Cultural Resource Identification & Evaluation

According to NPS Management Policies, "[t]he National Park Service will conduct surveys to identify and evaluate the cultural resources of each park, assessing resources within their larger cultural, chronological, and geographic contexts. The resulting inventories will provide the substantive data required for (1) nominating resources to the National Register of Historic Places; (2) general park planning and specific proposals for preserving, protecting, and treating cultural resources to achieve desired conditions; (3) land acquisition, development, and maintenance activities; (4) interpretation, education, and natural and cultural resource management activities; and (5) compliance with legal requirements."

The identification of historic properties is an ongoing process. As time passes, scholarly and/or public thinking about historical significance changes. Therefore, even when an area has been completely surveyed for historic properties of all types it may require re-investigation if many years have passed since the survey was completed. Such follow-up should consider re-evaluation of properties based upon new information or changed historic information.

Following is a brief list of standard baseline surveys and reports prepared for the identification of historic properties:

• Archeological Inventories/Assessments: Park archeological resources are inventoried through systematic surveys and evaluated using National Register Bulletin (NRB) - How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation (pdf). Archeological investigations undertaken on federal lands are conducted under a permit issued under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA), known as an ARPA permit. An ARPA permit spells out the nature and location of the archeological research that is permitted, the manner in which the research is to be conducted, where any material that is recovered and the investigation records will be curated, and under what conditions the project can be suspended.

  There are three general types of archeological surveys:

  1. Phase I Investigation: A Phase I investigation consists of a combination of background research and fieldwork designed to identify resources and define site boundaries within a given project area or area of potential effect (APE). Phase I fieldwork consists of several methods including pedestrian survey, excavation of limited shovel test probes, or remote sensing. The use of specific field methods and techniques is dependent upon the type of ground cover present, the topographic setting, and the amount of observed disturbance in a given area.
  2. Phase II Investigation: A Phase II archaeological investigation is conducted in order to test or evaluate an archaeological site's eligibility for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. In order to facilitate the evaluation process, specific information is recovered during a Phase II investigation. This information may include but is not limited to: evaluating areas of moderate and high artifact densities, determining the vertical limits of the site, the presence of intact, sub-surface, and/or stratified deposits, site structure, and site formation processes. Some of the more traditional and standard means of recovering this information include systematic/controlled surface collection, shovel tests, mechanical augering, hand-excavated test units, deep testing, mechanical removal of the plowzone, and use of remote sensing techniques.
  3. Phase III Investigation: Once an archaeological site is determined to be eligible for inclusion in the National Register, the effect a project may have on the property must be assessed. Avoidance of the resources is always preferable but if the resource cannot be avoided, and if any damage or disruption of the resource will result from implementation of the project, a Phase III investigation, also known as data recovery, is implemented. Data recovery efforts are undertaken to mitigate the impacts to archeological resources by recovering significant data or information prior to disturbance or destruction.
• Cultural Landscape Inventory (CLI): Information documented in a CLI is gathered primarily from existing secondary sources found in park libraries and archives and at NPS regional offices and centers, as well as through onsite reconnaissance of the existing landscape. The baseline information collected provides a comprehensive look at the historical development and significance of the landscape, placing it in context of the site’s overall significance. Documentation and analysis of the existing landscape identifies significant characteristics and features and allows for an evaluation of landscape’s overall integrity and an assessment of the landscape’s overall condition. The CLI also provides an illustrative site plan that indicates major features within the inventory unit. Unlike cultural landscape reports, the CLI does not provide management recommendations or treatment guidelines for the cultural landscape.
• Cultural Landscape Report (CLR): The principle treatment document for cultural landscapes and the primary tool for their long-term management. Management and treatment decisions are based on the character of the land, historical significance, and anticipated challenges to preservation. The CLR can be used in maintenance, interpretation, and planning. A CLR consists of three primary parts:
  • Part 1 Site History, Existing Conditions, and Analysis and Evaluation
  • Part 2 Treatment
  • Part 3 Record of Treatment
• Historic Structure Report (HSR): The primary guide to treatment and use of a historic structure and may also be used in managing a prehistoric structure. In no case should restoration, reconstruction, or extensive rehabilitation of any structure be undertaken without an approved HSR, Parts 1 and 2. An HSR includes the following:
  • Management Summary: This is a concise account of research done to produce the HSR, major research findings, major issues identified in the task directive, and recommendations for treatment and use. Administrative data on the structure and related studies are included.
  • Part 1 Developmental History: A scholarly report documenting the evolution of a historic structure, its current condition, and the causes of its deterioration. It is based on documentary research and physical examination. The scope of documentary research may extend beyond the physical development of the structure if needed to clarify the significance of the resource or to refine contextual associations; however, major historical investigation of contextual themes or background information should be conducted as part of a historic resource study.
  • Part 2 Treatment and Use: Presents and evaluates alternative uses and treatments for a historic structure. Emphasis is on preserving extant historic material and resolving conflicts that might result from a structure's "ultimate treatment." Part 2 concludes by recommending a treatment and use responding to objectives identified by park management. In most cases, design work does not go beyond schematics.
  • Part 3 Record of Treatment: A compilation of information documenting actual treatment. It includes accounting data, photographs, sketches, and narratives outlining the course of work, conditions encountered, and materials used. All aspects of a historic structure and its immediate grounds should be addressed in an HSR. Potential overlaps with other cultural resource types and natural resource issues should be identified, and applicable studies and reports should be called for or referenced. An HSR and analogous reports (e.g. a cultural landscape report) may be combined to address multiple resource types at a single property or area.
• Ethnographic Overview and Assessment: This report emphasizes the review and analysis of accessible archival and documentary data on park ethnographic resources and the groups who traditionally define such cultural and natural features as significant to their ethnic heritage and cultural viability. Limited interviews and discussions occur with the traditionally associated people in order to supplement and assess the documentary evidence and identify gaps in the available data.
• Cultural Affiliation Study: Using anthropological, archeological, ethnohistoric, historic, and other evidence, this study satisfies the need to identify cultural ties among past and present groups that used and may still use or relate to park resources and park natural and cultural resources, including museum objects.
• Historic Resource Study (HRS): An HRS provides a historical overview of a park or region and identifies and evaluates a park's cultural resources within historic contexts. It synthesizes all available cultural resource information from all disciplines in a narrative designed to serve managers, planners, interpreters, cultural resource specialists, and interested public as a reference for the history of the region and the resources within a park. Entailing both documentary research and field investigations to determine and describe the integrity, authenticity, associative values, and significance of resources, the HRS supplies data for resource management and interpretation. It includes the preparation of National Register of Historic Places nominations for all qualifying resources. The HRS also identifies needs for special history studies, cultural landscape reports, and other detailed studies and may make recommendations for resource management and interpretation.

 

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