ECOTECH NETWORK
By Larry Stipek
The Center for Archaeological Research at
William & Mary
CENTER’S PROJECTS
The bulk of the work done by the center is
compliance related, meaning that they conduct archaeological
research to satisfy the requirements of the law. They also
provide research support to Virginia’s localities that
assists them in the development of planning policies.
Compliance work centers on projects
undertaken to ensure that cultural resources are identified and
that significant resources are responsibly managed whenever
federal funds or federal permits are involved in a proposed
undertaking, as required by federal law. Consequently, as you might
imagine, many of the projects are undertaken for VDOT highway construction
and for the US military at its many bases. In particular, VDOT
has been a primary user of the service, though many of the customers
are private sector entities that require a federal permit.
The center often develops long term relationships
with clients with on-going planning and research interests.
Isle of Wight County, for instance, was interested in an
assessment of the county’s archaeological resources for
land planning and resource management. They worked with the
Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) to
cooperatively fund the study. Published earlier this year, the
assessment didn’t require any new fieldwork. Instead, it
relied on existing data from DHR, the county, and private
collectors to develop assessments of archaeological
sensitivity, places where remnants of human occupation would
most likely be found.
The study notes that archaeological sites
often contain important information, and many times the only
record of the past. They are also nonrenewable. Once the
archaeological resources have been affected by any ground
disturbing development, undocumented artifact collection, or
other impacts, the information is gone forever.
The study’s 13 maps examine the
distribution of known sites in relation to a variety of both
cultural and environmental variables. Interestingly, many sites
may now be under water. Rising sea levels over the past 10,000
years have likely left many Native American camp sites under
water today.
Eric Agin runs the center’s GIS. He
The author is the Loudoun County GIS
Coordinator and a statewide authority and speaker on the
subject of geographic information systems and their
applications.
he
William and Mary Center for Archaeological Research was
established in 1988 in the college’s department of
anthropology. The center provides a wide variety of archaeological
services to both the public and private sectors, and a
geographic information system (GIS) is used to help provide
many of those services.
CENTER’S ROLE
The Center for Archaeological Research
began as an experiment in 1988 as a way to both offer
professional archaeological consulting services and to provide
learning opportunities for students. The experiment, according
to Joe Jones, who is director of the center, was a success, and
it, “has since grown into a standard setting organization
for applied archaeological work in Virginia.” The center
has received more than 800 research contracts and grants over
the years totaling over sixteen million dollars.
While the center is affiliated with the
college, funding comes from grants and contracts for a variety
of applied archaeological and cultural resource management
projects. Because it is affiliated with the college, however,
the center has access to the resources of a major university
including opportunities to draw on the expertise of colleagues
in departments as diverse
as chemistry, history, and geology.
It also has access to the college’s research library and high speed network as well as the research collections of nearby Colonial Williamsburg.
as chemistry, history, and geology.
It also has access to the college’s research library and high speed network as well as the research collections of nearby Colonial Williamsburg.
Though affiliated with the college, the
center is staffed not by students but by full time cultural resource
professionals, all of whom have post graduate degrees and extensive
experience. And, as I discovered when I visited, they love what
they do.
