Treasure within the Fortress: Opportunities for Partnership in DoD Archaeology

Summary

Some of the least known and best preserved archaeological resources in North America exist within the confines of federal property in the Department of Defense (DoD). The US military acquired large land holdings for the purposes of military training in the early nineteenth century, prior to suburban sprawl in the Northeast. The Army and subsequently the Air Force in a snapshot encapsulated whole communities that evolved in place since colonial times. Those archaeological resources, held in public trust by the federal agency, are protected under the National Historic Preservation Act from potential adverse effects of military activities and the DoD has cultural resource management programs that do so. Though a vast resource for American archaeology, few of those resources are known outside the federal agency. In this paper, I present two examples of untapped archaeological resources from Air Force installations in the eastern United States, the efforts to identify and hold those resources in trust, as well as the potential for collaboration in exploration of those resources beyond the DoD.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22030