What is Cultural Resource Management?
Cultural resources under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) are defined to include archaeological, historical and paleontological resources.
What is Archaeology?
Archaeology is the study of pre-modern humans. Generally archaeologists study human societies less than 10, 000 years old, but there are archaeologists who study "paleo-Indians" dating more than 10,000 years before present.
What is Paleontology?
Paleontology is the study of ancient life. This includes all forms of life including algae, plants, and animals. It also includes "trace" fossils such as animal tracks, burrows, molds, casts, etc.
What is the difference between Historic and Prehistoric?
Technically this the after written history and before written history. The points in time where various human societies developed written language differ dramatically. For example, Native Americans contacted by Spanish missionaries in the 1780s were prehistoric peoples while the Chinese had been writing for more than 4000 years by the 1780s.
What is a Cultural Resources Phase I Study? Assessments and Evaluations
To address cultural resources and comply with the National Historic Preservation Act, (NHPA) Section 106, and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) a Phase I Cultural Resource Assessment and Evaluation can be summarized into six steps. These may be required to inventory cultural resources of properties potentially containing prehistoric or historic resources or buildings. They can set the stage for Phases II and III, and include the following:
Literature Review: In order to prepare for fieldwork, a literature review is conducted at one of the regional archaeological data repositories administered by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). The review is conducted to reveal the presence or absence of cultural resources within a radius (usually one mile) of the project area.
What is a Cultural Resources Phase II Study? Testing
If the Phase I Assessment and Evaluation reveals the presence of a cultural resource with potential to produce additional data, and avoidance is not an option, further work may be required. A Phase II Testing Program usually consists of a surface artifact collection and discrete subsurface examinations to test the subject property for buried resources. An appropriately formatted technical report is produced for the client to submit the findings to the necessary government agencies. If significant buried resources, in the form of archaeological features, artifacts, or bones, are recovered, a Phase III Full Scale Data Recovery and Excavation may be required.
What is a Cultural Resources Phase III Study? Data Recovery and Excavation
Assuming the project can not avoid a known resource, and Phase II testing reveals further potential for buried resources, full scale excavations may be required for CEQA and NHPA compliance. Excavations will determine the extent of the buried resource, and attempt to exhaustively record any relevant data. After the material has been systematically recorded, mapped, and recovered from the field, it will be analyzed in the laboratory. This can include the analysis of human or animal bone, lithics, groundstone, ceramics, and historic material.
What are typical Mitigation Recommendations?
If a search of the known records and the surface survey are negative for cultural resources, there generally will be a recommendation that a qualified professional be on-call to respond in the event of an unexpected discovery. This planning means that the construction personnel have someone to call to evaluate the find and determine whether is meets the criteria of significance that would trigger further cultural work. If this condition is not utilized and an unexpected discovery occurs, the lead agency inspector generally shuts down the job until someone can be retained and brought out to perform the evaluation.
If a search of the known records and the surface survey are positive for cultural resources, there will generally be a recommendation that a qualified professional be retained to perform testing (to discover the extent of the resources) and/or mitigation monitoring. Testing is used to determine the boundaries of resources and to evaluate a sample of the artifacts present.