Planning for Post-1990 Inadvertent Discoveries in the Alaska Region, USDA Forest Service

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Beyond Collections: Federal Archaeology and "New Discoveries" under NAGPRA" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Post-1990 inadvertent discoveries are not uncommon but visiting a reported discovery is costly, typically requiring personnel to boat or fly to remote locations to verify land ownership as well as age and affiliation of the remains. An additional challenge is the common knowledge that some individuals were buried in boxes and left undisturbed in rock shelters, caves, crevices and other out of the way places. Curious recreationists, as well as vandals and looters, regularly investigate areas that are difficult to monitor. Once State protocols have been followed and the discovery is confirmed to be archaeological in nature, timing of consultation becomes the next challenge. Determining whether remains are Alaska Native may require analysis, but approval of analysis requires consultation. Add to that our internal challenge of inadequate administrative procedures for extending institutional knowledge to the next generation of staff. To improve our processes the Alaska Region is developing a Comprehensive Agreement per 43 CFR 10.5(f) with Alaska Native Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations that includes protocols for and treatment of discoveries as well as confidentiality protocols and access restrictions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Beyond Collections: Federal Archaeology and "New Discoveries" under NAGPRA   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24899