Site Condition Assessment Training manual

From the manual: "Nevadans for Cultural Preservation (NVFCP) has partnered with the Nevada Site Stewardship Program (NSSP) to provide Site Condition Assessment training for qualified site stewards. This training is intended to provide volunteers with the information needed to assist Federal and State Land Managing agencies with updating their records on the condition of archaeological and historical sites in Nevada. Many areas around the state have only one archaeologist per several million of acres, making it impossible for them to be able to visit and update site records for all the resources within their area. Through this program, volunteers can assist these archaeologists in updating records. Since site stewards for the NSSP have already been trained in monitoring sites for changes and recording those changes, they are the perfect group to take the additional training needed to assist the archaeologists in their condition assessments. Site Condition Assessments are different from site monitoring in that volunteers will be asked to find, document, and present information on a site or sites upon their first and possibly only visit. Unlike the NSSP where stewards are introduced to their sites, volunteers conducting site condition assessments: May need to locate the site(s) on their own; therefore, they are required to have good navigation skills such as utilizing and reading topographic maps and GPS devices. Will need to be able to comprehend the official documentation provided by the agency including translating common archaeological, geological, and historical terminology, and understanding common types of sites, features, and artifacts. Just like monitoring sites for NSSP, volunteers conducting assessments will need to complete paperwork. This training will provide examples and explanations of the various types of paperwork that may be needed for each site and condition you may encounter. This manual is a guide to accompany the intensive in class and field training provided by NVFCP to volunteer site stewards. It is not comprehensive, but attempts to provide easy to access and useful information to remind and support volunteers in conducting their assessments. Attending Site Condition Assessment training does not certify volunteers as archaeologists or archaeological technicians. NVFCP’s goal for the training is to educate volunteers to assist archaeologists in completing their official assessment of a site’s condition. Trained volunteers are to provide all of the information that they collect to the Nevada Site Stewardship Program. None of the documentation is to be retained by the volunteer or distributed. This falls under the Code of Ethics signed by all stewards in the NSSP and under the site confidentiality section of the Archaeological Resource Protection Act." Project funding was provided in part by a 2015 Historic Preservation Fund grant to Nevadans for Cultural Preservation (project number NV-15-019) administered by the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office (grant number P15AF00038) and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Site Condition Assessment Training manual

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