The Necessity of Subterranean Investigations for Significance Evaluations of Abandoned Mines

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Cultural resource inventories of abandoned mine lands have traditionally been limited to surface-level surveys and archival research. This is sensible given the hazards inherent in subterranean exploration, the general lack of relevant safety training among archaeologists and historians conducting the inventories, and the practical, risk-averse attitudes of employers, contractors, and land management agencies. Therefore, most cultural resource inventories rely on identifying the remains of surface plants, waste rock dumps, and transportation networks. Researchers then extrapolate from these data—occasionally supported by historical documents—the size, complexity, longevity, economic impact, and overall historic significance of the mines. However, the historical focus of labor and the fundamental components of any mine were, naturally, the subterranean mining efforts. Furthermore, surface-based inventory methods are dependent on the flawed assumption that there is a one-to-one relationship between the surface expression of an abandoned mine and its subterranean character. Thus, surface-only inventories risk producing erroneous historical significance assessments based on incomplete data, which in turn lead to inappropriate site treatment and management recommendations. This may result in the destruction of important cultural heritage sites and potential knowledge sources about the lived experiences of miners.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35536.0