Nationwide Context and Evaluation Methodology for Farmstead and Ranch Historic Sites and Historic Archaeological Sites on DoD Property
Baxter CL, Enscore SI, Hartman ER, Mertens BC, Morrison DA. 2020. Nationwide Context and Evaluation Methodology for Farmstead and Ranch Historic Sites and Historic Archaeological Sites on DoD Property. Cultural Landscape Guidance Documents. U.S. Department of Defense, Legacy Resource Management Program. Arlington, Virginia
Report Abstract: "The Army is tasked with managing the cultural resources on its lands. For installations that contain large numbers of historic farmsteads, meeting these requirements through traditional archaeological approaches entails large investments of personnel, time and organization capital. Through two previous projects, Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) cultural resource management personnel developed a methodology for efficiently identifying the best examples of historic farmstead sites, and also those sites that are least likely to be deemed eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. This report details testing the applicability of the methodology to regions across the country. Regional historic contexts were created to assist in the determination of “typical” farmsteads. The Farmstead/Ranch Eligibility Evaluation Form created by ERDC-CERL researchers was revised to reflect the broader geographic scope and the inclusion of ranches as a property type. The form was then used to test 29 sites at five military installations. The results of the fieldwork show this approach is applicable nationwide, and it can be used to quickly identify basic information about historic farmstead sites that can expedite determinations of eligibility to the National Register." This project follows on from Legacy #12-508, which produced a regional method that evaluates common site characteristics as a property type, enables standardized evaluation through identification both of sites not likely to add to existing knowledge of artifacts or historic context and sites that are exemplary examples, allows regional variations, utilizes a landscape approach, and can be applied to current sites and future discoveries. After the success of that project, ERDC-CERL researchers proposed to beta test the methodology nationwide and to include ranch sites as site types to be considered. To apply the methodology across the country, the nation was divided into 12 regions that contained broad similarities in geography, agriculture, climate and settlement history variables. The result of that effort is presented in this report.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Baxter, Carey; Enscore, Susan; Hartman, Ellen; Mertens, Benjamin; Morrison, Dawn
- Date of Issue
- 2020-12
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of Defense, Legacy Resource Management Program
- Keywords
- agriculture, archeology, army, DoE, eligibility evaluation, evaluation, farm, field study, historic farmstead, historic ranch, methodology, military, military training, national register, NRHP, ranch history, survey, vernacular, zone