The Fall of Vicksburg: Approaches to Landslide Archaeology in a National Cemetery

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Vicksburg Is the Key: Recent Archaeological Investigations and New Perspectives from the Gibraltar of the South" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In May 2020, NPS archaeologists initiated an emergency response at Vicksburg National Cemetery, where a massive landslide affected numerous Civil War-era graves, primarily those of the first US Colored Troops (USCT). Working on a partially collapsed terrace, the archaeologists deployed innovative strategies and methodological approaches to recover disturbed human remains, before further subsidence could occur, all while navigating the unprecedented challenges of the initial weeks of the COVID-19 shutdown. The methodology developed and utilized in this unique situation would subsequently inform future work at Vicksburg and elsewhere.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Vicksburg Is the Key: Recent Archaeological Investigations and New Perspectives from the Gibraltar of the South   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39384.0