Archaeology[1] has a number of popular stereotypes usually involving expeditions to remote parts of the Earth in search of ancient tombs, lost cities or long-extinct races of Man. The archaeologist is seen working a “dig” for years, looking for bits of bone or stone of little importance to anyone but other scientists.

In reality, however, archaeology departs from this picture considerably. Many modern archaeologists work in their own communities on projects that include things familiar to most of us. The scope of their studies may range from 10,000 year old American Indian sites to early twentieth century farms. Excavations are carried out with the aid of tools, including small dental instruments, large earth-moving machines, and electronic computers. Often, archaeologists do not dig at all, but gather information from maps, photographs, written histories, and living informants. In fact, more time by far is spent working on artifacts in a laboratory, and especially in writing reports of excavations, than is spent in the field. Even more surprising, many archaeologists today work in cooperation with private and governmental agencies to protect archaeological remains, as required by state and federal laws. A specialized field of archaeology, called public or conservation archaeology, has come into existence in the last twenty years to meet this need.

The archaeological studies in the Richland Creek Reservoir area are a good example of conservation archaeology in action. This report explains what the Richland Creek Archaeological Project (RCAP) is, how it works, and what it has accomplished thus far. Above all, the report tries to show why conservation of our archaeological heritage is important to us all, and to future generations.

A series of archaeological studies are planned for the Richland-Chambers Dam and Reservoir area near Corsicana, Texas (Figure 1). The first phase of those studies was carried out during 1980-81. The Tarrant County Water Control and Improvement District Number 1, developer of the Reservoir, employed Southern Methodist University[2] to conduct archaeological studies. Like other construction projects requiring state and federal permits, the Reservoir cannot be completed unless state and federal laws pertaining to archaeological and historical sites are adhered to. Since 1906, several federal and state laws have been enacted to protect important archaeological sites. Particularly during the last two decades, these laws have defined archaeological remains as an important cultural resource that should be conserved for future generations.

In recent decades legislators and the public have come to realize that the expansion of our urban-industrial society is rapidly destroying the archaeological resources of the country. In many regions of the United States this destruction has reached crisis proportions. Experts point out that within another generation, given current rates of resource destruction from industry, agriculture, and other land-modification projects, intact archaeological resources will virtually cease to exist within large areas of the nation.

Archaeological resources are fragile and nonrenewable. Much of the scientific value of archaeological resources is lost if they cannot be studied in an undisturbed context. Objects excavated from a site have little meaning unless they can be related to specific soil layers (stratigraphy) and other evidence of former activities of people, such as hearths, trash deposits, house remains and other features. Any activity that disturbs the soil may destroy this context.

RICHLAND-CHAMBERS DAM

Chambers Creek

Richland Creek

Trinity River

NAVARRO COUNTY

CORSICANA

NAVARRO

RICHLAND

FREESTONE COUNTY

INTERSTATE HIGHWAY 45

US HIGHWAY 287

US HIGHWAY 75

The primary objective of archaeologists working in cultural resource management is archaeological conservation. As in the case of other non-renewable natural resources, the emphasis is on resource preservation. In the case of archaeological sites, that means digging as a last resort. The first priority of the conservation archaeologist is to preserve in an intact state a reasonable number of archaeological sites for future generations of scientists and the public. Sometimes sites can be preserved by selecting a construction design which avoids them. In other instances adverse impact is unavoidable—a case in which excavations are carried out to recover scientific information contained in the sites prior to their destruction. Recovery of this information is one way of conserving the resource. Preservation through data recovery will be required in the Reservoir, and will be the focus of work in years to come.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS AT WORK

One way of understanding the RCAP is to look at how archaeologists work. People frequently ask what is an archaeological site? How do you find sites? How do you excavate and what do you look for? What do you do with the things that you collect?

During 1980-81, an archaeological survey (Figure 2) was completed in the project area. During the survey, an effort was made to develop the most complete inventory possible of prehistoric and historic sites. Sites were recorded by examining the entire project area on foot, consulting landowners, amateur archaeologists, written records, museum collections, aerial photographs, and other sources of information. No survey could guarantee discovery of every archaeological site, but every effort was made to construct a representative picture of the archaeological resources in the project. Next, limited-scale excavations (testing) were conducted on a sample of sites that were thought to contain information best suited to answering specific scientific questions. Once more, the intent was not to dig every site, but to understand a representative sample of archaeological resources within the project.

Archaeologists find sites by a variety of means. Naturally, how one defines an archaeological site has an important bearing on what is considered as representative. In the Reservoir, a site was defined as any evidence of past human occupation, predating 1930. The 1930 cut-off date reflects a legal definition of sites in the National Register of Historic places, a federal office that records important historical and archaeological properties. To be eligible for inclusion in the Register, a site must generally be at least 50 years old, and must meet a number of other criteria. Applying this definition to archaeological sites, they may be as different as isolated pieces of prehistoric stone tools and an early twentieth century farm house. Why such concern for these seemingly isolated tools or for dwellings that are so recent? One of the things that archaeologists have learned is that sometimes bits of information that are incomprehensible taken one at a time form meaningful patterns when many pieces are put together.

For example, it has been learned that when isolated projectile points dropped by prehistoric hunters are plotted on a map, their distribution may correlate with patterns of vegetation or topography, giving clues about the kinds of animals that they were hunting and the size of their hunting territories. More recent things, such as old farm houses, are worth recording because, as we discuss later, they represent the remnants of a way of life that is largely gone from rural Texas. In another generation these buildings, so familiar as to escape notice by most of us, will be gone for the most part, victims of decay, vandalism, and land modification. To future generations, these “artifacts” will be of as much interest as nineteenth century houses are to us today. There is a danger that what is so common to us will fail to be recorded. Contrary to what many suppose, the rather common aspects of early twentieth century Texas culture are most in danger of being lost without adequate record. Often histories and other documents reflect the lives and architecture of the wealthy and well-known rather than the common people. Still, the buildings and farms of the latter reflect distinctive regional styles, and tell us many interesting things about the lives of the people who built and lived in them.

Once we know what we are looking for, actually finding sites requires a variety of methods. The most effective technique is the trained observer walking over the ground. Prehistoric sites, that is sites occupied prior to written history in the project area (about A.D. 1650), can be found by observing distinctive bits of stone (debitage) produced during manufacture and use of stone tools. Before contact with Europeans, the Indians of Texas had no metals for making tools, and relied upon stone for many kinds of implements. In other instances, pieces of prehistoric pottery (potsherds), animal bone or shell, or stained soil deposits (middens) signal prehistoric sites. Many of these clues are easily overlooked except by a trained archaeologist.

In addition to ground survey, aerial photographs and geological studies may be helpful in finding sites. In the RCAP, for example, a soils scientist studied the geological history of the project area, and was able to give the archaeologists a good idea where and how deeply archaeological sites might be buried. One of the most valuable means of locating archaeological sites was talking to local people and amateur archaeologists. Many of these people are keen observers and reported the location of many prehistoric and historic sites.

Excavating sites is a complex task. There is no single technique for digging. The kinds of methods employed vary from excavation of test pits or trenches with shovels and trowels, to making larger exposures with heavy equipment. Sometimes the shape and placement of these excavations is determined by statistical sampling considerations; and they are always conditioned by the specific information that the archaeologist hopes to get from a site. That is really the most important point: excavations are aimed at recovering information, not things per se. As we pointed out earlier in the mention of archaeological context, artifacts have little meaning taken out of their setting. This fact creates one of the most striking aspects of an archaeological excavation to many people. There is a tremendous amount of record keeping that goes on in a dig—maps of the site and of the test pit walls (profiles), sheets describing artifacts and soil characteristics, photographs and many others (Figure 3). The object is to keep enough records that, if necessary, the archaeological site could be reconstructed in detail. A parallel set of record keeping comes into play, too, once things from the field reach the archaeological lab.

The demanding nature of excavation is a good reason why the untrained should not attempt to excavate sites. Without proper controls, digging can only result in loss of archaeological resources. Those who are interested in learning proper archaeological methods can contact organizations listed at the end of this report (Appendix I).

People invariably want to know what happens to the things that are collected by archaeologists. Do archaeologists add artifacts to their private collections, for example? Among professional archaeologists, keeping of private collections is actively discouraged. The reason for this is that archaeological remains are considered a scientific and public resource that should not be held for personal reasons. As scientists, archaeologists are interested in artifacts as sources of information rather than as objects with intrinsic value. All artifacts collected in the Reservoir, as is the case with all conservation archaeology projects, will be stored in permanent institutional repositories, where they can be studied by future generations of scientists. Also, plans are underway to return some of this material to the local area in the form of a museum display, for the benefit of the public.