"Honor To The Soldier And Sailor Everywhere, Who Bravely Bears His Country’s Cause:" Battlefield Preservation and Conflict Archaeology In The United States Federal Government, 1775-2018

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Archaeology of Conflict (General Sessions)" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Battlefield preservation initiatives consistently show public benefit. The United States Federal Government generally, and the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the National Park Service (NPS) specifically, have been at the vanguard of battlefield preservation initiatives since the field’s earliest conception. Under DOI and NPS leadership, battlefield preservation and conflict archaeology best practices have been developed, refined, and become industry standard. However, new priorities and new viewpoints on how DOI and NPS serve the American public and preserve battlefield heritage sees Federal battlefield preservation programming moving into a new era. This paper reports the findings of a landmark study on the legislative and administrative history of battlefield preservation and conflict archaeology in the Federal Government. The study identifies and assesses past and present Federal preservation program timelines, legislative scope, and administrative decisions to clarify Federal battlefield preservation theory, policy, and practice.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeology of Conflict (General Sessions)   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2021

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology