A New Deal for Western Archaeology

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

The New Deal agencies established during the Great Depression were important 1930's economic programs that are a dynamic part of American history. This symposium will focus on analysis of these Alphabet Soup agencies, as they were commonly known, and the cultural heritage projects that were sponsored west of the Mississippi River, including those devoted to archaeology and to standing structures. These Western New Deal projects were supported by many of the Federal agencies: Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Civil Works Administration (CWA), Public Works Administration (PWA), National Youth Administration (NYA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Contrary to what some scholars have implied, we show that New Deal archaeology is not confined to the southeastern United States.

Site Name Keywords
Cliff Palace • Great Kiva, Aztec Ruin National Monument

Site Type Keywords
Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex • Non-Domestic Structures • Kiva / Great Kiva

Other Keywords
New Deal • CCC • New Deal archaeology • National Park Service • History • Historic Archaeology • Archeology • Chaco Canyon • Ruins Stabilization • Depression

Culture Keywords
Ancestral Puebloan

Investigation Types
Site Stabilization • Architectural Documentation • Heritage Management

Material Types
Building Materials

Temporal Keywords
Ancestral Puebloan / Sedentary through Classic Period

Geographic Keywords
North America - Southwest • US (ISO Country Code) • New Mexico (State / Territory) • United States of America (Country) • Colorado (State / Territory) • North America (Continent) • Aztec Ruins National Monument, New Mexico • Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado • North America - Plains • North America - California

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-9 of 9)

  • Documents (9)
Documents
  1. Asa T. Hill, the WPA, and the Fluorescence of Systematic Archaeology in Nebraska (2015)
  2. Blast Caps and Other Stories of the CCC on the Gila National Forest: Imaging and Reimagining the North Star Road (2015)
  3. The Civilian Conservation Corps in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico (2015)
  4. Combatting the Erosion Menace: The Enduring Legacy of the CCC Within the Silver City Watershed (2015)
  5. Desert Digs: New Deal Archaeology in Southern Arizona, 1934-1941 (2015)
  6. The International Boundary Commission (IBC) and Projects along the U.S. – Mexico Border (1928 – 1941) (2015)
  7. The Legacy of New Deal Programs to Northern Arizona and Southwest Archaeology (2015)
  8. New Deal Archaeology at Buena Vista Lake in the San Joaquin Valley and the Sierra Madre Mountains: The 1933-34 CWA-Smithsonian Institution Project in Southern California (2015)
  9. Ruins and Restoration on the Colorado Plateau: Earl Morris and the PWA (Public Works Administration) (2015)