NPS
The National Park Service draws on science to conduct research into people and their cultures in the past. The best available science enables us to provide accurate interpretations of the past and ensure that the places evidencing those stories are preserved for as long as possible.
- Study of people and their cultures in the past through archeology and other cultural sciences provides information we cannot know any other way. Cultural sciences provide insight into the past, and inform our understanding of the future.
- Historic preservation draws on scientific methods to develop, test, and refine techniques to preserve cultural heritage. In fact, scientific testing has dramatically re-shaped best practices for preserving fragile materials and sites.
- Traditional knowledge held by long-term occupants of the land often complements Western science. Parks offer many opportunities to see how traditional knowledge and scientific knowledge together inform stewardship.
Science about People in the Past
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- Sites: Archeology Program, Point Reyes National Seashore
The Tamál-Húye Archeological Project focuses on intercultural interactions and processes of culture change and continuity in sixteenth-century northern California resulting from the shipwreck of the Manila galleon San Agustín, which occurred in tamál-húye, the Coast Miwok name for present-day Drakes Bay, in Point Reyes National Seashore, in 1595.
- Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park
Outside Science (inside parks): Uncovering Artifacts at Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park
Join Archeological Technician Abbey Vander Sluis and intern Mika Claybrook as they search for artifacts at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park to help bring to life what happened on Civil War battlefields.
- Sites: Archeology Program, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Fort Vancouver, as the colonial “Capital” of the Pacific Northwest in the 1820s-1840s, supported a multi-ethnic village of 600-1,000 occupants. A number of the villagers were Hawaiian men who worked in the agricultural fields and sawmills of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) operations. Identification of Hawaiian residences and activities has been an important element of studies of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.
Science for Historic Preservation
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- Sites: Inventory and Monitoring Division, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate, Sonoran Desert Inventory & Monitoring Network, Tumacácori National Historical Park
A recent experiment sought to help National Park Service managers understand the possible effects of climate change on historic adobe structures. An interdisciplinary team built adobe brick test walls, then subjected them to rain simulations at different lengths and intensities. LiDAR scanning revealed specific, quantitative thresholds of rainfall at which we can expect major loss of abode materials.
- Sites: Inventory and Monitoring Division, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate, Sonoran Desert Inventory & Monitoring Network, Aztec Ruins National Monument, Bandelier National Monument, more »
In the US Southwest, climate change is making it harder to preserve historic adobe structures for future generations. Using adobe test walls and rainshower simulators, staff at the Desert Research Learning Center are evaluating the potential for increased erosion, and testing the effectiveness of different treatments methods to protect against it. The results will help park managers tailor their preservation methods to better protect culturally valuable resources.
- National Center for Preservation Technology and Training
Field Kit and Methodology for Detecting, Measuring, and Remediating Salt Attack (Salt Weathering) in Adobe and Earthen Structures
Salt attack (salt weathering) is an insidious natural process that threatens historic and cultural resources around the world. Driven by capillary action coupled with evaporation of salt-laden moisture, salt attack is accelerating the loss of historic adobe and other masonry buildings in the arid southwestern United States.
Traditional Knowledge and Western Science
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- Acadia National Park
Gathering Sweetgrass and Renewing the Past: How Science at Acadia Is Making a Course Correction
Wabanaki ecologists and archeologists conducting research in Acadia National Park are reframing narratives and reclaiming culture. Park science is all the better for it.
- Sites: Archeology Program, Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site
In 1864, the U. S. Army carried out a surprise attack on a non-combatant encampment of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians along the Big Sandy Creek in southeastern Colorado, killing about 160 men, women, and children, including elderly or infirm. To preserve the memory of this tragic event, the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site was established following a multi-disciplinary effort to identify the actual location of the attack.
- Cape Krusenstern National Monument
Observations of Changing Conditions in Northwest Alaska and Impacts on Subsistence Fishing Practices
The global warming trend of the past century is amplified at high latitudes. Global climate change and the regional intensity of change in the Arctic have significant implications for the remote, indigenous communities of the North, who are closely tied to their surrounding environment. Residents of the Arctic recognize that regional climate has changed within living memory.
Last updated: December 5, 2023