Complexity Begets Ambiguity: Small Site Archaeology and NRHP Significance

Summary

If size is what really matters, then every farmstead that has been continually occupied for the past 150 years is eligible for nomination to the NRHP. On the other hand, if NRHP eligibility is keyed to our ability to ask specific questions about specific populations at specific points in time, then the truly significant properties may be those small and ephemeral sites that either failed prematurely or were otherwise abandoned after relatively brief occupation periods. Using examples from the Midwest, this paper explores the proven research potential of sites that might have been accorded short schrift under the typical application of NRHP significance criteria.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• Assessing Ephemeral Sites: Questions That Count in Cultural Resource Management

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-53,06