELD METHODS .. 30 Surface Survey.

6 30 Remote Sensing .. 32 Monitoring .. 32 Sub-Surface Testing .. 32 Historic Archaeological Site Recordation .. 34 Recording 35 Establishing a Permanent Site Datum .. 35 ISOLATED FINDS .. 35 Treating Isolated or Limited, Surface Artifacts .. 35 Treating Isolated or Limited Sub-surface Artifacts .. 36 ARTIFACT COLLECTION POLICY .. 36 Pedestrian 36 Subsurface Site Discovery Probes .. 37 Oregon ARCHAEOLOGY GUIDELINES Page 4 of 153 Excavation Units (50x50 cm and larger used in Testing and Data Recovery Projects) .. 37 DEFINING PREVIOUS SIGNIFICANT GROUND DISTURBANCE .. 38 PERMITS FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS ON NONFEDERAL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LANDS .. 39 CONSIDERING STANDING STRUCTURES IN THE PROJECT AREA .. 39 INVOLVING THE PUBLIC .. 40 UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY .. 41 IV. ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELD INVESTIGATIONS .. 42 LEVELS OF INVESTIGATION.

7 42 RESEARCH DESIGN: ALL PHASES .. 42 PHASE I INVESTIGATION: IDENTIFICATION STUDY .. 43 PHASE I FIELD INVESTIGATIONS: FIELD STUDY .. 45 DATA ANALYSES & REPORTING .. 50 PHASE II INVESTIGATION: EVALUATION STUDY .. 50 PHASE III INVESTIGATION: DATA RECOVERY STUDY .. 54 58 ARTIFACT PROCESSING, DATA ANALYSES AND CURATION .. 61 SUMMARY .. 64 BIBLIOGRAPHY .. 66 APPENDICES .. 67 APPENDIX A: ESTABLISHING SITE SIGNIFICANCE .. 68 Determining Significance under Criteria D .. 72 Ability to Answer Questions Important to Understanding Oregon s Past .. 73 Establishing Historic Period Site Significance .. 75 Defining a Site in the Context of Historic Period ARCHAEOLOGY .. 76 Research Topics to Help Evaluate Significance of Historic Period Sites .. 76 Identifying Important Research Questions and Necessary Data Sets .. 77 Quality of Site Evidence.

8 77 Summary of Information SHPO Needs to Determine if Site Assessment Process Should Continue .. 77 POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANCE OF ISOLATED 78 DETERMINING THE AMOUNT OF IMPACT ON A SIGNIFICANT SITE .. 78 APPENDIX B: PRERSERVATION DEED COVENANT (SAMPLE) .. 80 APPENDIX C: CURATIONS STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES FOR ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN 83 APPENDIX D: REQUEST FOR REPATRIATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIAL FROM OREGON NON-FEDERAL PUBLIC & PRIVATE LANDS FORM .. 99 APPENDIX E: ARCHAEOLOGICAL MONITORING GUIDELINES .. 101 APPENDIX F: VOLUMES SQUARE, CYLINDER, CONE & TRUNCATED 128 APPENDIX G: GUIDELINES FOR UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY .. 130 Phase I: Submerged Cultural Resources Survey .. 133 Phase II: Submerged Cultural Resource Testing and Evaluation .. 137 APPENDIX H: PROTOCOL FOR COLLECTION OF COPROLITES FOR DNA 141 Oregon ARCHAEOLOGY GUIDELINES Page 5 of 153 APPENDIX I: EXAMPLES OF MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENTS & PROGRAMMATIC AGREEMENTS.

9 145 EXHIBIT A: THREE PARTY MEMORANDUM OF 146 EXHIBIT B: TWO PARTY MEMORANDUM OF 149 EXHIBIT C: PROGRAMMATIC AGREEMENT .. 152 Oregon ARCHAEOLOGY GUIDELINES Page 6 of 153 INTRODUCTION People have lived in Oregon for over 14,000 years. The vast majority of that history is unwritten with information concerning past events and lifeways accessible only through the archaeological record. Archaeological investigations in Oregon predominantly occur in response to federal and state laws that protect archaeological resources. The Oregon State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) developed these GUIDELINES to provide a framework for those activities, as well as guidance for non-regulatory archaeological studies. These GUIDELINES provide an important perspective for refining and improving the current practice of ARCHAEOLOGY in Oregon.

10 The GUIDELINES reflect various goals for Oregon ARCHAEOLOGY : Ensure that archaeological research meets the highest professional standards. Identify important archaeological sites that contribute to our understanding of Oregon sprecontact and post-contact history. Protect important archaeological sites and, when appropriate, gather information. Provide meaningful public benefits. Develop sound and reasoned public policy on regulatory ARCHAEOLOGY . Keep archaeological studies as cost effective as possible. Standardize FIELD methodology while allowing creativity and flexibility in the conductof archaeological GUIDELINES emphasize public education and communication with clients, landowners, local governments, tribes, community members, and interested constituencies. The GUIDELINES also stress the need for clear and improved communication about archaeological expectations, methods, findings, value, and relevance.