Opportunity for Giving - Do you know someone who is difficult to buy for around the holiday season? If they appreciate Indiana’s cultural heritage, why not consider a voluntary contribution, in their name, to the Archeology Preservation Trust Fund? The statute (IC 14-21-1-34) which created the fund provides that the DHPA may conduct a program with this fund to assist private homeowners who have accidentally discovered an artifact, burial object, or human remains and who need assistance to comply with an approved plan to excavate or secure the site from further disturbance. For more information, see DHPA: What We Do.
Online Launch of Highlighting Hoosier Archaeological Sites: Examples from 92 Counties
DHPA announced the online launch of the StoryMap project during September, Indiana Archaeology Month. The collaborative project involves DHPA archaeologists and various archaeology colleagues writing features for a general audience. Archaeologists have chosen their site(s) to highlight based upon past fieldwork they have conducted, a research interest in a particular site (precontact or historical), or for a variety of other reasons.
Highlighting Hoosier Archaeological Sites: Examples from 92 Counties is a StoryMap through ArcGIS on the Division of Historic Preservation & Archaeology webpage, and viewers are able to click on a region of the state, and then county, and read about the featured sites. Currently, over 40 sites are available, and in the future, additional sites and case studies will be added. Check back now and again to look for newly added sites. In the StoryMap documents we have tried to minimize the technical details and summarize the facts into a simple format, integrating photographs, diagrams, and maps where possible to better educate and inform the public about the practice and significance of archaeology around Indiana.
Amy Johnson, State Archaeologist, is the editor of the submissions, with co-editors Rachel Sharkey, Research Archaeologist, and division Director Beth McCord. McCord has placed the submissions into the StoryMap format. We thank our many archaeology colleagues who have thus far contributed to the project, and hope that the public will enjoy reading about these important places in Indiana’s counties.
State Plan - Indiana’s Cultural Resources Management Plan for 2020 to 2026 is posted on the DHPA’s website under News & Media – Publications. This latest plan document represents 18 months of work by the DHPA staff to gauge accomplishments under the previous plan, consider new or changing challenges and opportunities in Indiana, and review the extensive public input from the DHPA’s online survey. A total of 4,235 people participated in the survey, coming from all 92 counties and representing a broad cross-section of the population. The three key points that emerged from the survey data were:
- A majority of people support heritage preservation and think it is worthwhile, but they don’t easily recognize preservation activity happening in their communities.
- More education and outreach efforts are needed, especially targeting the general public, children and youth, and elected officials and local decision-makers.
- Citizens need to advocate for direct community investment and financial incentives to help save endangered resources.
Chapter 4 of the document fleshes out a plan for heritage preservation in Indiana, with three new goals supported by numerous objectives and strategies – take a look! Questions following each goal, as well as a “call to action” in Chapter 5, invite citizens to see how they can get involved in the heritage preservation movement in many different ways. Everyone can and should be an advocate for Indiana’s heritage!
Find the plan document here.
Outreach -
Influencing future archaeologists - Rachel Sharkey will speak to the Anthropology 110 class at the University of Indianapolis on Dec. 3. The goal of the talk is to offer the class a perspective on what it is like to have a job in state government as an archaeologist and to explain the role of the State Historic Preservation Office in protecting Indiana’s cultural resources.
Archaeology Site of the Month - A recent addition to the DHPA’s Storymap, Highlighting Hoosier Archaeological Sites:Examples from 92 Counties focuses on the Thiebaud Farmstead in Switzerland County. Michael Strezewski has written about the archaeological investigations conducted at this property, which was settled in 1817. The farmstead was established by Frederick and Harriet Thiebaud, who had emigrated from Switzerland. In 2004, an archaeological survey of the property was undertaken to provide a thorough description of the resources present. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the farmstead remains an important source of information on the agricultural history of southeastern Indiana, from early experiments in winemaking, to a focus on hay export, to the modern agricultural economy of today. You can visit this interesting Switzerland County site.
This information is distributed via email by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology (DHPA). This is meant to provide information on current archaeological topics and issues in which the DHPA is involved. An archive of past Archaeology News issues is available. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact our office at 317-232-1646.
Mission Statement: The Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology promotes the conservation of Indiana’s cultural resources through public education efforts, financial incentives including several grant and tax credit programs, and the administration of state and federally mandated legislation.
Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, 402 W. Washington St., Room W274, Indianapolis, IN 46204. www.IN.gov/dnr/historic, www.facebook.com/INdhpa
Indiana Archaeology Month (September) webpage - http://www.in.gov/dnr/historic/3674.htm
#INArchaeoMonth
Find the Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology on Facebook.
Compiled by Amy Johnson, State Archaeologist, Archaeology Outreach Coordinator, and Team Leader for Archaeology (December 2021). Text also provided by Steve Kennedy and Rachel Sharkey. #ArchaeoNewsIN