Sharing and Using Knowledge Derived from Experience: Early Cultural Resource Evaluations of the OCS

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Perspectives on the Future, and the Past, of Underwater Archaeology in the Cultural Resource Management Industry" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In the 1970s, the United States federal government initiated a program to protect submerged cultural resources of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) from the impacts of federally permitted undertakings. The impact of permitted mineral exploitation on cultural properties on the OCS was of primary concern, particularly that of oil and gas exploration. Since then, archaeologists have developed probability models for offshore prehistoric site and shipwreck occurrences. Coastal Environments, Inc. developed the first survey and testing guidelines for the Department of the Interior in 1977 which was intended for petroleum industry-funded cultural resource surveys in the Gulf of Mexico. Numerous studies have since expanded on this baseline study in terms of survey strategy, data interpretation, and regional scope. As the power industry shifts to sustainable energy, assessing the lessons learned from offshore archaeology forerunners is key to the advancement of underwater archaeological investigations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Perspectives on the Future, and the Past, of Underwater Archaeology in the Cultural Resource Management Industry   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology