Archeology & Collections

The grant allowed for documentation of traditional language, foods, music and the cultural landscapes associated with the Timbisha Shoshone people in their aboriginal territories.

Educators may find the following resources useful in teaching heritage education in the classroom.

Geophysical techniques like radar, magnetometry, conductivity, and resistivity are fast becoming essential archeological skills.

Annually NCPTT hosts “Prospection in Depth,” an integrated, holistic professional development workshop fusing GIS, GPS, and geophysical prospection.

A Summary of Results from the 2006 and 2007 Field Seasons Bryan S. Haley Center for Archaeological Research University of Mississippi Introduction As part of the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) Prospection in Depth Workshop, the University of Mississippi Center for Archaeological Research conducted a geophysical survey of the Whittington (16NA241) and Ailhaud St. Anne Site (16NA529) ...

In June 2006 the NCPTT hosted “Prospection in Depth,” a Summer Institute training program in GIS, GPS, and remote sensing aimed at archaeology professionals and students around the country. Four instructors and 10 participants used the St. Anne and Whittington sites as learning laboratories. This group of 14 collected GPS and remote sensing data, analyzed ...

Current Archaeological Prospection Advances for Non-Destructive Investigations in the 21st Century. There is a registration charge of $475.00

NCPTT staff recently presented the results of initial research on the applicability of portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) to copper artifact elemental composition studies at the 56th annual Southeastern Archaeological Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina.

NCPTT’s Curtis Deselles, a graduate student in the Masters of Heritage Resources program at Northwestern State University of Louisiana, is developing a handheld metal tester using eddy current technology.

NCPTT has responded to the emerging need for advanced technology-based archaeology training with “Prospection in Depth,” a training series that will be held Sept. 16-20 in partnership with the Presidio Trust at the site of El Presidio de San Francisco.

More than $165,000 will fund research to protect America’s historic legacy as part of the National Center for Preservation Technology & Training’s PTT Grants program.

Dr. Judy Bense, Chair of the Preservation Technology and Training board at NCPTT, has been recommended to serve as the interim President of the University of West Florida.

Anna Johnson, a high-school junior at the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts, took NCPTT research to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, Atlanta, Ga. on May 11-16.

NCPTT will hold its third annual workshop on archeological prospection Sept. 16-20, 2008, in San Francisco.

The Presidio Trust and NCPTT have agreed to jointly promote NCPTT’s “Prospection in Depth 2008,” a workshop that focuses on cutting-edge applications of geographic information systems and geophysical technologies for identifying archeological sites and site features.

NCPTT recently provided technical assistance to the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum in Shreveport regarding concerns about the condition of several archeological copper objects associated with the Gahagan burials that were excavated in the 1930s.

The Southeast Archeological Center and Hamline University used funds provided by NCPTT to host a four-day workshop in November called “Heritage Values: The Past in Contemporary Society.”

Approximately 90 people attended a NCPTT-funded webinar on high definition documentation in archeology on Nov. 14 and 15.

The Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) will hold its annual conference entitled “The Ties That Divide: Trade, Conflict & Borders” from January 6-11, 2009 in Toronto, ON, Canada.

Christopher Fennell of the University of Illinois recently concluded a study on the use of aerial thermal infrared technology to identify the infrastructural features of archeological sites.

From June 6-23, 2006, NCPTT partnered with the NPS Midwest Archeology Center, the NPS Cultural Resources GIS laboratory, the University of Mississippi, and Northwestern State University of Louisiana to hold its first training program on non-destructive archeological prospection techniques. This intensive workshop is unique in that it uses data from an ongoing, mature grant-funded research ...

This project will devise protocols for the fusion of commercially available synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data with commercially available multispectral data for the inventory of archaeological sites.

Montana Preservation Alliance proposes to create a digital archive of the rich cultural landscape that is the Tongue River Valley.

Archaeologists have been using aerial photography and satellite imagery to locate and document large, high-contrast archaeological features since inception. But, what about smaller, low-contrast features utilized by past humans such as root patches and terrace cobble deposits?

Existing conditions documentation of archaeological structures can be cut by 60% and can improve the accuracy and fidelity of the documentation by using scanning technology. This would optimize valuable human and financial resources for archaeologist and preservation specialist working to save our ‘Vanishing Treasures’.

A new preservation technique involving the use of supercritical fluids to dry waterlogged archaeological wood will be investigated and compared to current preservation treatments.

The research reported herein focuses on developing and testing predictive models based on the satellite remote-sensing (SRS) of prehistoric and historic archaeological phenomena. With advances in the resolution of satellite-borne imagery, such as IKONOS, and the availability of software designed to process such imagery, such as ENVI, archaeological predictive modeling is positioned to progress beyond ...

The “Prospection in Depth” course, currently in its second iteration, offers a new approach to archaeological pedagogy, incorporating multiple geophysical techniques, hands-on equipment use, and data collection at genuine archaeological sites.

Sediments used to build earthworks break down into identifiable soil horizons over time. Previous and on-going studies show that older earthworks have a more developed soil sequence with a well defined and thick accumulation of clay.

Hurricane Katrina and its massive destruction drew attention to the commonplace markers on the landscape that create sense of place for a community.

The Southeastern Archaeological Conference (SEAC) has hosted a competition each year since 1991 for the most outstanding paper submitted by a student about the prehistory, ethnohistory, or historical archaeology of the Southeast.

On April 26, 2007 NCPTT and the Archaeological Preservation Technology Research Consortium (APTRC) will host a symposium on archaeological remote sensing at the 72nd annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The APTRC was created with support from NCPTT, and its mission is to foster technology-oriented collaborations between universities and federal agencies with the ...

A calcium oxalate rock coating is ubiquitous on limestone surfaces inside dry rock shelters and under rock overhangs within the canyons of the southwestern Edwards Plateau in southwestern Texas.

Funded by NCPTT, Montana Public Television has produced a series of videos that highlights the nation’s underwater archeological treasures and features the preservation work of the National Park Service Submerged Resources Center.

Funded by NCPTT, Montana Public Television has produced a series of videos that highlights the nation’s underwater archeological treasures and features the preservation work of the National Park Service Submerged Resources Center.

Funded by NCPTT, Montana Public Television has produced a series of videos that highlights the nation’s underwater archeological treasures and features the preservation work of the National Park Service Submerged Resources Center.

Funded by NCPTT, Montana Public Television has produced a series of videos that highlights the nation’s underwater archeological treasures and features the preservation work of the National Park Service’s Submerged Resources Center.

Funded by NCPTT, Montana Public Television has produced a series of videos that highlights the nation’s underwater archeological treasures and features the preservation work of the National Park Service Submerged Resources Center.

Funded by NCPTT, Montana Public Television has produced a series of videos that highlights the nation’s underwater archeological treasures and features the preservation work of the National Park Service Submerged Resources Center.

Collecting and analyzing spatially defined data is a core component of archaeological research and has become increasingly effective with GPS, mapping and GIS hardware and software.

This study evaluates the physical effects of drying waterlogged archaeological wood using supercritical carbon dioxide as compared to air drying and the polyethlene gylcol (PEG)/freeze drying method.

In the video, the hull of the Civil War warship USS Monitor is recreated digitally. It is then put in simulated physics environments where different aspects of its operation can be studied.

New procedures and protocols were developed relying primarily on previous studies as well as successes achieved throughout the research process. The resulting protocols as well as results are therefore in need of further refinement, however they have provided the proof of concept necessary to continue and expand research into field testing and various wall configurations.

Archaeological sites are being lost or significantly degraded due to natural and cultural impacts that have greatest effect upon exposed or unconsolidated surfaces.

The workshop focused on oral tradition and archeological interpretation and the role of Native Americans in archeology.

This report represents the “end of the beginning” of a multi-year project to computerize archaeological and historical site files for the state of Arizona.

The intent of the proposed research was to use historic aerial photographs to evaluate the effectiveness of using them as a data source to detect and document change in prehistoric earthen structures through time. There was some reason to believe that photogrammetric methods could serve as a basis for detecting changes in such archaeological remains, ...

Neville Agnew of the Getty Conservation Institute speaks about the conservation of the hominid footprints at Laetoli, Tanzania. He lists three primary conservation topics that the general public will care about: Egyptology, dinosaurs, and human ancestry.

This manual is meant to help the operator through the measurement of watercraft using the Sokkia total station. The vessels to be measured can vary in size from small boats to full sized ships.

This report discusses the feasibility and processes necessary to utilize photogrammetric techniques and photogrammetric software in order to be able to gather metric data from softcopy three-dimensional images.

Prehistoric Hopewellian peoples of Ohio (ca. 150 B.C. – A.D. 400) produced fine geometric and representational art that played central roles in their social organization and religious practices.

The resulting images constitute a database for three-dimensional modeling and analysis, museum exhibits, video production, and broadcast journalism.

Late nineteenth and early twentieth century sites are commonly encountered during archaeological surveys in the United States.

New techniques of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) acquisition and computer processing were tested at buried archaeological sites in the American Southwest.

New techniques of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) acquisition and computer processing were tested at archaeological sites in the American Southwest and found to be highly effective in producing images of buried archaeological features.

PSTU was awarded a grant by NCPTT to install and test HIPROTECT, a prototype archaeological sitemonitoring system designed for a desert environment.

A growing number of Native American tribes are establishing cultural preservation offices and museums. Among their responsibilities is preservation of archeological sites and artifacts.

This manual teaches communities and neighborhoods how to complete their own historic resource surveys and share that information quickly.

Near-surface geophysical techniques, including ground-penetrating radar, magnetometry, electrical resistivity, and electromagnetic conductivity, have become primary tools in the detection of unmarked human interments.

The name of the silversmith, the date of manufacture, the quality of the metal alloy, as well as other information can be determined from the study of the hallmarks.

Simple book repair was defined as those repairs meeting the following criteria: the repair could be completed in a relatively short period of time, required a relatively low level of conservation skill and experience, and could be accomplished with available tools and supplies.

Museum conservators and the like are well acquainted with the fact that some types of museum exhibits are susceptible to damage caused by exposure to light.

A whewellite-rich rock crust covers vast areas of limestone inside dry rock shelters and under rock overhangs throughout the Lower Pecos Region in southwestern Texas (USA).

A calcium oxalate (whewellite)-rich crust occurs on exposed limestone surfaces in dry rock and open air shelters in the Lower Pecos region of southwest Texas.

This publication contains a number of readings that aid in the decision-making process involved with the discovery and evaluation of archeological sites.

NCPTT held its third annual workshop on archeological prospection Sept. 16-20, 2008 at the historic Presidio in San Francisco.

New methods could speed archeological documentation time by 60 percent

Texas Tech University and CyArk have produced a webinar to train Vanishing Treasures personnel in the use of High Definition tools in archeology.

Morgan discussed the results of his recent NEH-funded archaeological investigations at the Louisiana Archaeological Society’s annual meeting held on March 4 in Monroe.

NCPTT worked in conjunction with the American Institute for Conservation to produce the workshop series, “After the Storm: Recovery of Wet Collections,” which was held in March.

On April 26th, one day in advance of the Society for American Archaeology meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico, NCPTT hosted the second meeting of the Archeological Preservation Technology Research Consortium.

David Morgan, NCPTT archeology and collections chief, presented a paper at the Society of American Archeologists (SAA) annual meeting on burials excavated from Jackson Barracks in New Orleans.

NCPTT contributed funds to support the Midwest Archeological Center’s annual workshop on geophysical prospection.

A beta web version of the NCPTT Summer Institute course, Prospection in Depth, is available online.

NCPTT has created a new research priority for its grants program targeting the field of archeology.

David Morgan, NCPTT Archeology and Collections chief, attended the Southeastern Archaeological Conference in Little Rock.

NCPTT responded to a request by Cane River Creole National Historical Park for technical assistance in archeology.

NCPTT’s Heritage Education and Archeology and Collections programs are developing a workshop in conjunction with Dr. John Jameson of the NPS Southeast Archeology Center.

The National Park Service’s 2007 workshop on archaeological prospection techniques entitled Current Archaeological Prospection Advances for Non-Destructive Investigations in the 21st Century will be held May 14-18, 2007, at the HAMMER Training Center, Richland, Washington.

The paper focused on the archeological and social implications of the translation of historic French documents spanning 1780-1810.

David Morgan of NCPTT was the lead author of a peer-reviewed paper with Nancy I.M. Morgan (Cane River National Heritage Area) and Brenda Barrett (NPS) that appeared in the December issue of American Anthropologist.

“Contemporary Myths: Deconstructing the Late Colonial/Early American Creole Landscape at the Coincoin Plantation”

David Morgan of NCPTT has been asked to serve as a liaison between University College London and the Louisiana Division of Archaeology in coordinating an artifact loan for an exhibit.

NCPTT will present two workshops in June featuring high-level technology in the archeology field.

Eric Shindelholz, formerly The Mariners’ Museum, successfully concluded his grant research and submitted his final deliverables regarding his project to investigate the use of emerging technologies for drying waterlogged archeological wood artifacts.

Jason Church and David W. Morgan represented NCPTT at the Louisiana Preservation Alliance annual meeting, held May 5, 2007 in Monroe, Louisiana.

David Morgan, Archeology and Collections program chief, presented “Plantation Pottery along the Cane River: Colonoware and Ethnicity” and “The Coincoin Plantation and African Architecture in Louisiana” at Abolition 2007.

PTT Grant MT-2210-05-NC-09, Merging Aerial Synthetic Aperture Radar and Satellite Multispectral Data to Inventory Archaeological Sites.

This project was a two-phase approach to evaluating the use of multibeam swath bathymetry as a new tool for underwater archeology.

On May 8, 2007 NCPTT’s David W. Morgan attended the annual government-to-government consultation meeting held at Marksville, Louisiana.

NCPTT’s David W. Morgan and the University of Arizona’s Arleyn Simon co-hosted a symposium at the annual meeting of the Society of American Archaeology, held April 25-29 in Austin, Texas.

David Morgan attended the George Wright Society Biennial Conference on Parks, Protected Areas and Cultural Sites held in St. Paul, Minnesota from April 16-20.

NCPTT’s David W. Morgan participated in “Mobile XRF in Museums: Applications for Anthropology and Natural History Collections.”

David W. Morgan has been accepted as an Expert Member of International Council on Monuments and Sites’ International Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management.

NCPTT hosted Prospection in Depth, a GPS, GIS, and Geophysical technologies workshop held June 18-23, 2007.

Debra Elaine Dandridge, Lichens: The Challenge for Rock Art Conservation, a Ph.D. dissertation submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies, Texas A&M University.

NCPTT and the University of West Florida will host the Southeast Cemetery Monument Conservation Workshop on October 23-25 at St. Michaels Cemetery in Pensacola, Fla.

CPTT has agreed to provide partial support for the “Heritage Values: The Past in Contemporary Society” workshop proposed jointly by NPS’ Southeast Archeological Center and Hamline University.

The Louisiana Army National Guard has provided funding for NCPTT to host a workshop on the role of technology in archeological resource protection, especially in regard to remote site surveillance techniques.

This thorough website was built and designed as a clearinghouse of information on videotape preservation.

On October 4, NCPTT hosted one of the statewide activities celebrating Louisiana Archaeology Week.

Prospection in Depth 2009, a course in archaeological geophysics, will be hosted from August 4-8, 2009 in partnership with the Presidio Trust at the site of El Presidio de San Francisco, in California. Register for this course online.

In 2006 the White House launched Preserve America. Parallel to this, on a much tinier scale, was an event on the use of surveillance equipment for remote archaeological site surveillance. In its own humble fashion this little cog actually helps turn the enormous Preserve America wheel.

NCPTT’s David W. Morgan and Jason Church presented preliminary results of portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analysis of copper at the joint Louisiana Archaeological Society and Mississippi Archaeological Association meeting held from February 27-March 1, 2009 in Natchez, Miss.

Katrina, 9-11, and “other challenges mean the preservation of our historic resources…requires innovative and proactive approaches during the coming decades” (Preserve America p5). That, I think, is where our remote archaeological site surveillance event comes into its own, especially when you consider how clearly antiquities trade, narcotics trafficking, and terrorism are becoming linked.

As part of our Remote Site Surveillance event in August of 2008, which I’ve mentioned in the prior two blog posts, we are working to enhance the joint U.S. Forest Service-Louisiana Army National Guard’s “Site Vulnerability Assessment Model.”

When organizing the Remote Site Surveillance meeting held last year, in August of 2008, one of the things I hoped to do was spark discussion about the administrative sustainability of surveillance/monitoring programs…

Recent research reveals bacteria may be the biggest ally in the fight to preserve ancient artifacts from erosion and deterioration.

NCPTT and the Presidio Trust will present “Prospection in Depth 2009,” a workshop on geophysical prospection on August 4-8.

When Union ships sunk the English blockade runner Modern Greece off the coast of North Carolina in 1862, Confederates at nearby Fort Fisher wasted little time in salvaging munitions from the vessel. Nearly 150 years later, what they left behind is helping make history in preservation research.

Back in Blog 2, “Turning the Wheel…,” I was tracing the strange but true link between methamphetamines and antiquities theft. Turns out I’m not the only person with this on their mind.

David W. Morgan, Chief of Archeology and Collections at NCPTT, introduces the 19th annual National Park Service Geophysics course taught by Steve De Vore. This video includes a description of the course and commentary by participants. Steve has assembled about 10 different instructors and about 18-20 participants that are providing classroom opportunities at NCPTT and ...

Today in The Preservation Technology Podcast, NCPTT visits with Ruth Tringham, one of the founders of the University of California Berkley the People in Multimedia Authoring Center for Teaching in Anthropology at Berkley (MACTiA). As a professor of anthropology at the University of California at Berkley Ruth uses an online virtual environment called Second Life ...

David Morgan, Chief of Archeology and Collections at the National Park Service National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, talks about the annual geophysics workshop course that we call Prospection in Depth Limited seating is still available for this five day course at the Presidio in San Francisco from August 4-8, 2009. The tuition of $499 ...

Getting archeology onto the silver or flat screen has always been a tricky proposition: you have to entertain, but stick to the facts, all without encouraging site looting. One of the programs that seems to have done it, at least in the U.K., is Time Team. And now it’s coming to the ...

The need is clear for rapid, wide-area, planning level inventories of archaeological sites, which are disappearing rapidly because of development and looting. Inventory makes preservation through monitoring and proactive planning possible. Successful protocols for the use of sophisticated synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technologies for such inventories in certain environments were formulated recently.

Some natural science specimens and ethnographic artifacts in museums were historically treated with arsenic and mercury salts. This has created an environmental concern for museum workers and the public who may be exposed to these toxins. In addition, museums are frequently being asked to return sacred objects under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation ...

This project involved developing a new method for using the chemical content of freshwater mussel shell as a means of sourcing prehistoric, shell-tempered pottery and shell artifacts to their places of origin. By extension, this means that prehistoric trade and exchange networks can be mapped out. Because each waterway is chemically different to some extent, ...

New Philadelphia, Illinois was the first town platted and legally registered by an African American in the United States. Founded by Frank McWorter, a former slave, in 1836, this town grew as a demographically integrated community through the late nineteenth century. The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) awarded funding of $14,800 to ...

One of the biggest barriers to the rapid spread of cutting edge, innovative technologies in archeology is cost.  Let’s face it: things that end in “-ometer” or “-oscopy” tend to be pricey.  And if they are really new, or if their utility in some contexts has yet to be proven, the price remains in the stratosphere ...

A variety of materials and methods have been used to preserve ceramic vessels. Many have proven successful, while others are damaging. Monitoring and evaluation of past treatments is a documented research priority in the conservation field. The Arizona State Museum (ASM) has examined, recorded and analyzed the performance of past treatments on ...

A symposium is being held on Saturday, September 26, 2009, from 9AM to 5PM to honor James Marston Fitch, a founding father of historic preservation in the United States. Fitch was an architect, preservationist, and a founder of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University. The topic for this year will be ...

A good plan can determine whether a cultural collection survives a disaster or fades into memory. And while nature can be unpredictable, the online disaster-planning portal “dPlan” offers a streamlined, reliable way for institutions to protect their cultural collections. Created through funding by the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, dPlan is a free, ...

Cultural Heritage Imaging developed a comprehensive training program for 3D digital rock art documentation and preservation, based on state-of-the-art computational photography techniques that are emerging as the next generation of cultural heritage tools for use both in the field and in museums.

Today we join NCPTT’s David Morgan as he speaks to Graeme Earl of the University of South Hampton in the UK about digital survey methods in archeology and “born digital” records. Download Episode 9 as an mp3 or subscribe via iTunes.

In this edition of the Preservation Technology Podcast, we meet Eric Schindelholz, a conservator in private practice who specializes in metals and marine archaeological materials. Eric was the principal investigator for a PTT Grant Project that examined methods to dry waterlogged archaeological wood.

In this edition of the Preservation Technology Podcast, NCPTT’s Jeff Guin speaks with Bernard Frischer about 3D digital documentation of historic resources and the project, “Rome Reborn.”

The Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) is a multidisciplinary international organization composed of individuals and institutions who are interested in the development and preservation of natural history collections. Under the direction of the SPNHC Conservation Committee and its Research Subcommittee, the project coordinator surveyed the SPNHC membership by mail to develop ...

The visual manifestation of the recent Hale-Bopp comet reminds us how telling are those rare objects which suddenly flare in the sky. One can suppose ancient people living by natural light were more compellingly struck by the sight of comets and supernovae, and understandably researchers seek images of them in the shapes of rock-art motifs. ...

Like archeological information on paper, the archeological information we get in digital form must be both appropriate and trustworthy. The forms we can obtain must be the right ones for the job — cost effective and usable. At the same time, what we receive — capta, information, knowledge or summary — must be dependable, resulting ...

I-Sites contributes to information management in historic preservation in Iowa by resolving the all-too-often-overlooked need to keep preservation-related databases current with existing and ever-growing knowledge. It empowers users to record new archaeological data, giving those who most urgently need the data an active role in keeping it current. It provides government agencies, planners, professional researchers, ...

We developed a plasma-chemical technique to remove carbon from rock paintings. This extraction is followed by accelerator mass spectrometric analysis of the 14C to yield direct estimates of the ages of rock paintings. We have demonstrated use of the technique on charcoal as well as iron and manganese pigmented paintings. Unfortunately, there are no rock paintings made ...

A resurgence of interest in prehistoric rock art has occurred recently owing to advances in analytical techniques that provide information on the composition of ancient paints and the natural man”ices surrounding the paints. The greatest problem in studying ancient rock art was the inability to affiliate the artifacts to specific cultures. which severely limited our ...

prototype instrument developed for archaeological application logs volume magnetic susceptibility down a small-diameter (ca. 2.2 cm) core-hole made with a push-tube corer. Measurements can be made rapidly, approximately 10 times faster than collecting samples either by coring or from an exposed section, to depths of 1.6 m below the surface.

ICCROM, in conjunction with the Canadian Conservation Institute and the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage, will present a course on managing and reducing risks to cultural heritage. The course is designed for a maximum of 30 participants and is targeted to conservators, architects, archeologists, archivists, conservation scientists, collection managers, registrars, curators (in museums, archives, historic houses), ...

A free webinar session at the 29th International Submerged Lands Management Conference will address cultural resources. This session will cover issues surrounding the assessment of injury and damage to submerged cultural resources from oil or chemical spills, groundings, looting or any other man-made impact. The speakers will discuss the various methodologies that are used to conduct ...

The U. S. Green Building Council recently released a draft update on its LEED rating system and is seeking public input by January 14, 2011.

Can chemistry lead to better understanding of archeological objects?  Ask Dr. Evan Peacock from the Cobb Institute of Archaeology at Mississippi State University.  With funding from NCPTT, Peacock is using an analytical technique called Laser Ablation-inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analyzing spoons made of freshwater mussel shell.  Spoons like these were used to smooth pottery ...

The adaptation of existing imaging sonars for use on underwater sites will have widespread applicability to the nation’s thousands of submerged archaeological sites located in turbid waters that make detailed archaeological documentation impractical. LCMM has prototyped the feasibility and methodologies for this technology using a Blue View DF900-2250 Dual Frequency Miniature Multibeam Imaging System on ...

Preparing your collection for a disaster could greatly increase what survives. Northeast Document Conservation Center recommends to first prepare an emergency preparedness plan. This will allow your staff to respond quickly before, during and after a disaster with explict instructions that will provide the best practices for preparing and salvaging your collections. ...

If any substantial changes are planned to prepare a historic building for a disaster please refer to the Secretary of Interiors Standards for the Treatment of Historic Structures and check with all local and state authorities before making any changes. This article provides information on disaster preparedness in the face of floods, high winds, hurricanes, wildfires, ...

In 1998, NCPTT partially funded a research project that involved an investigation of rock paintings in the Lower Pecos River area of Texas.  Rock Art Research, the journal of the Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) and the International Federation of Rock Art Organizations (IFRAO), communicated results which were published by Elmo J. Mawk and ...

“Many types of museum exhibits are susceptible to damage caused by exposure to light, and current recommendations for museum lighting include avoidance of nonvisible radiant power (UV and IR), limitation of illumination level, and restriction of exposure duration. This article investigates the notion that the visual satisfaction provided by incandescent sources could be matched with significantly ...

A Controlled Archaeological Test Site (CATS) facility has been constructed in Champaign, Illinois, by the Cultural Resources Research Center at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, with funding provided by the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training. The test site will be utilized for research and training with geophysical applications ...

This project has advanced a geophysical approach for identifying buried archaeological sites that combines recently developed down-hole magnetic capabilities with laboratory soil magnetic techniques. Down-hole magnetic susceptibility measurements allow the effective location of paleosols while soil magnetic studies are used to evaluate whether an associated human occupation is likely. This combined geophysical approach ...

U.S. treatment of underwater cultural heritage beyond the territorial sea is analysed in light of Law of the Sea principles and the UNESCO Draft Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage. Article published in 2000.

“The North American Database of Archaeological Geophysics (NADAG) is a database and website under continuous development that aims to promote use, education, communication, and a knowledge base of the practice of archaeological geophysics in North America.   It is maintained by the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies at the University of Arkansas at: www.cast.uark.edu/nadag.”  (Excerpted ...

In 2003, the Infrared and Raman Users Group received NCPTT support to develop and implement an online collaborative database and bibliography of high quality infrared reference spectra. Currently, the database contains over 1250 spectra of oils, waxes, natural and synthetic resins, dyes, pigments, proteins, gums, and minerals.

In 2004, NCPTT supported the Friends of Mobile with funding to enable the application of two geophysical survey methods: electrical resistance and ground penetrating radar. Building on past research, a goal of the project was comparing the applicability of five remote sensing methods through ground truthing test excavations.

This database of micrographs of textile fibers acquired through the use of multiple microscopic techniques contains 145 collections with 1404 individual files, and requires 23GB of storage space. Each file contains a high resolution image with text fields that delineate image location and size, image collection information, microscopy technique and details of the features presented ...

Paul Whitmore, director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Art Conservation Research Center (ACRC), has developed a portable device that can be used to determine how exposure to visible light and ultraviolet (UV) rays affect the colors on a work of art, providing vital information that can be used to better preserve the artwork.

In this edition of the podcast, we join NCPTT’s Anna Muto as she speaks with John Watson, Instruments Conservator and Associate Curator at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Today they will discuss the special considerations of conservation when artifacts remain in use.

In this episode of the Preservation Technology Podcast, Kit Arrington, digital library specialist at the Library of Congress, discusses how the Library of Congress digitizes and shares documents online for longterm public access.

In this edition of the Preservation Technology Podcast, we’ll meet Carla Schroer of Cultural Heritage Imaging. The non-profit organization recently used a PTT Grant to hold a workshop on 3D digital rock art documentation and preservation.

Human skeletal remains from archeological sites are often studied to determine historical information such as sex, age, and health, among other facts.  The information from individuals can be used to better understand a population and the culture of a past people.  With the aid of a Preservation Technology and Training Grant, Dr. Shannon Hodge at ...

Cultural Heritage Imaging (C-H-I) is offering a four-day workshop on the use of reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) to document cultural heritage.  The workshop will be held July 16-19, 2012 at the C-H-I offices in San Francisco, California.  The new technique helps create digital representations of artifacts and sites.  The workshop is a combination of lectures, demonstrations ...

Under the microscope sat a thin section of the smaller Bamiyan Buddha from Afghanistan which was destroyed in 2001. As polarizing filters were placed in front of and behind the sample creating cross polarization, grains of large quartz, feldspars, chert, and other components sparkled in vivid color on a dark background. This technique is called ...

July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio of San Francisco, California NCPTT in conjunction with the Presidio Trust and the Friends of NCPTT will host a three day summit on digital documentation for the preservation of cultural heritage. The program features two days of contributed papers and a poster session, followed by a third day of field ...

This report presents the results of a project undertaken by the University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist (UI-OSA) to develop and test LiDAR Surveyor, a feature extraction model to be used with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) Bare-earth Digital Elevation Models (BE DEM) to identify conical, compound and, to a lesser extent, effigy ...

In the pilot year of summer 2012, the NPS Archeology Program partnered with Groundwork Anacostia River DC to carry out the Urban Archeology Corps at Fort Mahan, one of the Fort Circle Parks and part of the Civil War Defenses of Washington. The work experience aimed to broaden urban youths’ knowledge about the communities east ...

This report details work done to enhance the understanding of Tribal concerns and interests regarding the conservation of rock image cultural heritage sites.  The work pertains to Tribes located in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.  The study included research into past treatments at these sites and a survey of various Tribal groups to ...

Two additional grants totaling $50,000 were made to the following recipients. The Tulalip Tribes Hibulb Cultural Center is receiving $25,000 to develop a symposium on the Conservation and Continuation of Native American Monumental Wood Carving. The California Preservation Foundation is receiving $25,000 to advance distance learning through the Preservation Virtual Classroom.

This poster was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Fransisco, CA. See Poster full detail and size   3D Data Recordation and Immersive Visualization: Considerations for Creative Mitigation Practices The proposed presentation approaches the potential of 3d data collection and analysis in an immersive 3d visualization system, emphasizing digital format ...

This presentation was presented as the keynote address for the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012, Presidio, San Francisco, CA.   Rocket Science and 3D Analyses in the Preservation of Artistic and Historic Works More than sixty years ago development began on the nuclear-propelled ORION Spaceship destined for a manned mission to the planet Saturn. This ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA   Documenting National and World Heritage Sites: the Need to Integrate Digital Documentation and 3D Scanning with Traditional Hand Measuring Techniques For the past fifteen years, digital documentation technology of historic sites and resources has developed into a ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA   Designing the LiDAR Mission for Industrial Heritage: Cooperation Across the Fields Heritage managers and digital documentarians may observe the same subject, but observe it through a contrasting set of filters. The focus of this paper is to ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA   Evolution in Project Workflow – Is High Definition Survey the Missing Link? There is a major shift occurring in the preservation and building industry today. It was only 30 years ago that architects and engineers where designing ...

Since raising the H.L. Hunley submarine (1863) from the seabed in 2000, the project has incorporated 3D technologies including laser scanning, patterned light scanning, Vulcan point system, and computer modeling. Archaeologists developed the use of 3D technologies primarily for site plan development and artifact documentation. As the project progressed, conservators found other applications for the ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA Close Range Photogrammetry vs. 3D Scanning for Archaeological Documentation The proliferation of terrestrial laser scanners on the market over the past few years has been accompanied by a rapid adoption of the technology by archaeologists.  This increased archaeological use ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA Automated Classification of Surface Texture for Photographic Paper Surface texture is a vital attribute defining the appearance of a photographic print.  Texture impacts tonal range, rendering of detail, reflectance and conveys subtle qualitative information about the aesthetic ...

On October 20, 2012, Jason Church, Curtis Desselles, and Tad Britt—National Center for Preservation Technology and Training—demonstrated copper sourcing using Native American copper fragments from the Gahagan site located in Louisiana.  The team brought the portable x-ray fluorescence instrument, which identifies elemental analysis.  This technology allows for “fingerprinting” the sample, which can then be compared ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA Advances in Computational Photograph Techniques for Cultural, Historic, and Natural History Materials This talk presents advances in robust new imaging tools from the emerging science known as Computational Photography. The common feature of the computational photography imaging ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA Applications of Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) in a Fine Arts Museum: Examination, Documentation, and Beyond In 2006, the Worcester Art Museum collaborated with Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI) to develop reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) as a viable examination ...

Video in Production This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA Archive of Digital Data for HABS, HAER, and HALS The NPS creates a variety of documents and records, such as inventory and monitoring plans, drawings, photographs, and conservation treatment records, to assist in the planning, ...

The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) and The Center for Historic Architecture and Design (CHAD) in the University of Delaware’s School of Public Policy and Administration are partnering to host a two-day hands-on workshop on the uses of polarized light microscopy for the study of stone and ceramic cultural materials.  The workshop ...

Tad Britt, NCPTT’s Chief of Archeology and Collections, spent 13-23 November in Staten Island and surrounding area surveying hurricane damage per Section 106 of the NHRP, as amended.  Britt was part of the READ (research advisor) team who were deployed to investigate the park properties, which had been subjected to the ravenous effects of Hurricane ...

The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training in partnership with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and conservator Martin Burke announces a two day conference on the conservation of fountains. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri will host the conference which includes presented papers, poster presentations, and discussion sessions on July 10-11, ...

The Archaeological Survey Technologies, Data Integration, and Applications (ASTDA) Workshop and Seminar introduced new methods for the integration and visualization of noninvasive geophysical and 3D laser scanning survey methods as a tool for historic site preservation and management. The Workshop and Seminar were hosted at the Longfellow House – Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site in Cambridge, MA. The ...

Geophysical and laser scan surveys were conducted at the Longfellow House – Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site (NHS), Cambridge, Massachusetts in August, 2011. This work was undertaken as part of the Archaeological Survey Technology, Data Integration, and Applications (ASTDA) Workshop. This workshop was funded by the National Center for Preservation Technology Training and supported by the Joukowsky ...

In its simplest form, locative media is a portal through which location can be connected to content. By delivering content directly to a hand-held GPS-enabled device, the interpretive material has the potential to create a visitor experience that is simultaneously self-directed, has low infrastructure costs, and has minimal negative impact to the local community and their cultural landscapes. However, ...

The research funded by the NCPTT grant has begun the development of a broad chert database, to provide a mechanism for comparing artifacts to known chert sources. The development and publication on the web of this database will make possible comparisons from across the country. As more XRF instruments become available at research ...

It’s more than just a job… it’s your future. Get hands-on experience and build your resume while preserving the history of our country. Summer internships at NCPTT provide students and recent graduates an opportunity to undertake laboratory or field research in archeology, architecture, engineering, collections management, historic landscapes, and materials science. What do interns do? Interns work in ...

The National Park Service (NPS) Museum Management Program has re-launched its Web Catalog museum collections website. This project is an ongoing initiative that supports the Director’s Call to Action #17, “Go Digital” by providing online access to thousands of images and records from the NPS museum collections.

In this episode, we join NCPTT’s Jason Church as he speaks with Marshall Millet, owner of MMars 4-D. Today they are talking about Millet’s work with U.C. Davis and the KeckCAVES visualization facility.

Executive Director Kirk Cordell deployed for three weeks in March 2013 as a “Cultural Recovery Specialist” to the FEMA Hurricane Sandy Joint Field Office in New York City under a national agreement that supplies National Park Service technical experts to FEMA during declared disasters. Specialists are responsible for helping FEMA identify cultural resource needs, synthesize impact ...

NCPTT Archeologist Tad Britt spent 13-23 November 2012 in the New York and New Jersey areas affected by Hurricane Sandy. Britt, temporarily based out of Ft Wadsworth, NY, conducted archeological and cultural resources inventory of the Park units affected by Hurricane Sandy. Areas inspected by Britt included: Jamaica Bay, NY, Morristown, NJ, Fire ...

NCPTT Staff Receives Leica Training   On March 13, 2013 Leica trainer Walker Agnew of McBain Systems, Irving, TX presented to the NCPTT staff. Agnew presented to staff from the Materials Conservation, Architecture and Engineering, and Archeology and Collections divisions of NCPTT. Staff were trained on the use of the Leica DM750P microscope, ICC50 HD digital microscope ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA Application of Current 3D and Pseudo-3D Imaging for Conservation Melvin Wachowiak, Senior Conservator E. Keats Webb, Digital Imaging Specialist Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute, Washington D.C. Conservation professionals have been aware of modern methods of 3D digitization, but a comprehensive guide ...

Download this episode as an mp3 or Subscribe via iTunes   Ammons:    Welcome to the Preservation Technology Podcast; the show that brings you the people and projects that are advancing the future of America’s heritage. I’m Kevin Ammons with the National Park Service’s National Center for Preservation Technology and Training. In this podcast we join NCPTT’s Jason ...

NCPTT will be offering a free webinar “Disaster Preparedness for Cultural Resources: Preparing You For the Next Disaster” on May 22-23 from 9 am -12 pm central. The webinar will be held over two days with multiple presentations providing information on preparing your historic building, site, landscape, or cemetery for natural and man-made disasters. If you ...

Conservation Scientist for a Day One day event offered July 30, 2013 to students who have finished the 8th grade or those who participated in the 2013 NCPTT Robot Camp. $10 per person limited to 25 students STUDENTS WILL INVESTIGATE AUTHENIC POTTERY SHARDS AND PARTICIPATE IN HANDS-ON EXPERIMENTS! Instructors: Curtis Desselles, Carol Chin, Jason, Church, Mary Striegel

Funded by NCPTT, Montana Public Television has produced a series of videos that highlights the nation’s underwater archeological treasures and features the preservation work of the National Park Service Submerged Resources Center.

Funded by NCPTT, Montana Public Television has produced a series of videos that highlights the nation’s underwater archeological treasures and features the preservation work of the National Park Service Submerged Resources Center.

Funded by NCPTT, Montana Public Television has produced a series of videos that highlights the nation’s underwater archeological treasures and features the preservation work of the National Park Service Submerged Resources Center.

Funded by NCPTT, Montana Public Television has produced a series of videos that highlights the nation’s underwater archeological treasures and features the preservation work of the National Park Service’s Submerged Resources Center.

Funded by NCPTT, Montana Public Television has produced a series of videos that highlights the nation’s underwater archeological treasures and features the preservation work of the National Park Service Submerged Resources Center.

Funded by NCPTT, Montana Public Television has produced a series of videos that highlights the nation’s underwater archeological treasures and features the preservation work of the National Park Service Submerged Resources Center.

In the video, the hull of the Civil War warship USS Monitor is recreated digitally. It is then put in simulated physics environments where different aspects of its operation can be studied.

Neville Agnew of the Getty Conservation Institute speaks about the conservation of the hominid footprints at Laetoli, Tanzania. He lists three primary conservation topics that the general public will care about: Egyptology, dinosaurs, and human ancestry.

David Morgan, Chief of Archeology and Collections at the National Park Service National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, talks about the annual geophysics workshop course that we call Prospection in Depth Limited seating is still available for this five day course at the Presidio in San Francisco from August 4-8, 2009. The tuition of $499 ...

Since raising the H.L. Hunley submarine (1863) from the seabed in 2000, the project has incorporated 3D technologies including laser scanning, patterned light scanning, Vulcan point system, and computer modeling. Archaeologists developed the use of 3D technologies primarily for site plan development and artifact documentation. As the project progressed, conservators found other applications for the ...

This presentation was presented as the keynote address for the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012, Presidio, San Francisco, CA.   Rocket Science and 3D Analyses in the Preservation of Artistic and Historic Works More than sixty years ago development began on the nuclear-propelled ORION Spaceship destined for a manned mission to the planet Saturn. This ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA   Evolution in Project Workflow – Is High Definition Survey the Missing Link? There is a major shift occurring in the preservation and building industry today. It was only 30 years ago that architects and engineers where designing ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA Advances in Computational Photograph Techniques for Cultural, Historic, and Natural History Materials This talk presents advances in robust new imaging tools from the emerging science known as Computational Photography. The common feature of the computational photography imaging ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA   Designing the LiDAR Mission for Industrial Heritage: Cooperation Across the Fields Heritage managers and digital documentarians may observe the same subject, but observe it through a contrasting set of filters. The focus of this paper is to ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA Automated Classification of Surface Texture for Photographic Paper Surface texture is a vital attribute defining the appearance of a photographic print.  Texture impacts tonal range, rendering of detail, reflectance and conveys subtle qualitative information about the aesthetic ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA Applications of Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) in a Fine Arts Museum: Examination, Documentation, and Beyond In 2006, the Worcester Art Museum collaborated with Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI) to develop reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) as a viable examination ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA Application of Current 3D and Pseudo-3D Imaging for Conservation Melvin Wachowiak, Senior Conservator E. Keats Webb, Digital Imaging Specialist Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute, Washington D.C. Conservation professionals have been aware of modern methods of 3D digitization, but a comprehensive guide ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA   Documenting National and World Heritage Sites: the Need to Integrate Digital Documentation and 3D Scanning with Traditional Hand Measuring Techniques For the past fifteen years, digital documentation technology of historic sites and resources has developed into a ...